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14 January 1858 – Napoleon III of France escapes an assassination attempt made by Felice Orsini and his accomplices in Paris.

Napoleon III

"Louis Napoleon" redirects here. For other uses, see Louis Napoleon (disambiguation).

First President of France and then Emperor of the French as a member of the House of Bonaparte

Emperor of the French

Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 1808 – 9 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew of Napoleon I, he was the last monarch to reign over France. First elected to the presidency of the Second Republic in 1848, he seized power by force in 1851, when he could not constitutionally be reelected; he later proclaimed himself Emperor of the French. He founded the Second Empire, reigning until the defeat of the French Army and his capture by Prussia and its allies at the Battle of Sedan in 1870. He oversaw the modernisation of the French economy and worked to have parts of the centre of Paris rebuilt following Napoleon III style guidelines; he was an overall popular monarch, using plebiscites to guide his action. Napoleon III, who drastically expanded the French overseas empire and made the French merchant marine the second largest in the world, engaged in the Crimean War, the Second Italian War of Independence, the Second Franco-Mexican War, as well as the disastrous Franco-Prussian War, in which he served alongside his soldiers during the fight, an uncommon action for a head of state in the modern era.

Napoleon III commissioned a grand reconstruction of Paris carried out by his prefect of the Seine, Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, accompanied by an elaborate system of parks and gardens. He launched similar public works projects in all other major cities in France. He expanded and consolidated the railway system throughout the nation and acted to modernise the banking system. He promoted the building of the Suez Canal and established modern agriculture, which ended famines in France and made the country an agricultural exporter. He negotiated the 1860 Cobden–Chevalier Free Trade Agreement with Britain and similar agreements with France's other European trading partners. Social reforms included giving French workers the right to strike and the right to organise. The first female students were admitted at the Sorbonne and educational opportunities for women were increased, as did the list of required subjects in public schools.

In foreign policy, Napoleon III aimed to reassert French influence in Europe and around the world. In Europe, he allied with Britain and defeated Russia in the Crimean War (1853–1856). His regime assisted Italian unification by defeating the Austrian Empire in the Franco-Austrian War and later annexed Savoy and Nice through the Treaty of Turin as its deferred reward. At the same time, his forces defended the Papal States against annexation by Italy. He was also favourable towards the 1859 union of the Danubian Principalities, which resulted in the establishment of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. Napoleon III doubled the area of the French overseas empire with expansions in Asia, the Pacific and Africa. On the other hand, the intervention in Mexico, which aimed to create a Second Mexican Empire under French protection, ended in total failure. From 1866, Napoleon III had to face the mounting power of Prussia as its Chancellor Otto von Bismarck sought German unification under Prussian leadership. In July 1870, Napoleon III reluctantly declared war on Prussia after pressure by the public. Without allies and with inferior military forces, the French Army was rapidly defeated as Napoleon III was captured at Sedan. He was swiftly dethroned and the Third Republic was proclaimed in Paris. He went into exile in England, where he died in 1873.

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14 January 1858 – Napoleon III of France escapes an assassination attempt made by Felice Orsini and his accomplices in Paris.

Napoleon III

"Louis Napoleon" redirects here. For other uses, see Louis Napoleon (disambiguation).

First President of France and then Emperor of the French as a member of the House of Bonaparte

Emperor of the French

Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 1808 – 9 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew of Napoleon I, he was the last monarch to reign over France. First elected to the presidency of the Second Republic in 1848, he seized power by force in 1851, when he could not constitutionally be reelected; he later proclaimed himself Emperor of the French. He founded the Second Empire, reigning until the defeat of the French Army and his capture by Prussia and its allies at the Battle of Sedan in 1870. He oversaw the modernisation of the French economy and worked to have parts of the centre of Paris rebuilt following Napoleon III style guidelines; he was an overall popular monarch, using plebiscites to guide his action. Napoleon III, who drastically expanded the French overseas empire and made the French merchant marine the second largest in the world, engaged in the Crimean War, the Second Italian War of Independence, the Second Franco-Mexican War, as well as the disastrous Franco-Prussian War, in which he served alongside his soldiers during the fight, an uncommon action for a head of state in the modern era.

Napoleon III commissioned a grand reconstruction of Paris carried out by his prefect of the Seine, Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, accompanied by an elaborate system of parks and gardens. He launched similar public works projects in all other major cities in France. He expanded and consolidated the railway system throughout the nation and acted to modernise the banking system. He promoted the building of the Suez Canal and established modern agriculture, which ended famines in France and made the country an agricultural exporter. He negotiated the 1860 Cobden–Chevalier Free Trade Agreement with Britain and similar agreements with France's other European trading partners. Social reforms included giving French workers the right to strike and the right to organise. The first female students were admitted at the Sorbonne and educational opportunities for women were increased, as did the list of required subjects in public schools.

