Unix Timestamp: 1707782400
Tuesday, February 13. 2024, 12:00:00 AM UTC

At least 40 FDLR members are killed in airstrikes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7888370.stm (BBC)

The Swedish government rejects the Nord Stream underwater natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. //www.thelocal.se/9964/20080212/ (The Local)

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issues a formal apology to the Indigenous Stolen Generation on behalf of the Parliament of Australia. //www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/13/2161227.htm (ABC News Australia)

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia delivers a formal apology to the Stolen Generations.

Dutch oil-trading company Trafigura agrees to pay the Côte d'Ivoire government $198 million to clean up a 2006 toxic waste spill which led to the deaths of 10 people. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6359617.stm (BBC)

North Korea agrees to shut down its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon by April 14 as a first step towards complete denuclearization, receiving in return energy aid equivalent to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil.

The United States, in a major shift of policy on the Middle East, says it may support an Israeli proposal for a unilateral partial withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage says that a pullout from Gaza would be a step in the right direction. Administration official state ... negotiations were impossible because of Palestinian recalcitrance.//www.nytimes.com/2004/02/13/politics/13DIPL.html?hp

Scientists announce the possible discovery of a across and 50 light-years away from Earth in the core of the decayed star BPM 37093 in the constellation of Centaurus. //cfa-www.harvard.edu/press/pr0407.html

Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders accept United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan's plan for ending the partition of the island of Cyprus. The two sides will work under a tight timetable to agree by March 22 on reunification language that can be put to simultaneous islandwide referendums on April 21. Unless reunification is achieved, only the Greek Cypriot government will be entitled to enter the European Union on May 1. //www.nytimes.com/2004/02/13/international/europe/13CND-NATI.html?hp

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announces alleged al-Qaida and Taliban fighters, who are being held at Guantanamo Bay detention c, Cuba, may apply annually for release. //www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/jan-june04/detainees_2-13.html

Occupation of Iraq: South Korea's parliament on Friday approves sending 3,000 troops to Iraq, responding to a call from the United States for military help in restoring stability to Iraq.//www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-SKorea-Iraq.html

United States military officials anonymously confirm to the Washington Post that two Special Forces units have been operating on the ground inside Iraq for over a month, making preliminary preparations for a large-scale invasion. //www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A331-2003Feb12.html

Motorola announces that they will release a cell phone running the Linux operating system.

Elizabeth II gives former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani an honorary knighthood.

A 6.6 magnitude earthquake hits El Salvador, killing at least 400.

An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter Scale hits El Salvador, killing at least 400.

Final original Peanuts comic strip is published.

The final original "Peanuts" comic strip is published, following the death of its creator, Charles M. Schulz.

Taiwan's deadliest fire, at a karaoke restaurant in Taichung, kills 64.

The creative program for children's poetry, "LITER"~Art originated in the Valley of the Poets, North Andover, MA.

A United Nations tribunal on human rights violations in the Balkans charges 21 Bosnian Serb commanders with genocide and crimes against humanity.

Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada, becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.

Serkadji prison mutiny in Algeria: Four guards and 96 prisoners are killed in a day and a half.

Hacker Kevin Mitnick is arrested by the FBI and charged with penetrating some of the United States' most secure computer systems.

Ibrahim Ali, a 17-year-old Comorian living in France, is murdered by 3 far-right National Front activists.

Colin Ferguson is convicted of 6 counts of murder for the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings and later receives a 25-year sentence for each of the 6 murders.

Gulf War: Two laser-guided smart bombs destroy an underground bunker in Baghdad, killing hundreds of Iraqis. United States military intelligence claims it was a military facility but Iraqi officials identify it as a bomb shelter.

February 28 – The 1988 Winter Olympics are held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

U.S. Lieutenant Colonel William R. Higgins, serving with a United Nations group monitoring a truce in southern Lebanon, is kidnapped (he is later killed by his captors).

A bomb explodes outside of the First National Bank in Oshakati, Namibia, killing 27 and injuring 70 others.

Konstantin Chernenko succeeds the late Yuri Andropov as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

A cinema fire in Turin, Italy kills 64.

The 1980 Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, New York.

The intense February 13, 1979 Windstorm strikes western Washington and sinks a 1/2-mile-long section of the Hood Canal Bridge.

Following her 1972 sex reassignment surgery, musician Wendy Carlos legally changes her name from Walter. She later reveals this information in an interview in the May 1979 issue of "Playboy" Magazine.

In Kabul, Muslim extremists kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs, who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.

General Murtala Mohammed of Nigeria is assassinated in a military coup.

The United States Dollar is devalued by 10%.

Protesting Belgian farmers bring 3 live cows to crash the EEC meeting in Brussels.

