Unix Timestamp: 946598400
Friday, December 31. 1999, 12:00:00 AM UTC

The Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway across the Caucasus is scheduled to be completed sometime in 2012."National Geographic", August 2010, page 62.

"Pleiades", a proposed supercomputer built by Intel and SGI for NASA's Ames Research Center, will be completed, reaching a peak performance of 10 Petaflops (10 quadrillion floating point operations per second).

The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ends.{{cite journal

"Sequoia", a proposed super computer built by IBM for the National Nuclear Security Administration will be completed, reaching a peak performance of 20 Petaflops.

On the Sun, the solar maximum of Solar Cycle 24 in the 11-year sunspot cycle is forecast to occur. Solar Cycle 24 is regarded to have commenced January 2008, and on average will reach its peak of maximal sunspot activity around 2012.

Tornadoes touch down in midwestern and southern United States, including Washington County, Arkansas Greater St. Louis, Sunset Hills, Missouri, Illinois and Oklahoma, with a few tornadoes in the early hours of January 1, 2011. A total 36 tornadoes touched down, resulting in the deaths of 9 people.

A car bomb explodes in Bilbao, Spain, and is blamed on Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, a Basque nationalist and separatist organisation. //edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/12/31/spain.eta.bomb.blast/index.html?eref=rss_world (CNN)

An extra leap second (23:59:60) is added to end the year. The last time this occurred was in 2005.

One hundred to over 120 people are reported killed in rioting following the disputed result of the presidential election in Kenya. //uk.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUKL31283737._CH_.242020071231 (Reuters)

Another second is added, 23:59:60, called a leap second, to end the year 2005. The last time this occurred was on June 30, 1998.

The first trial of a member of the Russian military for human rights violations in Chechnya concludes controversially, with Col. Yuri Budanov found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a psychiatric hospital for further evaluation and treatment. Budanov was charged with murder and abduction after being accused of raping and strangling Heda Kungayeva, an 18 year old Chechen girl whom Budanov contends was a rebel sniper. //europe.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/12/31/russia.colonel/

The Millennium Dome closes its doors one year to the day of its opening.

The Millennium Dome, in London, closes one year to the day after its opening.

The first leap second since June 30, 1997, occurs. In the eurozone, the currency rates of this day are fixed permanently.

Ibrahim Hanna, the last native speaker of Mlahsô, dies in Qamishli, Syria, making the language effectively extinct. Also, the last native speaker of related Bijil Neo-Aramaic dies in Jerusalem.

The final original "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip is published.

Sudden oak death, the tree disease caused by the plant pathogen "Phytophthora ramorum", is first observed, in California.

Tropical Storm Alberto and Hurricane Gordon cause very damaging floods, intense winds and extensive problems directly over the Southeastern United States and the Caribbean Islands. The death tolls are unusually severe and damages are extreme in both tropical storms.

s skipped by the Phoenix Islands to switch from the UTC−11time zone to UTC+13, and by the Line Islands to switch from UTC−10 to UTC+14. The latter becomes the earliest time zone in the world, one full day ahead of Hawaii.

Pyroclastic flows – clouds of scalding gas, pumice, and ash – rapidly descend an erupting Mount Merapi volcano in central Java, causing sixty deaths.

The Council for National Academic Awards, UK is wound up.

President Bush arrives in Somalia to spend New Year's Day with U.S. troops who were part of the Unified Task Force.

First confirmed detection of extrasolar planets with the discovery of several terrestrial-mass planets orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12 by Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail.

The Hospital Chaplains' Fellowship joins with the National Association of Whole Time Hospital Chaplains to form the College of Health Care Chaplains in the UK.

Deng Xiaoping accelerates market reforms to establish a socialist market economy in the People's Republic of China.

Queensland introduces Freedom Of Information Laws.

Homosexual acts between consenting adults are decriminalized in Queensland.

Russian Garry Kasparov holds his title by winning the World Chess Chionship match against his countryman Anatoly Karpov.