In foreign policy, Napoleon III aimed to reassert French influence in Europe and around the world. In Europe, he allied with Britain and defeated Russia in the Crimean War (1853–1856). His regime assisted Italian unification by defeating the Austrian Empire in the Franco-Austrian War and later annexed Savoy and Nice through the Treaty of Turin as its deferred reward. At the same time, his forces defended the Papal States against annexation by Italy. He was also favourable towards the 1859 union of the Danubian Principalities, which resulted in the establishment of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. Napoleon III doubled the area of the French overseas empire with expansions in Asia, the Pacific and Africa. On the other hand, the intervention in Mexico, which aimed to create a Second Mexican Empire under French protection, ended in total failure. From 1866, Napoleon III had to face the mounting power of Prussia as its Chancellor Otto von Bismarck sought German unification under Prussian leadership. In July 1870, Napoleon III reluctantly declared war on Prussia after pressure by the public. Without allies and with inferior military forces, the French Army was rapidly defeated as Napoleon III was captured at Sedan. He was swiftly dethroned and the Third Republic was proclaimed in Paris. He went into exile in England, where he died in 1873.

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15 January 1889 – The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta.

The Coca-Cola Company

This article is about the company. For the carbonated beverage, see Coca-Cola.

American multinational beverage corporation

The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law^[a] and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The Coca-Cola Company has interests in the manufacturing, retailing, and marketing of nonalcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups. The company produces Coca-Cola, invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton. In 1889, the formula and brand were sold for $2,300 to Asa Griggs Candler, who incorporated The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta in 1892.

The company has operated a franchised distribution system since 1889.^[2] The Company largely produces syrup concentrate, which is then sold to various bottlers throughout the world who hold exclusive territories. The company owns its anchor bottler in North America, Coca-Cola Refreshments.^[3] The company's stock is listed on the NYSE and is part of DJIA and the S&P 500 and S&P 100 indexes. The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest producer of plastic waste.^[4]

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "2019 Annual Report (Form 10-K)" (PDF). The Coca-Cola Company. February 24, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
2. ^ "The Story of Coca-Cola: A Successful Franchising Strategy". Prestige Franchising Limited. April 27, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
3. ^ Merced, Michael J. de la (February 25, 2010). "Coke Acquires North American Unit of Bottler (Published 2010)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
4. ^ Cite error: The named reference independent-plastic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

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16 January 1862 – Hartley Colliery disaster: Two hundred and four men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompting a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape

Hartley Colliery disaster

1862 mining disaster in England

The Hartley Colliery disaster (also known as the Hartley Pit disaster or Hester Pit disaster) was a coal mining accident in Northumberland, England, that occurred on 16 January 1862 and resulted in the deaths of 204 men. The beam of the pit's pumping engine broke and fell down the shaft, trapping the men below. The disaster prompted a change in British law that required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape.^[1]

1. ^ BBC 2004.

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17 January 1595 – During the French Wars of Religion, Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.

French Wars of Religion

Civil war from 1562–98

"French Civil War" redirects here. For other French civil wars, see Fronde and French Revolution. For the pamphlet, see The Civil War in France.

The French Wars of Religion were a prolonged period of war and popular unrest between Catholics and Huguenots (Reformed/Calvinist Protestants) in the Kingdom of France between 1562 and 1598. It is estimated that three million people perished in this period from violence, famine, or disease in what is considered the second deadliest religious war in European history (surpassed only by the Thirty Years' War, which took eight million lives).^[1]

Much of the conflict took place during the long regency of Queen Catherine de' Medici, widow of Henry II of France, for her minor sons. It also involved a dynastic power struggle between powerful noble families in the line for succession to the French throne: the wealthy, ambitious, and fervently Catholic ducal House of Guise (a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine, who claimed descent from Charlemagne) and their ally Anne de Montmorency, Constable of France (i.e., commander in chief of the French armed forces) versus the less wealthy House of Condé (a branch of the House of Bourbon), princes of the blood in the line of succession to the throne who were sympathetic to Calvinism. Foreign allies provided financing and other assistance to both sides, with Habsburg Spain and the Duchy of Savoy supporting the Guises, and England supporting the Protestant side led by the Condés and by the Protestant Jeanne d'Albret, wife of Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre, and her son, Henry of Navarre.

Moderates, primarily associated with the French Valois monarchy and its advisers, tried to balance the situation and avoid open bloodshed. This group (pejoratively known as Politiques) put their hopes in the ability of a strong centralized government to maintain order and harmony. In contrast to the previous hardline policies of Henry II and his father Francis I, they began introducing gradual concessions to Huguenots. A most notable moderate, at least initially, was the queen mother, Catherine de' Medici. Catherine, however, later hardened her stance and, at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572, sided with the Guises. This pivotal historical event involved a complete breakdown of state control resulting in series of riots and massacres in which Catholic mobs killed between 5,000 and 30,000 Protestants over a period of weeks throughout the entire kingdom.

