Unix Timestamp: 1103760000
Thursday, December 23. 2004, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh denies reports of possible war with Pakistan over the November terrorist attacks in Mumbai. //ibnlive.in.com/news/pm-rejects-war-with-pak-asks-it-to-stop-hysteria/81186-3.html (CNN-IBN)

A military coup d\\\'état is announced in Guinea shortly after the death of long-time PresidentLansana Conté.

The Nepalese legislature agrees to abolish the country's 240-year-old monarchy. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7158670.stm (BBC News)

Chad declares a state of war with Sudan, following a December 18 attack on Adre, which left about 100 people dead.

In the Slovenian independence referendum, 88.5% of the overall electorate (94.8% of votes), with the turnout of 93.3%, supported independence of the country.

Romanian leader Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife Elena are executed by military troops after being found guilty of crimes against humanity.

Bank of Japan governors announce a major interest rate hike, eventually leading to the peak and fall of the "bubble economy".

Nicolae and Elena Ceauşescu are captured in Târgoviște.

Voyager completes the first nonstop circumnavigation of the earth by air without refueling in 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency recommends the evacuation of Times Beach, Missouri due to dangerous levels of dioxin contamination.

The Soviet Unioninvades Afghanistan, and Babrak Karmal replaces overthrown and executed President Hafizullah Amin which begins the war.

The highest aerial tramway in Europe, the Klein Matterhorn, opens.

The first European Ariane rocket is launched.

A new volcano, Murara, erupts in eastern Zaire.

OPEC doubles the price of crude oil.

"Wonderful Radio London" commences transmissions with American top 40 format broadcasting, from a ship anchored off the south coast of England.

Luxembourg's national holiday, the Grand Duke's Official Birthday, is set on June 23 by Grand Ducal decree.

Luxembourg's national holiday, the Grand Duke's Official Birthday, is set on June 23 by Grand Ducal decree.

British and French troops leave the Suez Canal region.

J. Hartwell Harrison, M.D. and Joseph E. Murray perform the world's first kidney transplant.

The Soviet Union announces officially that Lavrenti Beria has been executed.

Gian-Carlo Menotti's 45-minute opera, "Amahl and the Night Visitors", premieres live on NBC, becoming the first opera written especially for television.

John Huston's drama film, "The African Queen", starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, premieres in Hollywood.

Libya becomes independent from Italy.

WWII: A second Japanese landing attempt on Wake Island is successful, and the American garrison surrenders after a full night and morning of fighting.

WWII: Winston Churchill, in a broadcast address to the people of Italy, blames Benito Mussolini for leading his nation to war against the British, contrary to Italy's historic friendship with them: One man has arrayed the trustees and inheritors of ancient Rome upon the side of the ferocious pagan barbarians.

A coelacanth, a fish thought to have been extinct, is caught off the coast of South Africa near Chalumna River.

The United Kingdom and France ratify the border between French-held Syria and British-held Palestine.

WWI ndash Battle of Magdhaba: In the Sinai desert, Australian and New Zealand mounted troops capture the Turkish garrison.

The HMHS ''Britannic'', the largest individual British loss in WWI, departs Liverpool on her maiden voyage.

The HMHS "Britannic", the largest individual British loss in WWI, departs Liverpool on her maiden voyage.

The Federal Reserve is created by Woodrow Wilson.

The Indian Religious Code is created which forbids Native Americans to practice their religions.

Plattsburgh Normal School (Plattsburgh, New York)

Influenza pandemic originates in Russia.

Riverside Elementary School (Wichita, Kansas)

An early method of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission as developed by the Swiss engineer René Thury Donald Beaty et al., Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers 11th Ed., McGraw Hill, 1978 is implemented commercially in Italy by the "Acquedotto de Ferrari-Galliera" company. This system transmits 630 kW at 14 kV DC over a distance of 120 km.//www.myinsulators.com/acw/bookref/histsyscable/ ACW's Insulator Info ndash Book Reference Info ndash History of Electrical Systems and Cables! R. M. Black "The History of Electric Wires and Cables", Peter Perigrinus, London 1983 ISBN 0-86341-001-4 pages 94–96

Brook trout is introduced into the upper Firehole River, Yellowstone National Park.

English football team Wimbledon F.C. is formed.

The Capilano Suspension Bridge (the longest suspension foot-bridge in the world) is opened. thumb|190px|right| Capilano Suspension Bridge|Capilano Bridge.

Yellow fever interrupts the building of the Panama Canal.

The "Wisden Cricketers\\\\\\' Almanack" publishes its first "Wisden Cricketers of the Year" (actually titled "Six Great Bowlers Of The Year"). The cricketers chosen are George Lohmann, Bobby Peel, Johnny Briggs, Charles Turner, John Ferris and Sammy Woods.

Frederick Abel invents cordite.

Schools founded include:

The first West Virginia tornado is recorded.

The "Wisden Cricketers' Almanack" publishes its first "Wisden Cricketers of the Year" (actually titled "Six Great Bowlers Of The Year"). The cricketers chosen are George Lohmann, Bobby Peel, Johnny Briggs, Charles Turner, John Ferris and Sammy Woods.

A huge locust swarm crosses the Red Sea and destroys crops in the Nile Valley.

The Spanish football team Recreativo de Huelva is formed (currently the oldest club in Spain).

The dolphin Pelorus Jack is first sighted in Cook Strait, New Zealand.

Texas finishes its 3 million dollar state capital building in Austin.