Average per capita income in Japan exceeds that in the USA.

The National park passport sts program begins.

The Council on Competitiveness was founded

A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.

Polybius, an urban legend game, is said to have been released in 1981.

Cuba suffers a major outbreak of Dengue fever, with 344,203 cases.//w3.whosea.org/en/Section10/Section332/Section521_2454.htm

The State Council of the People\\\'s Republic of China lists the 4 cities (Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Guilin) as those where the protection of historical and cultural heritage, as well as natural scenery, should be treated as a priority project.

A coup d\\\\\\\'état in Ghana removes PresidentHilla Limann's PNPgovernment and replaces it with the PNDC led by Flight LieutenantJerry Rawlings.

Heavy snow causes many houses and buildings to collapse in northwestern Japan 152 are killed (from January to March).

Donkey Kong becomes the first ever Super Mario game.

The Millennium translation of Saint Edward the Martyr's relics from Wareham to Shaftesbury is observed in a reenactment.

ODECA functions suspended.

Confirming the descriptions of bulkhead hull compartments for Chinese sailing ships in Zhu Yu's "Pingzhou Table Talks" of 1119, a large Song Dynasty trade ship of c. 1277 A.D. is dredged up from the waters near the southern coast of China that had 12 bulkhead compartment rooms in its hull.

Sentosa Musical Fountain opens along side the Fountain Gardens in Sentosa, Singapore.

5 teams tie for rugby chionship: wales, England, France, ireland, and Italy

The COSC The Swiss Official Chronometer testing Institute is founded in Switzerland by 5 Watch Cantons Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH.

In the United Kingdom, due to coal shortages caused by industrial action, the Three-Day Week electricity consumption reduction measure comes into force.

The title Queen of Australia is created by the Royal Style and Titles Act.

The National House Building Council is formed in the United Kingdom.

Economist E. F. Schumacher publishes his book "Small is Beautiful".

The Sweet Track, the world's oldest engineered roadway, is discovered in England.

The first Regional Technical Colleges open in Ireland.

Paul McCartney sues in Great Britain to dissolve the Beatles' legal partnership.

Alvin Toffler publishes his book "Future Shock".

Sada Abe, Japanese former prostitute and later actress, disappears.

Long John Silver's restaurant chain opens first store in Lexington, Kentucky.

Summer sees the invention of Unix under the potential name Unics (after Multics).

Women are allowed membership into the Future Farmers of America (now the National FFA Organization).

Reported as being the year the first strain of the AIDS virus (HIV) migrates to the United States via Haiti.//www.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2007-10-30-voa66.html

Common African, Malagasy and Mauritian Organization (OCAMM) (Organisation Commune Africaine Malgache et Mauricienne).

The date you are commonly given when a computer's time is set to 0 in seconds. Start of the Unix Epoch.

Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull publish their book "The Peter Principle: why things always go wrong" in New York.

The first Gap store opens, in San Francisco.

The Satanic Bible is written and published by Anton LaVey.

Aborigines are given the vote in Queensland.

Tokyo officially becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from New York City.//geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm

TAT-4 cable goes into operation.

The Council for National Academic Awards is established in the UK.

Bokassa takes power in the Central Africa Republic.

Barbie gets a boyfriend when the Ken doll is introduced.

Ireland's first national television station, "Telefís Éireann" (later RTÉ), begins broadcasting.

"The Incredible Journey" is published.

Latin-America: 218,300,000

Asia: 1,701,336,000

Oceania: 15,888,000

Africa: 277,398,000

World population: 3,021,475,001

Last day on which the farthing, a coin first minted in England in the 13th century, is legal tender in the United Kingdom.

Northern America: 204,152,000

Europe: 604,401,000

Beginning in 1959, Argentina suffers economic recession.

The last legal female genital cutting occurs in the United States.

Illinois observes the centennial of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.

Instant noodles go on sale for the first time.

The British Rally Chionship begins its first year.