At the conclusion of the conflict in 1598, the Protestant Henry of Navarre, heir to the French throne, converted to Catholicism and was crowned Henry IV of France. He issued the Edict of Nantes, which granted Huguenots substantial rights and freedoms though this did not end Catholic hostility towards them or towards him, personally. The wars of religion threatened the authority of the monarchy, already fragile under the rule of Catherine's three sons and the last Valois kings: Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III. This changed under the reign of their Bourbon successor Henry IV. The edict of Nantes was revoked later in 1685 with the Edict of Fontainebleau by Louis XIV of France. Henry IV's wise governance and selection of able administrators did leave a legacy of a strong centralized government, stability, and economic prosperity that has gained him the reputation as France's best and most beloved monarch, earning him the designation "Good King Henry".

1. ^ Knecht 2002, p. 91.

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18 January 1977 – Australia's worst rail disaster occurs at Granville, Sydney killing 83.

Granville rail disaster

1977 train derailment in Australia

The Granville rail/train disaster occurred on Tuesday 18 January 1977 at Granville, New South Wales, a western suburb of Sydney, when a crowded commuter train derailed, running into the supports of a road bridge that collapsed onto two of the train's passenger carriages. The official enquiry found the primary cause of the crash to be poor fastening of the track.

It remains the worst rail disaster in Australian history and the greatest loss of life in a confined area post-war: 83 people died, more than 213 were injured, and 1,300 were affected.^[1] An 84th victim, an unborn child, was added to the fatality list in 2017.^[2]

1. ^ "The rail disaster that changed Australia". BBC News. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
2. ^ "Unborn child victim remembered at Granville memorial after 40 years".

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19 January 1942 – World War II: The Japanese conquest of Burma begins.

Japanese invasion of Burma

Military operation during World War Two

The Japanese invasion of Burma was the opening phase of the Burma campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, which took place over four years from 1942 to 1945. During the first year of the campaign, the Japanese Army (with aid from Thai Phayap Army and Burmese insurgents) drove British Empire and Chinese forces out of Burma, then began the Japanese occupation of Burma and formed a nominally independent Burmese administrative government.

1. ^ ^{a b} Bradford, James. International Encyclopedia of Military History. Routledge, 19 Sep 2006, pg. 221
2. ^ ^{a b} Facts on File: World War II in the China-Burma-India theater Retrieved 20 March 2016
3. ^ Bayly and Harper, pp.170
4. ^ Donald M. Seekins, Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar) (Scarecrow Press, 2006), 123–26 and 354.
5. ^ Reynolds, Bruce E. (1994). Thailand and Japan's Southern Advance, 1940-1945. Palgrave Macmillan US. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-312-10402-3.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Japanese conquest of Burma, December 1941 – May 1942 Retrieved 20 March 2016
7. ^ McLynn, The Burma Campaign: Disaster into Triumph, 1942–1945, pg. 67.
8. ^ Air Force Sixtieth Anniversary Commemorative Edition: The Flying Tigers pp. 33 Retrieved 20 March 2016
9. ^ ^{a b} Allen (1984), p.638
10. ^ Beevor, Antony (2012). "16". The Second World War. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-316-08407-9.
11. ^ Tucker, Spencer C. (2003). The Second World War. Macmillan International Higher Education. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-230-62966-0. (includes 15,000 missing)
12. ^ Zaloga, Steven. "M3 and M5 Stuart Light Tank 1940–45". Osprey Publishing, 18 Nov 1999. p. 14. According to Zaloga, all but one tank of the two regiments of the 7th Armoured Brigade had been lost.
13. ^ Black, Jeremy. Air Power: A Global History pp. 108

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20 January 2009 – A protest movement in Iceland culminates as the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests start.

2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests

Movement protesting the Icelandic government's handling of the 2009 financial crisis

Some of the 6000 protesters in front of the Alþingishús, seat of the Icelandic parliament, on 15 November 2008

The 2009–2011 Icelandic financial crisis protests, also referred to as the Kitchenware, Kitchen Implement or Pots and Pans Revolution^[1][2] (Icelandic: Búsáhaldabyltingin), occurred in the wake of the Icelandic financial crisis. There had been regular and growing protests since October 2008 against the Icelandic government's handling of the financial crisis. The protests intensified on 20 January 2009 with thousands of people protesting at the parliament (Althing) in Reykjavík.^[3][4][5] These were at the time the largest protests in Icelandic history.^[6]

Protesters were calling for the resignation of government officials and for new elections to be held.^[7] The protests stopped for the most part with the resignation of the old government led by the right-wing Independence Party.^[8] A new left-wing government was formed after elections in late April 2009. It was supportive of the protestors and initiated a reform process that included the judicial prosecution before the Landsdómur of the former Prime Minister Geir Haarde.

