Unix Timestamp: 1076544000
Thursday, February 12. 2004, 12:00:00 AM UTC

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.

Riots break out between New South Wales Police and Aboriginal residents of Redfern, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia.

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.

San Francisco, California, begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in an act of civil disobedience.

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