Vietnam War: Backed by American air and artillery support, South Vietnamese troops invade Laos.

Decimalisation Day: ndash The United Kingdom and Ireland both switch to decimal currency (see also decimalisation).

Black Sabbath's debut album, "Black Sabbath" released often regarded as the first true heavy metal album.

FLQ terrorists bomb the Stock Exchange in Montreal, Quebec.

Civil rights disturbances occur at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

American researchers discover the Madrid Codices by Leonardo da Vinci in the National Library of Spain.//192.220.96.166/leonardo/leonardo.html The Controversial Replica of Leonardo da Vinci's Adding Machine

The Congo government announces that villagers have killed Patrice Lumumba.

France tests its first atomic bomb - in the Sahara Desert of Algeria.

TAT-2, ATT's second Trans-Atlantic telephone cable, goes into operation.

Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba.

A blizzard causes a massive power outage in Newfoundland.

Transsexual Christine Jorgenson returns to New York after successful sexual reassignment surgery in Denmark.

António Óscar Carmona is re-elected president of Portugal for lack of an opposing candidate.

Royal Air Force bombing of Dresden, Germany.

Soviet forces captureBudapest, Hungary from the Nazis.

Aircraft from HMS Formidable (67) attack Massawa.

Bruno Richard Hauptmann is convicted and sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh, Jr.

Mata Hari is arrested for spying.

Copyright: In New York City the ASCAP (for American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) is established to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.

Mexican Revolution: Begins the episode known as "La Decena Trágica", the rebellion of some military chiefs against the President Francisco I. Madero.

The German composer Richard Wagner dies of a heart attack in Venice, Italy.

The first issue of the feminist newspaper "La Citoyenne" is published by Hubertine Auclert.

Rex, the most famous parade on Mardi Gras, parades for the first time in New Orleans for Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of Russia.

The British War Office sanctions the formation of what becomes the Army Post Office Corps.

The first daylight bank robbery in United States history during peacetime takes place in Liberty, Missouri. This is considered to be the first robbery committed by Jesse James and his gang, although James's role is disputed.

Italian unification: The Siege of Gaeta, last stronghold of the Neapolitan King Francis II, is ended by Piedmontese forces. Francis goes into exile.

March ndash Indian Rebellion: British troops retake Lucknow.

Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke become the first Europeans to discover Lake Tanganyika.ref name=Pocket On This Day

Mexican troops force William Walker and his troops to retreat to Sonora.

The American Temperance Society is founded.

First Chilean newspaper La Aurora de Chile is dealing with political philosophy and standing in favor of the new national government.

The Bank of France is founded.

The kingdom of Mataram on Java is divided in two, creating the sultanate of Yogyakarta and the sunanate of Surakarta.

Massacre of Glencoe: The forces of Robert Cbell slaughter 38 members of the Clan MacDonald of Glencoe for allegedly refusing to sign an oath of allegiance to King William III of England.

O.S.) ndash William III and Mary II are proclaimed co-rulers of England, Scotland and Ireland.ref name=Kenyon /

In Lisbon, a peace treaty is established between Afonso VI of Portugal and Carlos II of Spain, by mediation of Charles II of England, where the legitimacy of the Portuguese monarch is recognized. Portugal yields Ceuta to Spain.

Charles XI becomes king of Sweden upon the death of his father, Charles X Gustavus.

Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition.

Henry III of France is crowned at Reims.

Elizabeth I of England issues a proclamation which revokes all commissions on account of the frauds which they had fostered.

SpanishConquistadorMiguel López de Legazpi lands with his troops on the shores of Cebu Island in the Philippine archipelago.

Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery.

Disfida di Barletta: Thirteen Italian knights defeat thirteen French knights near Barletta.

The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th-13th.

February 13 ndash The "generatio Percal" is the first time mentioned in a document.

Theuderic IV succeeds Chilperic II as MerovingianKing of the Franks, under the control of the Mayor of the Palace, Charles Martel.

Xiao Zhuang Di, age 21, is placed on the throne by the Chinese general Erzhu Rong and succeeds Xiao Ming Di as ruler of Northern Wei.

Yasodharman, Maharaja (great king) of Malwa, defeats the Hun invaders under Mihirakula in central India.

Justin, Byzantine general ("magister militum"), dies in battle against the Bulgars on the frontier of the Danubian "limes" in Moesia. He is succeeded by Constantiolus.

Bulguksa, a Buddhist temple, is built in South Korea.

Emperor Justinian I appoints a commission (including the juristTribonian) to codify all imperial laws that were still in force from Hadrian to the current date (This becomes the "Corpus Juris Civilis").

Natural disaster: An earthquake strikes Antioch, killing thousands, and causing a fire that destroys the Great Church built by Constantine I.

King Seong of Baekje adopts Buddhism as the state religion.