Several referenda were held to ask the citizens about whether to pay the Icesave debt of their banks. From a complex and unique process, 25 common people, of no political party, were to be elected to form an Icelandic Constitutional Assembly that would write a new Constitution of Iceland. After some legal problems, a Constitutional Council, which included those people, presented a Constitution Draft to the Iceland Parliament on 29 July 2011.^[9]

1. ^ Leigh Phillips (27 April 2009). "Iceland Turns Left and Edges Toward EU". Bloomberg Business Week. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
2. ^ Magnússon, Sigurdur: Wasteland With Words, 2010. Reaktion Books, London. p. 265.
3. ^ Gunnarsson, Valur (21 January 2009). "Icelandic lawmakers return to work amid protests". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
4. ^ "Iceland protesters demand government step down". Reuters. 20 January 2009. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
5. ^ Gunnarsson, Valur; Lawless, Jill (22 January 2009). "Icelandic police tear gas protesters". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
6. ^ Önnudóttir, Eva H. (19 December 2016). "The "Pots and Pans" protests and requirements for responsiveness of the authorities". Icelandic Review of Politics & Administration. 12 (2): 195–214. doi:10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.1. ISSN 1670-679X.
7. ^ "Opposition attempts to call Iceland elections, bypassing PM". icenews.is. 22 January 2009. Archived from the original on 24 January 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
8. ^ Nyberg, Per (26 January 2009). "Icelandic government falls; asked to stay on". CNN. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
9. ^ "Stjórnlagaráð 2011 – English". Stjornlagarad.is. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.

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21 January 1976 – Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.

Concorde

For other uses, see Concorde (disambiguation).

British-French supersonic airliner

The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde (/ˈkɒŋkɔːrd/) is a British–French turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner that was operated from 1976 until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound, at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 km/h at cruise altitude), with seating for 92 to 128 passengers. First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and operated for 27 years. It is one of only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially; the other is the Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-144, which operated in the late 1970s.^[4][5]

Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty. Twenty aircraft were built, including six prototypes and development aircraft. Air France and British Airways were the only airlines to purchase and fly Concorde. The aircraft was used mainly by wealthy passengers who could afford to pay a high price in exchange for the aircraft's speed and luxury service. For example, in 1997, the round-trip ticket price from New York to London was $7,995 (equivalent to $12,700 in 2019),^[6] more than 30 times the cost of the cheapest option to fly this route.^[7]

The original programme cost estimate was £70 million.^[8] The programme experienced huge overruns and delays, with the program eventually costing £1.3 billion.^[9] It was this extreme cost that became the main factor in the production run being much smaller than anticipated.^[10] Later, another factor, which affected the viability of all supersonic transport programmes, was that supersonic flight could be used only on ocean-crossing routes, to prevent sonic boom disturbance over populated areas. With only seven airframes each being operated by the British and French, the per-unit cost was impossible to recoup, so the French and British governments absorbed the development costs. British Airways and Air France were able to operate Concorde at a profit after purchasing their aircraft from their respective governments at a steep discount in comparison to the program's development and procurement costs.^[11]

Among other destinations, Concorde flew regular transatlantic flights from London's Heathrow Airport and Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia and Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados; it flew these routes in less than half the time of other airliners.

Concorde won the 2006 Great British Design Quest, organised by the BBC and the Design Museum of London, beating other well-known designs such as the BMC Mini, the miniskirt, the Jaguar E-Type, the London Tube map and the Supermarine Spitfire. The type was retired in 2003, three years after the crash of Air France Flight 4590, in which all passengers and crew were killed. The general downturn in the commercial aviation industry after the September 11 attacks in 2001 and the end of maintenance support for Concorde by Airbus also contributed to the retirement.^[12]

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference jlfin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ Towey 2007, p. 359.
3. ^ "Ageing luxury jet". BBC News. 25 July 2000.
4. ^ Gordon and Rigmant 2005
5. ^ Melik-Karamov [Мелик-Карамов], Vitaly [Виталий] (January 2000). "Life and Death of the Tu-144, [Жизнь и смерть самолёта Ту-144]". No. 3. Flame [Огонёк]. Archived from the original on 15 November 2000.
6. ^ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 1 January 2020.
7. ^ New Design Concepts for High Speed Air Transport edited by H. Sobieczky (1997)
8. ^ "Concorde", BBC Timewatch documentary, 2003, By 1962, the cost estimates had already soared from 70 to 150 million pounds."
   "[By 1964], costs had doubled yet again to nearly 300 million pounds."
9. ^ Other estimates of total program cost exceeded £2 billion.
   New Design Concepts for High Speed Air Transport edited by H. Sobieczky (1997)
   Quote:
   "The program's cost, through March 1976, was put at between 1.5 and 2.1 billion in 1976 pounds sterling, or between 3.6 and 5.1 billion in 1977 U.S. dollars (yearly weighted exchange rates)."
10. ^ In Concorde (BBC Timewatch, 2003) Chris Benjamin, Concorde Administrator (UK) 1971–74 said: "It's really a matter of great regret that an enormous amount of creativity, effort and resources were used to produce this aeroplane which has actually no sustainable benefit at all."
11. ^ "Concorde, An Unexpected Success, Marks 10th Anniversary". AP NEWS. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
12. ^ "Concorde grounded for good". BBC News. 10 April 2003. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

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21 January 1976 – Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.