Based on birth rates (per 1,000 population), the post-war baby boom ends in the United States as an 11-year decline in the birth rate begins (the longest on record in that country).

Tallies reveal that, for the first time, the total of passengers carried by air this year exceeds the total carried by sea in transatlantic service.

Welsh cultural critic Raymond Williams publishes "Culture and Society".

USA, USSR and Great Britain agree to stop testing atomic bombs for 3 years.

The Jim Henson Company is founded.

The Japanese 10 yen coin ceases having serrated edges after a 5-year period beginning in 1953. All 10 yen coins since have smooth edges.

The University of New Orleans established

Denatonium, the bitterest substance known, is discovered. It is used as an aversive agent in products such as bleach to reduce the risk of children drinking them.

During the International Geophysical Year, Earth's magnetosphere is discovered.

The Professional Bowlers Tour is established at its headquarters in Seattle, WA.

The Amirkabir University of Technology is founded in Tehran.

Nikita Khrushchev orders Western allies to evacuate West Berlin within 6 months but backs down in the face of the allies' unity.

Sicilian writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Ledusa's novel "Il Gattopardo" is published posthumously.

The Alpine Club of Canada, Toronto section, is founded.

Asian flupandemic originates in China.

Minamata disease is discovered.

Bob Barker makes his TV debut as host of the game show "Truth or Consequences".

World population: 2,755,823,000

Oceania: 14,265,000

Africa: 246,746,000

Strömsund Bridge in Sweden is completed, being the first significant cable-stayed bridge of the modern era.

Asia: 1,541,947,000

Europe: 575,184,000

North America: 186,884,000

General Motors Corporation becomes the first American corporation to make a profit of over one billion dollars in one year.

South America: 190,797,000

The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than $13.3 billion USD in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.

Kinsey Report, "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male", is published.

The Tunnel of Vielha is opened in the Aran Valley, Spanish Pyrenees.

Last recorded sighting of the Caspian Tiger in Kazakhstan.

The Oakridge Transit Centre opens in Vancouver, British Columbia.

A pack of wolves kills about 40 children in Darovskoy District, in Russia.

Charles Warrell creates the first I-Spy books.

Brandeis University is founded.

The Slovak city Gúta is renamed Kolárovo.

1948 Arab-Israeli War: Israeli troops drive the Egyptians from Negev

The Fresh Kills Landfill, the world's largest, opens on Staten Island, New York.

Rev.W.Awdry's third book James the Red Engine is published.

Last edition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum is published in the Vatican.

The Casimir effect is discovered by Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir.

Female suffrage is enacted in Belgium, Romania, Yugoslavia, Argentina and the Canadian province of Quebec.

The Chinese Civil War intensifies between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China.

The British government takes emergency powers to deal with the balance-of-payments crisis.

Eva Perón tours Spain, Italy and France on behalf of Argentina, a circuit called the Rainbow Tour.

The first female police officers are hired in Korea and Japan.

The first "Tupperware" is sold in department and hardware stores.

The 20 mm M61 VulcanGatling gun contract is released.

The Casio Company is founded by engineer Tadao Kashio.

Binghamton University is founded.

President Harry Truman delivers Proclamation 2714, which officially ends hostilities in World War II.

The NFL team San Francisco 49ers is formed.

Statute of Westminster creates the British Commonwealth of Nations.

The National Committee for Modification of the Volstead Act is formed to work for the repeal of prohibition in the United States.

Ust-Abakanskoye becomes Abakan.

The Huang He floods kill between 850,000 and 4,000,000 people (the deadliest historic natural disaster).

"The Persistence of Memory" is put on display for the first time in Paris at the Galerie Pierre Colle.

1930–1931 ndash Crazy Horse's lifelong friend, He Dog, is interviewed by the journalist Eleanor Hinman and the writer Mari Sandoz.

A huge hurricane on the Caribbean Sea demolishes most of the city of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

A Jake paralysis outbreak occurs in United States.

