Unix Timestamp: 1045008000
Wednesday, February 12. 2003, 12:00:00 AM UTC


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Friday, February 12, 2010

2010 Winter Olympics:
February 28 ndash The 2010 Winter Olympics are held in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

European Space Agency's Columbus module is attached to the International Space Station. //www.nytimes.com/2008/02/11/science/space/11cnd-shuttle.html ("The New York Times")
Russia and Ukraine resolve a dispute over Ukraine's natural gas debt which saw Gazprom threatening to cut off supplies. //www.afp.com/english/news/stories/080212191939.2gwyi77k.html (AFP)

Monday, February 12, 2007

United States Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Christopher R. Hill, announces that tentative agreement has been reached over North Korean nuclear disarmament pending review by the signatories. //edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/02/12/nkorea.talks/index.html?section=cnn_latest (CNN)

Thursday, February 12, 2004

City officials in San Francisco, California, start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, performing the first known civil marriage of a same-sex couple in the U.S. by marrying a lesbian couple, gay rights activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. Over 80 couples whisked through quick ceremonies.//story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storycid=519e=2u=/ap/gay_marriage_calif
South Korean scientists announce the world's first successfully cloned human embryo. //www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_1672523.html//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3480921.stm
Scientists in South Korea announce the cloning of 30 human embryos.
Controversy erupts in Canada over a segment of Conan O'Brien's NBC television talk show, filmed in Quebec City and shown to a studio audience in Toronto, featuring his character Triumph the Insult Dog making ethnic insults against French-Canadians, including telling them to speak English. The Canadian government condemns the comments. The Government of Ontario, which had paid to sponsor the taping of four episodes of the show in Toronto to promote the city, also distances itself from the comments.
Athens gets hit by a major blizzard which blankets the entire city for days, causing widespread havoc.
The roof of the Transvaal water park in Moscow collapses, killing 25 and injuring more than 100.
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
A major blizzard hits Athens, stranding thousands of drivers in main avenues of the city and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights in Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport. //www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/02/13/conan_quebec040213
Virginia House of Delegates give preliminary approval to legislation that would ban the recognition of same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. //www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0204/13vagay.html

Monday, February 12, 2001

NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the saddle region of 433 Eros becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the saddle region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.

Saturday, February 12, 2000

Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Tom Landry, Charles M. Schulz, and Oliver die, of unrelated causes.

Friday, February 12, 1999

Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take over embassies and hold hostages after Turkey arrests one of their rebel leaders.
In Uzbekistan, an apparent assassination attempt against President Islam Karimov takes place at government headquarters.

Friday, February 12, 1993

Glafcos Clerides defeats incumbent George Vasiliou in the Cypriot presidential election.
Albert Zafy defeats Didier Ratsiraka in the Madagascar presidential election.
Two-year-old James Bulger is abducted, tortured and murdered by two 10-year-old boys, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson. Both are later charged. See Murder of James Bulger.

Monday, February 12, 1990

Represenatatives of NATO and the Warsaw Pact meet in Ottawa for an Open Skies conference. The conference results in agreements about superpower troop levels in Europe and on German reunification.
German reunification: An agreement is reached for a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.
Drexel Burnham Lambert files for bankruptcy protection, Chapter 11.

Friday, February 12, 1988

Anthony M. Kennedy is appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Monday, February 12, 1979

Prime Minister Hissène Habré starts the Battle of N'Djamena in an attempt to overthrow Chad's President Félix Malloum.

Monday, February 12, 1973

Ohio becomes the first U.S. state to post distance in metric on signs (see Metric system in the United States).

Monday, February 12, 1968

Saturday, February 12, 1966

Friday, February 12, 1965

African and Malagasy Common Organization (OCAM) (Organization Commune Africaine et Malgache) formed as successor to the Afro-Malagasy Union for Economic Cooperation (Union Africaine et Malgache de Cooperation Economique UAMCE), formerly the African and Malagasy Union (Union Africaine et Malgache UAM)).

Tuesday, February 12, 1963

Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 crashes in the Florida Everglades killing all 43 persons aboard.

Sunday, February 12, 1961

The U.S.S.R. launches "Venera 1" towards Venus.

Saturday, February 12, 1955

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends the first U.S. advisors to South Vietnam.

Thursday, February 12, 1953

Nordic Council inaugurated.

Monday, February 12, 1951

Saturday, February 12, 1938

Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg of Austria meets Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden and, under threat of invasion, is forced to yield to German demands for greater Nazi participation in the Austrian government.

Monday, February 12, 1934

The Export-Import Bank is incorporated.

Thursday, February 12, 1931

"Radio Vaticana" first broadcasts.

Sunday, February 12, 1928

Heavy hail kills 11 in England.

Saturday, February 12, 1927

The first British troops land in Shanghai.

Friday, February 12, 1926

The Irish minister for Justice, Kevin O'Higgins, appoints the Committee on Evil Literature.
The Irish minister for Justice, Kevin O'Higgins, appoints the Committee on Evil Literature.