Concorde

For other uses, see Concorde (disambiguation).

British-French supersonic airliner

The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde (/ˈkɒŋkɔːrd/) is a British–French turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner that was operated from 1976 until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound, at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 km/h at cruise altitude), with seating for 92 to 128 passengers. First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and operated for 27 years. It is one of only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially; the other is the Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-144, which operated in the late 1970s.^[4][5]

Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty. Twenty aircraft were built, including six prototypes and development aircraft. Air France and British Airways were the only airlines to purchase and fly Concorde. The aircraft was used mainly by wealthy passengers who could afford to pay a high price in exchange for the aircraft's speed and luxury service. For example, in 1997, the round-trip ticket price from New York to London was $7,995 (equivalent to $12,700 in 2019),^[6] more than 30 times the cost of the cheapest option to fly this route.^[7]

The original programme cost estimate was £70 million.^[8] The programme experienced huge overruns and delays, with the program eventually costing £1.3 billion.^[9] It was this extreme cost that became the main factor in the production run being much smaller than anticipated.^[10] Later, another factor, which affected the viability of all supersonic transport programmes, was that supersonic flight could be used only on ocean-crossing routes, to prevent sonic boom disturbance over populated areas. With only seven airframes each being operated by the British and French, the per-unit cost was impossible to recoup, so the French and British governments absorbed the development costs. British Airways and Air France were able to operate Concorde at a profit after purchasing their aircraft from their respective governments at a steep discount in comparison to the program's development and procurement costs.^[11]

Among other destinations, Concorde flew regular transatlantic flights from London's Heathrow Airport and Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia and Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados; it flew these routes in less than half the time of other airliners.

Concorde won the 2006 Great British Design Quest, organised by the BBC and the Design Museum of London, beating other well-known designs such as the BMC Mini, the miniskirt, the Jaguar E-Type, the London Tube map and the Supermarine Spitfire. The type was retired in 2003, three years after the crash of Air France Flight 4590, in which all passengers and crew were killed. The general downturn in the commercial aviation industry after the September 11 attacks in 2001 and the end of maintenance support for Concorde by Airbus also contributed to the retirement.^[12]

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference jlfin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ Towey 2007, p. 359.
3. ^ "Ageing luxury jet". BBC News. 25 July 2000.
4. ^ Gordon and Rigmant 2005
5. ^ Melik-Karamov [Мелик-Карамов], Vitaly [Виталий] (January 2000). "Life and Death of the Tu-144, [Жизнь и смерть самолёта Ту-144]". No. 3. Flame [Огонёк]. Archived from the original on 15 November 2000.
6. ^ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 1 January 2020.
7. ^ New Design Concepts for High Speed Air Transport edited by H. Sobieczky (1997)
8. ^ "Concorde", BBC Timewatch documentary, 2003, By 1962, the cost estimates had already soared from 70 to 150 million pounds."
   "[By 1964], costs had doubled yet again to nearly 300 million pounds."
9. ^ Other estimates of total program cost exceeded £2 billion.
   New Design Concepts for High Speed Air Transport edited by H. Sobieczky (1997)
   Quote:
   "The program's cost, through March 1976, was put at between 1.5 and 2.1 billion in 1976 pounds sterling, or between 3.6 and 5.1 billion in 1977 U.S. dollars (yearly weighted exchange rates)."
10. ^ In Concorde (BBC Timewatch, 2003) Chris Benjamin, Concorde Administrator (UK) 1971–74 said: "It's really a matter of great regret that an enormous amount of creativity, effort and resources were used to produce this aeroplane which has actually no sustainable benefit at all."
11. ^ "Concorde, An Unexpected Success, Marks 10th Anniversary". AP NEWS. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
12. ^ "Concorde grounded for good". BBC News. 10 April 2003. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

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22 January 1917 – American entry into World War I: President Wilson of the still-neutral United States calls for "peace without victory" in Europe.

American entry into World War I

Series of events causing the initially anti-war US government and public to join WWI

President Woodrow Wilson before Congress, announcing the break in official relations with Germany on 3 February 1917

The American entry into World War I came in April 1917, after more than two and a half years of efforts by President Woodrow Wilson to keep the United States out of the war.

