Unix Timestamp: 996969600
Sunday, August 5. 2001, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Bolivian President Evo Morales expresses concern in La Paz about the possibility that the “Pinochetistas” in Chile and the “fascist right” in Argentina could win the general elections in those countries and that it would be very serious for Latin American democracy and for South America. //en.mercopress.com/2009/08/05/morales (MercoPress)

Two United States journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who had been detained by North Korea, return home with former U.S. President Bill Clinton. //edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/08/04/nkorea.clinton/index.html (CNN)

U.S. President George W. Bush, on his way to Beijing to attend the Olympics, stops in South Korea and Thailand. //www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,396761,00.html (FOX News)

Holocaust survivors protest outside the Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert's office over the level of support from Israel. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6931812.stm (BBC)

A powerful car bomb explodes outside the Marriott Hotel //www.marriott.com/dpp/PropertyPage.asp?MarshaCode=AMMJR, killing at least fourteen people and injuring about 150 in downtown Jakarta, a popular district for foreigners. It is believed to be a suicide bombing. The blast comes two days before a Bali court was due to deliver the verdict of the first suspect of the 2002 Bali terrorist bombing and four days after President Megawati Sukarnoputri vowed to wipe out terrorist networks in Indonesia. Jemaah Islamiyah claimed responsibility for the attack through a Singapore newspaper. //straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/topstories/story/0,4386,203327,00.html?//apnews.myway.com/article/20030806/D7SOB9NG0.html

The Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion, approves its first openly gay bishop as the final vote was cast to confirm Gene Robinson as the Diocese of New Hshire. Robinson was cleared of allegations of misconduct before the vote. The action incites protests, a declaration of a pastoral emergency, and calls for intervention by the Anglican Communion chief bishops. //apnews.myway.com/article/20030806/D7SOAJ9G0.html//www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,93903,00.html//www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=7281F6FF-B2B9-49B3-86EE432F76D63123

The gun turret of the was raised from the sea bottom off the coast of North Carolina, where it had lain since sinking in 1862.

Croatian forces take Knin and continue to advance.

Woodstock \'94 begins in Saugerties, New York. It is the 25-year anniversary of Woodstock in 1969.

The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike is called, ending the 1994 MLBSeason

Groups of protesters spread from Havana, Cuba's Castillo de la Punta (Point Castle), creating the first protests against Fidel Castro's government since 1959.

Prime Minister of New Zealand David Lange resigns for health reasons and is replaced by Geoffrey Palmer.

"STS-28": Space Shuttle "Columbia" takes off on a secret 5-day military mission.

The asteroid 4769 Castalia is the first asteroid directly imaged by radar from Arecibo.

Federal Express purchases Flying Tiger Line for approximately 800 million U.S. dollars.

Toshiki Kaifu becomes Prime Minister of Japan.

Jaime Paz Zamora is elected President of Bolivia, taking office the next day.

U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX) and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia.

The presidents of five Central American countries agree that the U.S.-backed "contras" fighting the government of Nicaragua should be disbanded and evicted from their bases in Honduras by December 5.

A nudist beach is established in Brighton.

The Polisario Front signs a peace treaty with Mauritania. Mauritania withdraw from the Western Sahara territory it had occupied, and ceded it to the SADR.

Raymond Washington, co-founder of the Crips, today one of the largest, most notorious gangs in the United States, is killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles (his killers have not yet been identified).

The Great Clock of Westminster (or Big Ben) suffers internal damage and stops running for over nine months.

British Leyland Motor Corporation comes under British government control.

The Banqiao Dam, in China's Henan Province, fails after a freak typhoon over 200,000 people perish.

U.S. President Ford posthumously restores the U.S. citizenship of General Robert E. Lee, leader of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.

Samuel Bronfman II, son of the president of Seagram's, is kidnapped in Purchase, New York.

Founder President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh is killed during a coup led by MajorSyed Faruque Rahman.

Governor Mário Lemos Pires of PortugueseEast Timor abandons the capital Dili, following a UDT coup and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin.

