Unix Timestamp: 1044921600
Tuesday, February 11. 2003, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Arab Spring: Egyptian PresidentHosni Mubarak resigns after widespread protests calling for his departure, leaving control of Egypt in the hands of the military until a general election can be held.

Morgan Tsvangirai is sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Zimbabwe following the power-sharing deal with PresidentRobert Mugabe signed in September 2008.

Movement for Democratic Change President Morgan Tsvangirai becomes Zimbabwe's new Prime Minister. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7882762.stm (BBC)

Bridgestone, under investigation for an alleged price-fixing cartel, uncovers improper payments of at least 150 million Japanese yen to foreign governments and withdraws from the marine hose business.

PDVSA, a state oil company in Venezuela, suspends sales of crude oil to ExxonMobil, in response to a legal challenge by them.

President of East TimorJosé Ramos-Horta is seriously wounded in an attack on his home by rebel soldiers. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado is killed by Ramos-Horta's security guards during the attack.

President of East Timor José Ramos-Horta is shot and wounded in an attack at his home. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinhado, who led the attack, is killed. //www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/11/2159179.htm (ABC News Australia) //news.theage.com.au/ramoshorta-critical-on-arrival-in-nt/20080211-1rgx.html ("Melbourne Age")

Two people die in protests in Priština, Kosovo over a United Nations plan for the future of the Serbian province. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6351575.stm (BBC)

The United States Army in Iraq announces a dollar reward for the capture of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a leader of the terrorist organization Ansar al-Islam, blamed for the deaths of unknown numbers of Iraqi citizens and U.S. military during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. //www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1482373,00.html

The Sudanese government cancels plans to attend scheduled peace talks in Geneva with western rebels just days after the Sudanese president proclaimed military victory in the insurgency. The talks were scheduled to begin February 14, 2004. At this time, the Sudanese government is contending with a southern rebellion as well.//allafrica.com/stories/200402090363.html

Occupation of Iraq: At least 47 people, mostly Iraqi army recruits, are killed by a car bomb in Baghdad in the second major bomb attack in two days. //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3478339.stm

Scientists in South Korea report that they have created human embryos by cloning and extracted embryonic stem cells. //www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,62254,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1

Pluto moves along its eccentric orbit further from the Sun than Neptune. It had been nearer than Neptune since 1979, and will become again in 2231.

Janet Reno is selected by President Clinton as Attorney General of the United States.

An F-16 jet crashes into a residential district of Hengelo, the Netherlands no casualties are reported.

UNPO, the Unrepresented Nations Peoples Organization, forms in The Hague, Netherlands.

Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison, near Cape Town, South Africa, after 27 years behind bars.

Barbara Clementine Harris is consecrated as the first female bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (and also the first female bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion).

Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini encourages Muslims to kill "The Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie.

The first of 24 Global Positioning System satellites is placed into orbit.

Soviet war in Afghanistan: The Soviet Union announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.

Union Carbide agrees to pay USD $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal Disaster.

Following a caign that saw over 1000 people killed in massive caign-related violence, the United National Party wins the Sri Lankan parliamentary election.

Human rights activist Anatoly Shcharansky is released by the Soviet Union and leaves the country.

Khomeini seizes power in Iran, overthrowing Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi.

Clifford Alexander Jr. is confirmed as the first African-American Secretary of the United States Army.

Vietnam War: The first American prisoners of war are released from Vietnam.

February 12 ndash Palestinian and Jordanian fighters clash in Amman.

The US, UK, USSR and others sign the Seabed Treaty, outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor.

"Ōsumi", Japan's first satellite, is launched on a Lambda-4 rocket.

Burgess Ice Rise lying off the west coast of Alexander Island, Antarctica is first mapped by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).

The Belgian government resigns.

The Beatles record their debut album "Please Please Me" in a single session.

The CIA's Domestic Operations Division is created.

Sylvia Plath commits suicide in London.

British spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean resurface in the Soviet Union after being missing for 5 years.

General Eisenhower is selected to command the Allied armies in Europe.

Operation Cerberus A flotilla of Kriegsmarine ships dash from Brest through the English Channel to northern ports the British fail to sink any one of them.

A sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Automobile Workers Union.

Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty.

The II Olympic Winter Games open in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Clarence Mackay, president of the Postal Telegraph Cable Company, and his wife Katherine are granted a divorce in Paris, France.

Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical "Vehementer Nos".