The experimental television station, W9XAP, in Chicago, Illinois, broadcasts the election for the U.S. Senate, which is the first time that a senatorial race, with continual tallies of the votes, is ever televised.

Bernhard Schmidt invents the Schmidt camera.//www.ast.cam.ac.uk/history/schmidt

The Indochinese Communist Party is formed some time in October.

The British White Paper demands restrictions on Jewish immigration into Palestine.

The Papal encyclical "Casti Connubii" issued by Pope Pius XI stresses the sanctity of marriage, prohibits Roman Catholics from using any form of artificial birth control, and reaffirms the Catholic prohibition on abortion.

Sudbury, Ontario, is incorporated as a city in the northern part of the province.

The Federal Bureau of Narcotics replaces the Narcotics Division of the Prohibition Unit.

The chocolate chip cookie is invented in the United States by Ruth Wakefield.

The British occupy Palestine.

The Native American Church is formally founded.

"United Business Media" is founded in London (as "United Newspapers Ltd.")

The Grand Duchy of Baden ceases to exist.

The Association Against the Prohibition Amendment is founded to promote repeal of prohibition in the U.S.

A British-brokered ceasefire ends two weeks of fighting between Armenians and Georgians.

Oxycodone, a narcotic painkiller closely related to codeine is first synthesized in Germany.

Rodeo's first side-delivery bucking chute is designed and made by the Bascom boys (Raymond, Mel, Earl) and their father John W. Bascom at Welling, Alberta Canada.

"Cours de linguistique générale" by Ferdinand de Saussure is published.

The Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany, are cancelled.

Robert Baden-Powell founds the Wolf Cubs Scouts in Britain, changed to Cub Scouts in the USA.

Ernst Rüdin publishes his initial results on the genetics of schizophrenia.

The "Enrico Parodi" sinks while in tow off The Carracks in Cornwall, England.

Gustav Holst composes "The Planets, Opus 32".

Louis Enricht claims he has a substitute for gasoline.

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers is founded in the United States.

Bray Studios creates the "Farmer Al Falfa" series, the first of the "Terrytoons".

In the 1941 film "Citizen Kane", Charles Foster Kane runs for New York governor and loses. Also in 1916, Emily Monroe Norton divorces him and, in either this year or in 1917, he marries Susan Alexander.

The Netherlands is hit by a North Sea storm that floods the lowlands and kills 10,000 people.

The Hton Terrace Hotel in North Augusta, South Carolina, one of the largest and most luxurious hotels in the nation at the time, burns to the ground.

Food is rationed in Germany.

Halford Mackinder presents a paper on "The Geographical Pivot of History" to the Royal Geographical Society of London in which he formulates the Heartland Theory, originating the study of geopolitics.

The Loftus Road and Griffin Park football stadiums open in London.

The Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls, now Bethune-Cookman University, is founded.

In New York City, the first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square.

In New York City, the first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square.

Stuyvesant High School is founded in New York City.

The subject of alcohol and heart attacks is first investigated.

Riro, the last king of Easter Island, on a visit to Valparaíso, Chile, died either from alcohol poisoning or an assassination plot by the Chilean government.Island at the End of the World By Steven R. Fischer p. 153

The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates the town of Manteo, which was originally laid out as the Dare county seat in 1870.

Oxobeef stock cubes introduced by Liebig's Extract of Meat Company.

Gold is discovered in Nome, Alaska.

HP Sauce is founded.

The significance of Chinese oracle bones is discovered.

David Hilbert creates the modern concept of geometry with the publication of his book "Grundlagen der Geometrie".

Japan gets the right of extraterritoriality.

A large standing stone at Stonehenge falls over, the most recent time this has happened.

The German Trade Union Congress recognizes Collective bargaining.

The International Council of Nurses is founded.

The Stefan-Boltzmann law is discovered by Jozef Stefan.

The Hall effect is discovered by Dr. Edwin Hall.

Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black school, is founded.

Tetteh Quarshie first brings cocoa to Ghana from Equatorial Guinea.

