Unix Timestamp: 963619200
Saturday, July 15. 2000, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashes near Qazvin, Iran, killing all 168 on board.

Caspian Airlines Flight 7908, flying from Tehran to Yerevan, Armenia with 153 passengers and 15 crew members on board, crashes in Iran shortly after takeoff. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8151327.stm (BBC) //www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=100732sectionid=3510212 (Press TV)

July 20 – World Youth Day takes place in Sydney, Australia. Pope Benedict XVI appears at the event.

Twitter is launched.

John Walker Lindh, the so-called American Taliban, pled guilty to two charges, and prosecutors dropped the rest. He will be sentenced in October.

In Washington, D.C., American TalibanJohn Walker Lindh pleads guilty to aiding the enemy and possession of explosives during the commission of a felony Lindh agrees to serve 10 years in prison for each charge.

Spree killer Andrew Cunanan shoots fashion designer Gianni Versace to death outside Versace's Miami, Florida residence.

July 21 ndash The planet Jupiter is hit by 21 large fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 over the course of 6 days.

Chemical Bank and Manufacturers Hanover Corporation announce that they are merging, the largest bank merger in history.

Tamil Tigers kill 168 Muslims in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Geoffrey Prime, a GCHQ civil servant, is remanded in custody on charges under the Official Secrets Act 1911.

A severe and destructive thunderstorm strikes 4 counties in western Wisconsin, including the city of Eau Claire. It causes over $250m in damage, and 1 person is killed.

Anti-drug caigner Donald Mackay disappears near Griffith, New South Wales (presumed murdered).

Jimmy Carter is nominated for U.S. President at the Democratic National Convention in New York City.

The Pruitt–Igoe housing development is demolished in Saint Louis, Missouri.

The soap opera "One Life to Live" premieres on ABC.

Greek Prime minister George Papandreou and his government are dismissed by King Constantine II.

A strike occurs against the United States' steel industry.

In Lebanon, 5,000 United States Marines land in the capital Beirut in order to protect the pro-Western government there.

The Scott Morrison Award of Minor Hockey Excellence was first given out to recipient Gordie Howe

WWII: Adolf Hitler makes a peace appeal to Britain in an address to the Reichstag. Lord Halifax, the British foreign minister, flatly rejects peace terms in a broadcast reply on July 22.

U.S. politics: The Democratic Party begins its national convention in Chicago, and nominates Franklin D. Roosevelt for an unprecedented third term as president.

WWII: Allied victory at the Battle of Cape Spada and five destroyers sink the Italian cruiser "Bartolomeo Colleoni".

85 protesters and five policemen are left dead after left-wing protesters and the Austrian police clash in Vienna. More than 600 people are injured. See Massacre of July 15, 1927.

BEST buses make their début in Bombay.

August ndash The "Spanish Flu" (influenza) becomes pandemic over 30 million people die in the following 6 months (almost twice as many as died during the war).

WWI ndash Second Battle of the Marne: The battle begins near the River Marne with a German attack.

Shooting of the Romanov family: By order of the Bolshevik Party and carried out by the Cheka, Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, their children, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei, and retainers are executed at the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

WWI:

In Seattle, Washington, William Boeing incorporates "Pacific Aero Products" (later renamed "Boeing").

Archie MacLaren scores County Chionship cricket record innings of 424 for Lancashire against Somerset at Taunton.

The Reservation at Niagara Falls opens, enabling access to all for free. Thomas V. Welch is the first Superintendent of the Park.

The Utah Expedition leaves Fort Leavenworth, effectively beginning the Utah War.

Indian rebellion of 1857: The second massacre at Kanpur takes place.

Last use of prison hulks in the United Kingdom.

The Austrian Empire, the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Russian Empire sign the Convention of London with the Sublime Porte, ruler of the Ottoman Empire.

The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union.

Pedro II is declared of age prematurely and begins to reassert central control in Brazil.

The Spanish Inquisition, which began in the 15th century, is suppressed by royal decree.

The Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome is almost completely destroyed by fire.

Napoleon boards off Rochefort and surrenders to Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland of the Royal Navy.

September ndash Austria, Prussia and Russia sign a Holy Alliance to uphold the European status quo.

August ndash English seal hunter Abraham Bristow discovers the Auckland Islands.

Pike expedition: Near St. Louis, Missouri, United States Army Lieutenant Zebulon Pike leads an expedition from Fort Bellefontaine to explore the west.

In the Egyptian port city of Rosetta, French Captain Pierre Bouchard finds the Rosetta Stone.

Lord's cricket ground is established and the MCC incorporated.

Alexei Chirikov sights land in Southeast Alaska. He sends some men aboard in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to visit Alaska.

The Duke of Monmouth is executed at Tower Hill, London.

The Narragansett tribe signs a peace treaty with Connecticut.

The Royal Society receives an official charter.

The ship "Speedwell" departs Delfshaven with the Leiden colonists and Pilgrims.

December ndash Vlad II Dracul, ruler of Wallachia, and his eldest son Mircea are assassinated. Vladislav II succeeds him with the assistance of John Hunyadi.

The Albanian-Venetian War of 1447-1448.

According to "Ryū"'s own sources, Iizasa Ienao founds Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu, the earliest historically verifiable Japanese "koryū" martial art that is still extant today.

The Siege of Soest in the course of the "Soester Fehde"

The Inquisition is revived in Spain.

The Prague Astronomical Clock (also known as Prague Orloj) was built by Mikuláš of Kadaň and Jan Šindel in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

Construction begins on Castle Woerden in the Netherlands.

Antipope John XXIII is elected.

Jan Hus is excommunicated by the Archbishop of Prague.

Battle of Grunwald (also known as Tannenberg or Žalgiris): Polish and Lithuanian forces under cousins Jogaila and Vytautas the Great decisively defeat the forces of the Teutonic Knights, whose power is broken.

Sancho II of Portugal conquers the cities of Ayamonte and Cacella over the Muslims as part of the Reconquista.ref name=picard2000

Saint Maurice starts to be portrayed as a Moor.

Battle of the Neva: RussianprinceAlexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes, saving Russia from a full-scale enemy invasion from the North.

The civil war era in Norway ends.

The Flemish village Kaprijke is recognized as a city.

Pope lays down the principle that Jews are doomed to perpetual servitude because they had crucified Jesus.

Ladislaus II of Hungary is declared King of Hungary.

Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa seizes and destroys Milan, scattering its inhabitants among four villages.