The Birmingham Six are wrongfully sentenced to life imprisonment in Great Britain.

Black September members open fire at the Athens airport 3 are killed, 55 injured.

The death of Dean Corll leads to the discovery of the Houston Mass Murders: 28 boys were killed by 3 men.

South Korean politician Kim Dae-Jung is kidnapped in Tokyo by the KCIA.

South Pacific Forum (SPF)

The Beatles at 11:30 have photographer Iain Macmillan take their photo on a zebra crossing on Abbey Road.

The Haunted Mansion attraction opens at Disneyland California. Later versions opened in Florida, Tokyo and Paris.

Mariner program: "Mariner 7" makes its closest fly-by of Mars (3,524 kilometers).

Followers of Charles Manson murder Sharon Tate, (who was eight months pregnant), and her friends: Folgers coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, and Hollywood hairstylist Jay Sebring at the home of Tate and her husband, Roman Polanski, in Los Angeles, California. Also killed was Steven Parent, leaving from a visit to the Polanskis' caretaker. More than 100 stab wounds are found on the victims, except for Parent, who had been shot almost as soon as the Manson Family entered the property.

A fire breaks out in the Bannerman's Castle in the Hudson River most of the roof collapses and crashes down to the lower levels.

August 8 ndash The Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida nominates Richard Nixon for U.S. President and Spiro Agnew for Vice President.

Pink Floyd releases their debut album "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" in the United Kingdom.

The United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union sign a nuclear test ban treaty.

Upper Volta, now known as Burkina Faso, becomes independent from France.

In the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Albert Kalonji declares the independence of the Autonomous State of South Kasai.

Cuban Revolution: In response to a United States embargo against Cuba, Fidel Castro nationalizes all American and foreign-owned property in Cuba.

"American Bandstand", a local dance show produced by WFIL-TV in Philadelphia, joins the ABC Television Network.

Operation Big Switch: Prisoners of war are repatriated after the Korean War.

The Treaty of Taipei between Japan and the Republic of China goes into effect, to officially end the Second Sino-Japanese War.

A 6.75 Richter scaleearthquake in Ecuador kills 6,000 and destroys 50 towns.

Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft, the "Kon-Tiki", smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101 day, 4,300 mile, voyage across the Eastern Pacific Ocean, proving that pre-historic peoples could hypothetically have traveled to the Central Pacific islands from South America.

The Netherlands stops all political actions in Indonesia.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah becomes the first Governor General of Pakistan. Liaqat Ali Khan takes office as the first Prime Minister of Pakistan

Louis Mountbatten becomes the first Governor General of India. Jawaharlal Nehru takes office as the first Prime Minister of India.

The Muslim majority region formed by the Partition of India gain independence from the British Empire and adopts the name "'Pakistan"'. While the transition is officially at midnight on this day, Pakistan celebrates its independence on August 14, compared with India on the 15th, because the Pakistan Standard Time is 30 minutes behind the standard time of India.

The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).

The greater Indian subcontinent with a mixed population of Hindus, Muslims,Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Jews, etc. formed by the Partition of India gain independence from the British Empire and retains the name "'India"'.

The Soviet Union commences one of the largest caigns of the Great Purge, to eliminate anti-Soviet elements. Within the following year, at least 724,000 people are killed on order of the troikas, directed by Joseph Stalin. This was an offensive that targeted social classes (such as the kulaks), ethnic or racial backgrounds which were seen as non-Russian, and Stalin's personal opponents from the Communist Party and their sympathizers.

The Leo Burnett Advertising Agency opens in Chicago, Illinois.

Eastbourne Bandstand officially opened in Eastbourne, United Kingdom.

August 23 ndash Hurricane Two of the 1915 Atlantic hurricane season over Galveston and New Orleans leaves 275 dead.

16 ndash Battle of Liège: The German Army overruns and defeats the Belgians.