Somerville College, Oxford, is founded.

Age of Gabriel ends and the Age of Michael begins according to Johannes Trithemius.

Henry George self-publishes his major work "Progress and Poverty" in September, published in 1880 by Appleton Co.

Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

Colonel Ahmed Arabi forms the Egyptian Nationalist Party.

Henrik Ibsen (while living in Italy) publishes his masterpiece, "A Doll’s House".

The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is formed.

The Fulham F.C. is founded.

Wilhelm Wundt establishes the first psychology research laboratory at the University of Leipzig.

Ferdinand Cheval begins to build his "Palais Idéal" in France.

The 12.8-km Fréjus Rail Tunnel through the Alps is completed.

Infanticide is banned in India.

Just one of the 916 members of the Indian Civil Service is Indian.

The Co-operative Central Board (later Co-operatives UK) is founded in Manchester.

Arabella A. Mansfield became the first woman in the United States awarded a license to practice law, at Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

The capital of the Isle of Man moves from Castletown to Douglas.

Southern Illinois University, Carbondale is founded.

Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" is published complete in book form.

Triple Alliance forces take Asunción in the Paraguayan War.

Abdur Rahman Khan is exiled from Afghanistan.

The Glasgow University Rugby Football Club is founded.

Friedrich Miescher discovers deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

James Gordon Bennett, Jr. of the "New York Herald" asks Henry Morton Stanley to find Dr. Livingstone.

French missionary and naturalist Père Armand David receives the skin of a giant panda from a hunter, the first time this species has become known to a Westerner.

Basutoland becomes a British protectorate.

Marcus Jastrow arrives in the United States to become rabbi of Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia.

Farmington Senior High School (Minnesota) is built

Francisco Solano López becomes the dictator of Paraguay.

A smallpox epidemic breaks out in California.

Donald McIntyre builds a settlement in northwest Queensland. This later becomes the town of Julia Creek, Queensland.

Richard Jordan Gatling patents the Gatling gun.

The Notts County Football Club is founded.

American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia into two pieces. Meanwhile, the Battle of Stones River is fought near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Ramón Castilla loses power second time in Peru.

Anna Leonowens accepts an offer made by the Siamese consul in Singapore, Tan Kim Ching, to teach the wives and children of Mongkut, the Kking of Siam.

The PrussianAssembly rejects the military budget.

The Mormons abandon Las Vegas, Nevada.

AmericanpoliticianWilliam Daniel proposes the Local Option for prohibition.

1857–1924 ndash 7 out of 10 people who land in Argentina are single males between 13 and 40 years old.

Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, Ontario, as the capital of Canada.

Illinois State University, the first public university in Illinois, is established in Normal, Illinois

Kuala Lumpur, the future capital of Malaysia, is founded as a tin mining settlement.

Hollywood is founded.

La Tene culture artifacts are discovered in Switzerland by Hansli Kopp.

Austria forces the Ottoman Empire to cede Bukovina.

Typhoon Liengkieki devastates the Pacific atoll of Pingelap.

John Wilkinson (industrialist) invents and patents a new kind of boring machine.

First Anglo-Maratha war fought between the British and the Marathas in India.It ended with the Treaty of Salbai(1782).

American Revolution: British forces repulse an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec.

Catherine the Great gives the nobles absolute control over their serfs.

James Watt's 1769 steam engine patent is extended to June 1800 by Act of Parliament and the first engines are built under it.

Tseax Cone in northwestern British Columbia erupts.

A smallpox epidemic begins in New England.

Industrial Revolution in Great Britain

After 23 years of construction, Spain completes Castillo de San Marcos to protect St. Augustine, Florida from foreign threats.

A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid it.

Russia declares war on Turkey.

Gold is discovered in Brazil.

After many years of construction, the Potala Palace is completed.

In Amsterdam, the bank Wed. Jean Deutz Sn. floats the first sovereign bonds on the local market. The scheme is designed to fund a 1.5 million guilders loan to the Emperor. From that date on, European leaders commonly took advantage of the low interest rates available in the Republic and borrow several hundred millions on the Dutch capital market.