Tuesday, February 12, 1924

"Rhapsody in Blue", by George Gershwin, is first performed in New York City at Aeolian Hall.

Friday, February 12, 1915

In Washington, D.C. the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.

Monday, February 12, 1912

The Qing Dynasty of China, also called the Manchu Dynasty, comes to an end after 268 years.

Sunday, February 12, 1905

In Christchurch, New Zealand, the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament is opened.

Sunday, February 12, 1899

February 14 ndash Great Blizzard of 1899: Freezing temperatures and snow extend well south into North America, including southern Florida. It is the latest in a series of disasters to Florida's citrus industry.

Saturday, February 12, 1898

The electric car belonging to Henry Lindfield of Brighton runs away on a hill in Purley, London, England, and hits a tree thus he becomes the world's first fatality from an automobile accident on the public highway.ref name=Pocket On This Day

Monday, February 12, 1894

French anarchist Émile Henry set off a bomb in a Parisian cafe, killing one person and wounding twenty.
February 12 The bark the 'Elisabeth Rickmers' of Bremerhaven, is wrecked at Haurvig, Denmark, fortunately, all crew and passengers are saved.

Wednesday, February 12, 1879

At New York City's Madison Square Garden, the first artificial ice rink in North America opens.

Wednesday, February 12, 1873

Former foreign minister Emilio Castelar becomes prime minister of the new Spanish Republic.

Saturday, February 12, 1870

Women gain the right to vote in Utah Territory.

Monday, February 12, 1855

Michigan State University (the pioneer land-grant college) is established.

Saturday, February 12, 1853

Puerto Montt is founded in the Reloncaví Sound, Chile.

Wednesday, February 12, 1851

Edward Hargraves claims to have found gold in Australia.

Saturday, February 12, 1825

The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government, and migrate west.

Thursday, February 12, 1818

Wednesday, February 12, 1817

President James Madison vetoes John C. Calhoun's Bonus Bill.
Battle of Chacabuco: The Argentine/Chilean patriotic army defeats the Spanish.
U.S. Congress passes law to split the Mississippi Territory, after Mississippi drafts a constitution, creating the Alabama Territory effective in August.ref name=TN/

Saturday, February 12, 1814

A fire destroys the Custom House, London.

Wednesday, February 12, 1812

Napoleon authorizes the usage of "Mesures usuelles", the basis of the Metric System.

Wednesday, February 12, 1772

The Virginia Assembly amends an act to describe the punishments for the practice of gouging.ref name=Hening

Monday, February 12, 1742

Sunday, February 12, 1736

April ndash The Genbun era begins in Japan. The era of Kyōhō Reforms ends.
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor marries Maria Theresa of Austria, ruler of the Habsburg Empire.

Thursday, February 12, 1733

British colonist James Oglethorpe founds Savannah, Georgia.
April ndash Royal Colony of North Carolina Commissioners John Watson, Joshua Grainger, Michael Higgins and James Wimble plan the town of New Carthage (which would eventually become Wilmington, North Carolina on the east side of the Cape Fear River).
March ndash Molasses Act passed by Parliament of Great Britain, which aided in the negative opinions of the British by American Colonists.

Friday, February 12, 1700

The Great Northern War begins with a joint invasion of Swedish territory in Germany and Latvia by Denmark and Poland/Saxony. Sweden has control of the Baltic Sea and holds territory that includes Finland, Estonia, Latvia and parts of northern Germany. To challenge its power, an alliance is formed between Tsar Peter I of Russia, King Frederick IV of Denmark and Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. Sweden's ruler is the militaristic Charles XII, known as the Swedish Meteor.

Friday, February 2, 1554 (Julianian calendar)

After claiming the throne of England the previous year, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason alongside her husband.

Tuesday, February 2, 1552 (Julianian calendar)

Pedro de Valdivia founds the city of Valdivia as "Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia" in Chile.

Wednesday, February 2, 1541 (Julianian calendar)

Wednesday, February 3, 1473 (Julianian calendar)

Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, invades the territory of the neighboring Aztec city of Tlatelolco. The ruler of Tlatelolco is killed and replaced by a military governor. Tlatelolco loses its independence.
Marsilio Ficino becomes a Catholic priest.
The city walls and defensive moat are built in Celje, Slovenia.
Possible discovery of Bacalao (possibly Newfoundland, North America) by Didrik Pining and João Vaz Corte-Real.
First complete printed edition of Avicenna's "The Canon of Medicine" (in Latin translation) published in Milan.
Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II defeats the White Sheep Turkmens led by Uzun Hasan at Otlukbeli.

Thursday, February 3, 1429 (Julianian calendar)

battle of Rouvray (or of the Herrings): English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army of William de la Pole, 4th Earl of Suffolk at Orléans from attack by the Comte de Clermont and John Stewart.

Tuesday, February 4, 1354 (Julianian calendar)

The Treaty of Stralsund settles border disputes between the duchies of Mecklenburg and Pomerania.

Monday, February 6, 1049 (Julianian calendar)

Pope Leo IX succeeds Pope Damasus II as the 152nd pope.
Source: Wikipedia