Berta Benz arrives in Pforzheim, having driven from Mannheim in a car manufactured by her husband Karl Benz, thus completing the first long-distance drive in the history of the automobile.

The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.

The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.

Standard Oil of New Jersey is established.

American Civil War ndash Battle of Mobile Bay: At Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama, Admiral David Farragut leads a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and seals one of the last major Southern ports.

American Civil War ndash Battle of Baton Rouge: Along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate troops drive Union forces back into the city.

Cyrus West Field and others complete the first transatlantic telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. The service ends on September 1 due to weak current.

War of 1812: Tecumseh's Indian force ambushes Thomas Van Horne's 200 Americans at Brownstone Creek, causing them to flee and retreat.

Mount Asama erupts, causing turmoil in Edo period Japan.

The First Partition of Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth begins.

Pontiac's War ndash Battle of Bushy Run: British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac's Indians at Bushy Run in the Pennsylvania backcountry.

Pontiac\\\\'s War ndash Battle of Bushy Run: British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac's Indians at Bushy Run in the Pennsylvania backcountry.

August ndash Fire in Smyrna, Turkey, destroys 2,600 houses.

Battle of Petrovaradin: 83,300 Austrian troops of Prince Eugene of Savoy defeat 150,000 Ottoman Turks under Damad Ali Pasha.

A force of 1,500 Iroquois attacks the village of Lachine, in New France.

14 ndash The King\\\\'s Men perform Thomas Middleton's satire "A Game at Chess" at the Globe Theatre, London, until it is suppressed in view of its allusions to the Spanish Match.

14 ndash The King's Men perform Thomas Middleton's satire "A Game at Chess" at the Globe Theatre, London, until it is suppressed in view of its allusions to the Spanish Match.

Battle of Les Ponts-de-Cé, Poitou: French king Louis XIII defeats his mother Marie de' Medici.

The mother of Johannes Kepler is arrested for witchcraft.

O.S.) ndash The "Mayflower" and "Speedwell" depart together from Plymouth, England, but the "Speedwell" starts to leak again and must stop.

Thirty Years\' War ndash Battle of Věstonice: Bohemian forces defeat the Austrians.

Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in what is now the city of St John\'s, Newfoundland, claims the island of Newfoundland on behalf of England, marking the beginning of the British Empire.

Henry Sidney is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

August ndash Calvinists destroy religious art in the Low Countries.

September 7 ndash Battle of Szigetvár: 2,300 Hungarian and Croatian defenders are annihilated by an army of 90,000 soldiers of the Ottoman Empire.

Nicolaus Copernicus publishes "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" in Nuremberg (these last two events can be considered as leading to the Scientific Revolution.//mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc2/lectures/scientificrev.html WNEC

SeptemberndashOctober ndash Landrecies in Picardy is besieged by forces under Emperor Charles V, but withdraw on the approach of the French army.

Martin Luther publishes "On the Jews and Their Lies".

Third Succession Act: Elizabeth is restored to the order of succession to the throne of England.

Turkish and French troops under Hayreddin Barbarossa occupy Nice.

Lighthouse of Genoa completed in present form.

The Japanese receive the first firearms from shipwrecked Portuguese.

Andreas Vesalius publishes "De humani corporis fabrica" ("On the Fabric of the Human Body"), revolutionising the science of human anatomy.

Mikael Agricola publishes "Abckiria".

Indians in Spanish colonies are declared free against the wish of local settlers.

The city of Maracaibo, Venezuela is founded by Ambrosius Ehinger.

Emperor Charles V and Francis I of France sign the Treaty of Cambrai, or the Ladies' Peace. Francis abandons his claims in Italy, but is allowed to retain Burgundy. Henry VIII of England accedes on August 27.ref name=Cassell's Chronology

Buda is recaptured by the invading Turkish forces.

Emperor Charles V and Francis I of France sign the Treaty of Cambrai, or the Ladies\\\' Peace. Francis abandons his claims in Italy, but is allowed to retain Burgundy. Henry VIII of England accedes on August 27.ref name=Cassell's Chronology

Bartholomew Columbus, brother of Christopher Columbus, founds the city of Santo Domingo, now part of the Dominican Republic, making it the oldest American City and permanent settlement in the New World.