English manufacturers call for an embargo on Indian cloth and silk weavers picket the House of Commons.

In England, Parliament decides against a renewal of the Licensing Act, putting an end to royal censorship of printing presses and so clearing the way for a free press on the Act's expiry in 1696.

A £2 fine is imposed for swearing in England.

In response to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, a group of Huguenots set sail from France and settle in the recently established Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope where, using their native skills, they establish the first South African vineyards.

The Dutch East India Company sends 2000 soldiers under the command of Jan Pieterszoon Coen to the Banda Islands in order to force the local inhabitants to accept the Dutch trade monopoly on the lucrative nutmeg, grown almost exclusively on the Banda islands. The soldiers proceed to massacre most of the 15,000 indigenous inhabitants.

Tamblot starts the Tamblot Uprising

The Swedish city of Gothenburg is founded by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. The king also grants city rights to Luleå, Piteå and Torneå (Tornio). Riga falls under the rule of Sweden.

Thirty Years\\' War: The Peace of Nikolsburg is signed between Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and Gabor Bethlen, Prince of Transylvania. Bethlen agreed to renounce his claims to Hungary. In return Bethlen received several counties and lands along the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire, and Moravia was granted religious freedom.

The Dutch mathematician and astronomer, Willebrord Snel van Royen (1580–1626), discovers the famous law of refraction, also known as Snellius' law.

The Venezuelan city of Petare is founded by Spanish conquistadors as San Jose de Guanarito.

William Gilbert publishes "De Magnete", which describes the Earth's magnetic field and is the beginning of modern Geomagnetism.

Martin Möller is appointed chief pastor of Görlitz.

Fabritio Caroso's "Nobiltà de dame" is published.

Ulster chieftains, with the lead of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, resist the English reconquest of Ireland.

William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is first performed and his play "The Merchant of Venice" is published.

East India Company granted a Royal Charter in Kingdom of England.

Ulster chieftains, with the lead of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, resist the English reconquest of Ireland.

A Persian embassy arrives in Prague and meets with Rudolf II.

The Lutheran orthodox caign intensifies to reinforce the Book of Concord (approximate date).

William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is first performed and his play "The Merchant of Venice" is published.

Sumo wrestling becomes a professional sport in Japan.

12 million pesos of silver cross the Pacific. Although it is unknown just how much silver flowed from the Spanish base of Manila in the Philippines to the Ming Dynasty of China, it is known that the main port for the Mexican silver trade—Acapulco—shipped out 150,000 to 345,000 kg (4 to 9 million taels) of silver annually from this year to 1602.

Tycho writes his preface to the Emperor Rudolf II in his book, "Mecanica".

Yaqob succeeds his father Sarsa Dengel as Emperor of Ethiopia.

Bali is discovered by the Dutch explorer Cornelis Houtman.

Jacopo Peri writes "Dafne", now recognised as the first opera.

Abbas I ends the Uzbek raids on his lands.

A Dutch Expedition commanded by Frederick de Houtman returns to Amsterdam after having successfully reached the Spice Islands. This achievement opens the Spice trade, which had until then been monopolised by the Portuguese, to the Dutch, who in the next years launch several more expeditions to the Indies.

The first edition of Francis Bacon's "Essays" is published.

Ismail I starts to rule.

The King's School in Macclesfield is founded by Sir John Percyvale.

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa is proceeded to licentiate.

Wilhelm Bombast moves to Villach with his son, Paracelsus.

Ivan III of Russia and Meñli I Giray of Crimea attack the Grand Duchy of Lithuania without much success.

In Italy, Asher Lämmlein declares that the Jewish Messiah will arrive in the next 6 months, resulting in the 'year of penance.'

The first African slaves brought to the New World arrive at the island of Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and Dominican Republic).

In Germany, Peter Henlein of Nuremberg uses iron parts and coiled springs to build a portable timepiece.