Apart from an Anglophile element urging early support for the British and an anti-Tsarist element sympathizing with Germany's war against Russia, American public opinion reflected that of the president: the sentiment for neutrality was particularly strong among Irish Americans, German Americans, and Scandinavian Americans,^[1] as well as among church leaders and women in general. On the other hand, even before World War I had broken out, American opinion had been overall more negative toward Germany than toward any other country in Europe.^[2] Over time, especially after reports of German atrocities in Belgium in 1914 and following the sinking of the passenger liner RMS Lusitania in 1915, American citizens increasingly came to see Germany as the aggressor in Europe.

While the country was at peace, American banks made huge loans to the Entente powers, which were used mainly to buy munitions, raw materials, and food from across the Atlantic. Wilson made minimal preparations for a land war but he did authorize a major ship-building program for the United States Navy. The president was narrowly re-elected in 1916 on an anti-war ticket.

In 1917, with Russia experiencing political upheaval, and with the remaining Entente nations low on credit, Germany appeared to have the upper hand in Europe,^[3] while the Ottoman Empire, Germany's ally, held on to its territory in modern-day Iraq, Syria and Palestine. However, an Entente economic embargo and naval blockade was by now causing shortages of fuel and food in Germany, at which point Germany decided to resume unrestricted submarine warfare. The aim was to break the transatlantic supply chain to Britain from other nations, although the German high command realized that sinking American-flagged ships would almost certainly bring the United States into the war.

Germany also made a secret offer to help Mexico regain territories lost in the Mexican–American War in an encoded telegram known as the Zimmermann Telegram, which was intercepted by British intelligence. Publication of that communique outraged Americans just as German submarines started sinking American merchant ships in the North Atlantic. Wilson then asked Congress for "a war to end all wars" that would "make the world safe for democracy", and Congress voted to declare war on Germany on April 6, 1917.^[4] U.S. troops began major combat operations on the Western Front under General John J. Pershing in the summer of 1918.

1. ^ Jeanette Keith (2004). Rich Man's War, Poor Man's Fight: Race, Class, and Power in the Rural South during the First World War. U. of North Carolina Press. pp. 1–5. ISBN 978-0-8078-7589-6.
2. ^ Barnes, Harry Elmer. The Genesis of the World War (1925) pp. 590–591
3. ^ "World War One". BBC History.
4. ^ Link, Arthur S. (1972). Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910–1917. New York: Harper & Row. pp. 252–282.

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22 January 1917 – American entry into World War I: President Wilson of the still-neutral United States calls for "peace without victory" in Europe.

American entry into World War I

Series of events causing the initially anti-war US government and public to join WWI

President Woodrow Wilson before Congress, announcing the break in official relations with Germany on 3 February 1917

The American entry into World War I came in April 1917, after more than two and a half years of efforts by President Woodrow Wilson to keep the United States out of the war.

Apart from an Anglophile element urging early support for the British and an anti-Tsarist element sympathizing with Germany's war against Russia, American public opinion reflected that of the president: the sentiment for neutrality was particularly strong among Irish Americans, German Americans, and Scandinavian Americans,^[1] as well as among church leaders and women in general. On the other hand, even before World War I had broken out, American opinion had been overall more negative toward Germany than toward any other country in Europe.^[2] Over time, especially after reports of German atrocities in Belgium in 1914 and following the sinking of the passenger liner RMS Lusitania in 1915, American citizens increasingly came to see Germany as the aggressor in Europe.

While the country was at peace, American banks made huge loans to the Entente powers, which were used mainly to buy munitions, raw materials, and food from across the Atlantic. Wilson made minimal preparations for a land war but he did authorize a major ship-building program for the United States Navy. The president was narrowly re-elected in 1916 on an anti-war ticket.

In 1917, with Russia experiencing political upheaval, and with the remaining Entente nations low on credit, Germany appeared to have the upper hand in Europe,^[3] while the Ottoman Empire, Germany's ally, held on to its territory in modern-day Iraq, Syria and Palestine. However, an Entente economic embargo and naval blockade was by now causing shortages of fuel and food in Germany, at which point Germany decided to resume unrestricted submarine warfare. The aim was to break the transatlantic supply chain to Britain from other nations, although the German high command realized that sinking American-flagged ships would almost certainly bring the United States into the war.

Germany also made a secret offer to help Mexico regain territories lost in the Mexican–American War in an encoded telegram known as the Zimmermann Telegram, which was intercepted by British intelligence. Publication of that communique outraged Americans just as German submarines started sinking American merchant ships in the North Atlantic. Wilson then asked Congress for "a war to end all wars" that would "make the world safe for democracy", and Congress voted to declare war on Germany on April 6, 1917.^[4] U.S. troops began major combat operations on the Western Front under General John J. Pershing in the summer of 1918.

1. ^ Jeanette Keith (2004). Rich Man's War, Poor Man's Fight: Race, Class, and Power in the Rural South during the First World War. U. of North Carolina Press. pp. 1–5. ISBN 978-0-8078-7589-6.
2. ^ Barnes, Harry Elmer. The Genesis of the World War (1925) pp. 590–591
3. ^ "World War One". BBC History.
4. ^ Link, Arthur S. (1972). Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910–1917. New York: Harper & Row. pp. 252–282.