The Oxnard Strike of 1903 becomes the first time in U.S. history that a labor union is formed from members of different races.

Police and universal suffrage demonstrators are involved in a physical altercation in Brussels.

Oscar Wilde's play Salomé" premieres in Paris.

The lowest ever UK temperature of is recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire. This record is equalled in 1982 and again in 1995.

The Meiji Constitution of Japan is adopted the 1st Diet of Japan convenes in 1890.

The Spanish Cortes deposes King Amadeus I and proclaims the First Spanish Republic.

The Virgin Mary is said to have first appeared to St Bernadette of Lourdes at the Rock of Massabielle. This was the first in a series of apparitions.

Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia.

Major streets are lit by coal gas for the first time.

The first British public toilet for women opens in Bedford Street, London.

Giuseppe Verdi's opera "I Lombardi" premieres in Milan.

The two colonies of The Canadas are merged into the United Province of Canada.

William Hobson, the first Governor of New Zealand, suffers a stroke.

Adolphe Thiers becomes prime minister of France.

Gaetano Donizetti's opera "La fille du régiment" premieres in Paris.

The University of Missouri is established, becoming the first public university west of the Mississippi River.

Norway's independence is proclaimed, marking the ultimate end of the Kalmar Union.

Fort Meigs: Leftwich is not successful, and when he leaves, Major Amos Stoddard assumes the command of the post.

February ndash General Harrison sends out an expedition to burn the British vessels at Fort Malden by going across Lake Erie via the Bass Islands in sleighs, but the ice is not hard enough and the expedition returns.

MassachusettsgovernorElbridge Gerry invents gerrymandering.

Robert Fulton patents the steamboat in the United States.

Anthracite coal is first burned as residential heating fuel by Jesse Fell in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

The first session of the United States Senate is open to the public.

Two Quaker delegates petition the United States Congress for the abolition of slavery.

Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Representatives and sent to the other Thirteen Colonies. Refusal to revoke the letter will result in dissolution of the Massachusetts Assembly and (from October) the occupation of Boston by the British Army (resisted by the citizens).

Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the U.S., is opened.

A combined French and Indian force, commanded by Captain Nicholas Antoine Coulon de Villiers, attacks British troops at Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia.

Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm (Great Northern War).

Tuscarora War: The Tuscarora and their allies sign a peace treaty with the Province of Carolina and agree to move to a reservation near Lake Mattamuskeet, effectively ending the Tuscarora War. Large numbers of Tuscarora subsequently move to New York.

The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses.

Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia and Patriarch Afonso Mendes declare the primacy of the Roman See over the Ethiopian Church and Roman Catholicism the state religion of Ethiopia.

Henry VIII of England is recognised as supreme head of the Church of England.

Creation of the General Council of Inquisition in Spain.

Byzantine Emperor Heraclius dies. He is succeeded by his sons Constantine III and Heracleonas, but Constantine III dies after few months. The Byzantine people suspected that he has been poisoned by Heracleonas, and deposes him. Constans II, son of Constantine III, becomes emperor.

Philip the Arab constructs the city of Shahba (Syria), the province of his birth. The Persians occupied Armenia.

Emperor Gordian III is murdered by mutinous soldiers in Zaitha (Mesopotamia). A mound is raised at Carchemish in his memory.

Philip the Arab is recognized by the Roman Senate as new Roman Emperor and gives his brother Priscus supreme power ("rector Orientis") in the Eastern provinces.

Philippus I is proclaimed "Augustus", he nominates his son Philippus, age 6, with the title of "Caesar" and heir to the throne.

244ndash245 ndash House-synagogue, Dura-Europos, Syria, is built. It is reconstructed in the National Museum of Damascus (Syria).

The silver content of the Roman denarius falls to 0.5 percent under emperor Philippus I, down from 28 percent under Gordian III.

244ndash249 ndash Philip the Arab, is made. It is now kept at Musei Vaticani, Braccio Nuovo, Rome.

Plotinus, Greek philosopher, escapes the bloodshed that accompanies the murder of Gordianus III and makes his way to Antioch. Back to Rome he founds his Neoplatonist school and attracts students like Porphyry, Castricius Firmus and Eustochius of Alexandria.

Philip the Arab declares himself co-emperor and makes a disgraceful peace with the Persians. He evacuates Syria and gives Shapur I 500,000 gold pieces.

Guanqiu Jian of Cao Wei invades Goguryeo, devastating their capital.