U.S. President Grover Cleveland declares the Chinese impossible of assimilation with our people and dangerous to our peace and welfare.

The Camborne School of Mines is founded in Cornwall, United Kingdom.

Sarawak and Sabah become British protectorates.

Susan B. Anthony organizes a "Congress for Women's Rights" in Washington, DC.

During a bout of mental illness, DutchpainterVincent van Gogh infamously cuts off the lower part of his own left ear.

Chin Gee Hee starts the Quong Tuck Company.

The Baldwin School is founded in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

John Robert Gregg first publishes Gregg Shorthand.

The first railway in China goes into operation.

The Finnish epic "Kalevala" is published for the first time in the English Language by John Martin Crawford.

Prosecution of Edward King, Anglican bishop of Lincoln, for using ritualistic practices begins.

A national library in Athens, Greece is established.

The first Tram line was opened in Tallinn. See more at Public transport in Tallinn.

Rudyard Kipling's short story collection "Plain Tales from the Hills" is published in Calcutta, India.

The Kodak camera increases the popularity of photography as a hobby.

Katz\'s Delicatessen is founded in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Taiping Rebellion: The Taiping army takes Hanyang and begins the siege of Wuchang.

Fordham University is founded in The Bronx by the Society of Jesus. Its name at its founding is St. John's College.

First Anglo-Afghan War: At a meeting with the Afghan general Akbar Khan, the British diplomat Sir William Hay Macnaghten is shot dead at close quarters.

First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842)

The Scroll and Key secret society of Yale University is established.

Antarctic explorer James Clark Ross additionally discovers the Ross Sea, Victoria Land and Mount Terror.

First Opium War (1839–1842)

John Augustus develops the concept of probation.

The city of Dallas, Texas is founded by John Neely Bryan.

The Battle of Antwerp ends with the Netherlands losing the city.

George Catlin starts to live among the Sioux in the Dakota Territory.

William HowleyArchbishop of Canterbury has his coach attacked by an angry mob on his first official visit to Canterbury.

Publication begins (posthumously) of Carl von Clausewitz's "Vom Kriege" ("On War").

Publication of the first Baedeker guidebook, "Voyage du Rhin de Mayence à Cologne", in Koblenz.

Chief Pushmataha of the Choctaw Nation dies in Washington.

Fort Washington, Cincinnati, Ohio, is built to protect early U.S. settlements in the Northwest Territory.

February - King Gustav III of Sweden enforces the Union and Security Act, delivering the "coup de grace" to Sweden's 70-year old parliamentarian system in favor of absolute monarchy

Thomas Jefferson returns from Europe, bringing the first "macaroni" machine to the United States.

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, decrees that all peasant labor obligations be converted into cash payments.

The Bengal Presidency first establishes a penal colony in the Andaman Islands.

Influenced by Dr. Benjamin Rush's argument against the excessive use of alcohol, about 200 farmers in a Connecticut community form a temperance association.

A leaflet circulated in France accuses marquis de Favras of plotting to rescue the royal family.

American Revolution: Thomas Paine, living with Washington's troops, begins publishing "The American Crisis", containing the stirring phrase, These are the times that try men's souls.

First English settlement by William Claiborne within the State of Maryland, U.S.A.

Moses Amyraut's "Traite des Religions" is published.

The bell Emmanuel in Notre Dame de Paris is recast.

The Taj Mahal's construction is started (it is finished in 1653).

Mount Vesuvius erupts in Pompeii.

Thirty Years\' War: Gustav Adolph of Sweden takes the city of Mainz without any resistance.

The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I of England is created to celebrate the English defeat of the Spanish Armada and to assert the strength of Elizabeth herself.

Ahmad al-Mansur, sultan of Morocco, demands that the king of Songhay pay a heavy tribute in exchange for Saharan salt, probably as an intentional provocation. When Songhay's answer is defiant, the sultan declares war and marches his army through Sahara to Songhay.

William Morgan\'sWelshtranslation of the Bible is published.

Henry III of France strikes his ultra-Catholic enemies, having the Duke of Guise and his brother, Cardinal Louis of Guise, killed, and holding the Cardinal de Bourbon a prisoner. As a result, large parts of France reject Henry III as their king, forcing him to side with Henry of Navarre

Pope Boniface V succeeds Pope Adeodatus I as the 69th pope.

Mellitus becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.

Kubrat, ruler of the Bulgars, is baptised in Constantinople.

Pope Felix III excommunicates Acacius of Constantinople and Peter III of Alexandria, for their role in having Zeno issue his Edict of Union ("Henotikon") 2 years ago. He considers the edict to be heretical and the schism between the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople widens. The "Acacian Schism" will not be resolved until 519.

Huneric dies and is succeeded by his nephew Gunthamund, who becomes king of the Vandals. During his reign the Catholics are free from persecutions and he stabilishes the kingdom's economy.

The Nvarsak Treaty is concluded between the Persians and Armenians.

The Hephthalites (White Huns) invade Persia. King Peroz I gathered an army of 50,000-100,000 men and, placing his brother Balash at the head of the government in Ctesiphon. At the Battle of Herat, the Persians are ambused and defeated. Peroz I is killed, his body is with dignity returned and buried with full honors. Balash is crowned and becomes king of Persia.

Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus enter Rome after a caign north of the Alps and receive a triumph for their victories over the Germanic tribes.

Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius is made. It is now kept at Museo Capitolini in Rome (approximate date).