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23 January 393 – Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor.

Theodosius I

Roman emperor from 379 to 395

For other uses, see Theodosius I (disambiguation) and Flavius Theodosius (disambiguation).

Roman emperor

Missorium of Theodosius, found in 1847 in Almendralejo, Spain

Theodosius I (Greek: Θεοδόσιος; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He is best known for making Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire and great architecture projects in Constantinople.

After a military career and a governorship under his father Theodosius the Elder – a comes rei militaris – he became magister equitum and was then elevated to the imperial rank of augustus by the emperor Gratian (r. 367–383). He replaced the latter's uncle and senior augustus Valens (r. 364–378), who had been killed in the Battle of Adrianople. He was the first emperor of the Theodosian dynasty (r. 379–457), and married into the ruling Valentinianic dynasty (r. 364–455). On accepting his elevation, he campaigned with limited success against Goths and other barbarians who had invaded the Empire. He was not able to destroy them or drive them out, as had been Roman policy for centuries in dealing with invaders. The Gothic War ended with the Goths established as autonomous allies of the Empire, within the Empire's borders, south of the Danube. They were given lands and allowed to remain under their own leaders, not assimilated as had been normal Roman practice.

He issued decrees that effectively made Nicene Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire, including the Edict of Thessalonica.^[3][4] He dissolved the order of the Vestal Virgins in Rome's Temple of Vesta. In 393, he banned the pagan rituals of the Olympic Games. His decrees made Nicene Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire and punished Roman paganism, Hellenistic religion, and Arianism. He neither prevented nor punished the destruction of prominent Hellenistic temples of classical antiquity, including the Temple of Apollo in Delphi and the Serapeum in Alexandria. At his capital Constantinople he commissioned the honorific Column of Theodosius, the Theodosian Walls, and the Golden Gate, among the greatest surviving works of ancient Roman architecture. His management of the empire was marked by heavy tax exactions, and by a court in which "everything was for sale".^[5]

Theodosius married Gratian's half-sister Galla, daughter of Valentinian the Great (r. 364–375), and defeated the rebellion of Magnus Maximus (r. 383–388) on behalf of his new brother-in-law, Valentinian II (r. 375–392). This victory came at heavy cost to the strength of the Empire. When Valentinian II died, Theodosius became the senior emperor, having already made his eldest son Arcadius his co-augustus. Theodosius then defeated the usurper Eugenius (r. 392–394), in another destructive civil war. He died a few months later, without having consolidated control of his armies or of his Gothic allies. After his death, Theodosius's young and incapable sons were the two augusti. Arcadius (r. 383–408) inherited the eastern empire and reigned from Constantinople, and Honorius (r. 393–423) the western empire. The two courts spent much of their effort in attacking each other or in vicious internal power struggles. The administrative division endured until the fall of the western Roman empire in the late 5th century.

Theodosius is considered a saint by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches, and his feast day is on January 17.^[6]

1. ^ Cooley, Alison E. (2012). The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy. Cambridge University Press. p. 506. ISBN 978-0-521-84026-2.
2. ^ Kienast, Dietmar (2017) [1990]. "Theodosius". Römische Kaisertabelle: Grundzüge einer römischen Kaiserchronologie (in German). WBG. pp. 323–329. ISBN 978-3-534-26724-8.
3. ^ Cf. decree, infra.
4. ^ "Edict of Thessalonica": See Codex Theodosianus XVI.1.2
5. ^ Brown, Peter (2012). Through the Eye of a Needle. Princeton University Press. pp. 145–146. ISBN 978-0-691-16177-8. Quoting Paulinus of Milan's Life of Ambrose.
6. ^ http://www.saint.gr/1118/saint.aspx

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24 January 1916 – In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.

Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.

United States Supreme Court case

Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., 240 U.S. 1 (1916), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court upheld the validity of a tax statute called the Revenue Act of 1913, also known as the Tariff Act, Ch. 16, 38 Stat. 166 (October 3, 1913), enacted pursuant to Article I, section 8, clause 1 of, and the Sixteenth Amendment to, the United States Constitution, allowing a federal income tax. The Sixteenth Amendment had been ratified earlier in 1913. The Revenue Act of 1913 imposed income taxes that were not apportioned among the states according to each state's population.

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25 January 1890 – Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days.

Nellie Bly

American investigative journalist

Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman (born Elizabeth Jane Cochran; May 5, 1864 – January 27, 1922), better known by her pen name Nellie Bly, was an American journalist, industrialist, inventor, and charity worker who was widely known for her record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days, in emulation of Jules Verne's fictional character Phileas Fogg, and an exposé in which she worked undercover to report on a mental institution from within.^[1] She was a pioneer in her field and launched a new kind of investigative journalism.^[2]

1. ^ "Five Reasons why a Google Doodle Tribute to Nellie Bly is justified". Biharprabha. May 5, 2015. Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
2. ^ "American Experience". PBS. Archived from the original on March 5, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2017.