August 7 ndash The first outbreak of sweating sickness in England begins.

August 5 - Battle of PonzaAlfonso V of Aragon captured at Genuezen

Charles VI of France suffers a second serious attack of madness.

Manuel II Palaiologos becomes Byzantine Emperor after his father, John V Palaiologos, dies of a nervous breakdown due to his continued humiliation by the Ottoman Empire.

Vytautas the Great, claimant to the throne of Lithuania, forms an alliance with Muscovy.

The University of Ferrara is founded in present-day Italy.

Shah Mansur becomes leader of the Timurid occupied Muzaffarid Empire in central Persia.

Roman I succeeds Petru I as Prince of Moldavia (now Moldova and eastern Romania).

Yusuf II succeeds Muhammed V as Nasrid Sultan of Granada (now southern Spain).

Ushkuinik pirates from Novgorod sack the Muscovy towns of Zhukotin and Kazan.

Anti-Jewish riots spread to Toledo, Spain and Barcelona. Many Jews leave Barcelona after the following massacres, though a large number remain in the city.

Bridget of Sweden is canonized by Pope Boniface IX.

Ming government orders 50 million trees planted in Nanjing area.

The Chinese invent toilet paper for use by their emperors.

A group of Muzaffarids under Zafar Khan Muzaffar establish a new Sultanate at Gujarat in western India.

Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, takes control of the Shetland Islands and the Faroe Islands.

Konrad von Wallenrode succeeds Konrad Zöllner von Rotenstein as Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights.

Stephen Dabiša succeeds Stephen Tvrtko I as King of Bosnia.

Battle of Otterburn: A Scottish army, led by James Douglas, defeats an English army, capturing the their leader, Harry Hotspur. Douglas is killed during the battle.

Philip IV of France accuses the Knights Templar of heresy.

Wenceslas III becomes king of Bohemia.

English troops capture William Wallace.

Anti-Jewish riots break out in Arnstadt (modern-day Germany). In Spain, King James I of Aragon reconquers the cities of Orihuela in Alicante and Elx in Valencia from the Moors, ending over 500 years of Islamic rule.

Antipope Paschal III is elected by cardinals supporting Frederick Barbarossa.

Uppsala is recognized as the seat of the Swedish metropolitan with the coronation of its first archbishop Stefan by the pope.

Olaf II of Norway is canonized as Saint Olaf.

Archbishop Rainald of Dassel brings relics of the Magi from Milan to Cologne.

at the death of his brother, William II, Henry I Beauclerc becomes King of England. The power of the new monarch is ill-assured and to mollify the barons he has to grant them the Charter of Liberties, one of the first exles of written constitution in Europe.

The Benedictine monastery of Cluny is founded.

Gabriel I of Alexandria becomes Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

The allied forces of Mercia and Wessex defeat an army of Northumbrian Vikings in the Battle of Tettenhall

The caliphate of Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah (of the Fatimid dynasty) is established after he enters the former Aghlabid capital of Raqqada, in modern Tunisia.

Emperor Taizong of Tang issues a decree throughout China that increases the punishment for men who deliberately inflict injuries upon themselves (most commonly breaking their own legs) in order to avoid military conscription. This decree is an effort to eradicate this practice that has grown as a trend since the time of the rebellion against the Sui Dynasty.

Battle of Nehawand: Arabs conquer Persia.

Empress Kōgyoku ascends to the throne of Japan.

Batbayan succeeds Kubrat as ruler of the Bulgars (approximate date).

Arabs conquer Alexandria.

Yeon Gaesomun seizes power over the Goguryeo kingdom and places King Bojang on the throne.

In the Battle of Maserfield, Penda, king of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald, king of Bernicia.

The earliest surviving dated Arabic papyrus, PERF 558, and the earliest known Arabic text with diacritical marks is written.