Cesare Borgia (son of Pope Alexander VI) occupies Urbino, where he imprisons two potentially treacherous allies, Vitellozzo and Oliveretto he executes them the next morning.

Wittenberg University is founded.

Aztec ruler Auitzotl dies Moctezuma II is elected emperor.

Meñli I Giray of Crimea destroys Saray, capital of the Big Horde.

'Newfoundland' gets its name from a letter.

An Italian translation of Herodotus\' Histories done for Count Matteo Maria Boiardo is published in Venice.

Europe's population is estimated at 56.7 million ("Spielvogel").

December 31 ndash The last of the incunabula are published.

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa is admitted to baccalaureate.

Saxony's mint at Annaberg begins producing guldengroschens.

In Ming Dynasty China, the commercial transportation of grain to the northern border in exchange for salt certificates is monetized.

Casimir IV Jagiello, of the Jagiello Royal House, ends his reign (1427–1492).

Martin Behaim constructs the first surviving globe of Earth, the Erdapfel. As Columbus would only return from his voyage in 1493, this globe does not show the New World yet.

Russians build a fortress in Ivangorod, on the eastern banks of the Narva river.

Antonio de Nebrija publishes the first grammar text for the language of Castile in Salamanca, which he introduces to Ferdinand and Isabella as a tool of empire.

About 100,000 Jews are expelled from Sicily.

Ermysted\'s Grammar School, Skipton, North Yorkshire, founded.

Marsilio Ficino publishes his translation and commentary of Plotinus.

The first arboretum to be designed and planted is the Arboretum Trsteno, near Dubrovnik in Croatia.

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is deposed by his son, Henry V.

Sylvester II is elected antipope in Rome by the supporters of the Holy Emperor.

The Almoravid emir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, sends a maritime expedition to Palestine from Sevilla to ward off the Crusaders and maybe to reconquer Jerusalem. The fleet of more or less seventy ships rusn into a storm in the Mediterranean and is never seen again.ref name=lameretlesmusulmansPicard C. (1997) "La mer et les musulmans d'Occident au Moyen Age". Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

Roger II of Sicily becomes the Count of Sicily.

Upon the death of Inge the Elder, he is succeeded by his nephew Philip as king of Sweden.

First mention of the consuls of Pavia indicating that the city has become an independent commune.

Michael II succeeds Michael I as Patriarch of Alexandria.

Borivoj becomes duke of Bohemia.

The Autonomous Bulgarian Archbishopric is established.

Malta is conquered by Arabs from Sicily.

The Danes are defeated by a Saxon army at Englefield, Berkshire. It is the first of a series of battles between Wessex and the Danes.

Charles the Bald marries Richilde.

Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Gothic garrison of Palermo (Panormos), and ending his consulship for the year.

Hanzei succeeds his brother Richu, and becomes the 18th emperor of Japan.

Fa-Hien, Chinese traveler, arrives in India. He visit the major seats of Buddhist learning (Udyana, Peshawar, and Taxila).

Cultivation of rye, oats, hops, and spelt (a wheat used for livestock feed) is introduced into Europe by the invading Vandals, Alans, and Scirii, who also introduce a heavy wheeled plow to be used for farming.

Vandals, Alans and Suebianscross the Rhine at Mogontiacum (modern Mainz), beginning an invasion of Gaul (traditional date, this may have occurred in 405).

Stained glass is used for the first time in churches in Rome.

A fire destroys Galen's library.

Lü Bu murders his stepfather Dong Zhuo, Chancellor of the Han Dynasty.

Syrian Christians establish a Christian community in Kerala, India.

Emperor Commodus alarms the Senate by appearing dressed as a gladiator for his new consulship (January 1). His mistress, Marcia, finds her name on the imperial execution list and hires the chion wrestler named Narcissus to assassinate Commodus. The Antonines dynasty ends.

The kingdom of Cha begins to control south and central Vietnam (approximate date).

Civil war again strikes Rome (192–193).