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26 January 1998 – Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Clinton–Lewinsky scandal

Relationship between U.S. president Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky

The Clinton–Lewinsky scandal was a United States political sex scandal that involved 49-year-old President Bill Clinton and 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The sexual relationship took place between 1995 and 1997 and came to light in 1998. Clinton ended a televised speech in late January 1998 with the statement that he "did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky." Further investigation led to charges of perjury and to the impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998 by the U.S. House of Representatives. He was subsequently acquitted on all impeachment charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in a 21-day Senate trial.^[1] Clinton was held in civil contempt of court by Judge Susan Webber Wright for giving misleading testimony in the Paula Jones case regarding Lewinsky^[2] and was also fined $90,000 by Wright.^[3] His license to practice law was suspended in Arkansas for five years; shortly thereafter, he was disbarred from presenting cases in front of the United States Supreme Court.^[4]

Lewinsky was a graduate of Lewis & Clark College. She was hired during Clinton's first term in 1995 as an intern at the White House and was later an employee of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. Some^[who?] believe that Clinton began a personal relationship with her while she worked at the White House, the details of which she later confided to Linda Tripp, her Defense Department co-worker who secretly recorded their telephone conversations.^[5]

In January 1998, Tripp discovered that Lewinsky had sworn an affidavit in the Paula Jones case, denying a relationship with Clinton. She delivered tapes to Ken Starr, the independent counsel who was investigating Clinton on other matters, including the Whitewater scandal, the White House FBI files controversy, and the White House travel office controversy. During the grand jury testimony, Clinton's responses were carefully worded, and he argued, "it depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is,"^[6] with regard to the truthfulness of his statement that "there is not a sexual relationship, an improper sexual relationship or any other kind of improper relationship."^[7]

The wide reporting of the scandal led to criticism of the press for over-coverage.^[8][9][10] This scandal is sometimes referred to as "Monicagate,"^[11] "Lewinskygate,"^[12] "Tailgate,"^[13] "Sexgate,"^[14] and "Zippergate,"^[14] following the "-gate" construction that has been used since Watergate.

1. ^ Posner, Richard A (2009). "Introduction". An Affair of State The Investigation, Impeachment, and Trial of President Clinton. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-00080-3. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
2. ^ Broder, John M.; Lewis, Neil A. (April 13, 1999). "Clinton is found to be in contempt on Jones lawsuit". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
3. ^ Jackson, Robert L. (July 30, 1999). "Clinton Fined $90,686 for Lying in Paula Jones Case". Los Angeles Times.
4. ^ Gearan, Anne (October 1, 2001). "Clinton Disbarred From Practice Before Supreme Court". The New York Times. Associated Press.
5. ^ "Tripp: I Am Not Intimidated". CBS. July 7, 1998. Retrieved January 26, 2010. In January, Tripp gave Starr the tapes. She made the recordings secretly at her home at the urging of her friend Lucianne Goldberg, a New York literary agent.
6. ^ Noah, Timothy (September 13, 1998). "Bill Clinton and the Meaning of "Is"". Slate. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
7. ^ President Bill Clinton, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, January 21, 1998.
8. ^ Gitlin, Todd. "The Clinton-Lewinsky Obsession: How the press made a scandal of itself". The Washington Monthly. Archived from the original on July 5, 2009. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
9. ^ Kalb, Marvin (September 2001). One Scandalous Story: Clinton, Lewinsky, and Thirteen Days That Tarnished American Journalism. Free Press. ISBN 0-684-85939-4.
10. ^ Layton, Lyndsey (July 27, 2004). "The Frenzy Over Lewinsky: As the Scandal Unfolded, a Media Storm Swirled in Washington". The Washington Post. p. B04. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
11. ^ Rich, Frank. "Journal; Monicagate Year Two", The New York Times, December 16, 1998.
12. ^ Rich, Frank. "Journal; Days of the Locust", The New York Times, February 25, 1998.
13. ^ Hennenberger, Melinda. "The President Under Fire", The New York Times, January 29, 1998.
14. ^ ^{a b} James Barron with Hoban, Phoebe. "Dueling Soaps", The New York Times, January 28, 1998.

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27 January 1918 – Beginning of the Finnish Civil War.

Finnish Civil War

1918 civil war in Finland

The Finnish Civil War^[a] was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of Finland between White Finland and Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition from a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire to an independent state. The clashes took place in the context of the national, political, and social turmoil caused by World War I (Eastern Front) in Europe. The war was fought between the Reds, led by a section of the Social Democratic Party, and the Whites, conducted by the conservative-based Senate and the German Imperial Army. The paramilitary Red Guards, composed of industrial and agrarian workers, controlled the cities and industrial centres of southern Finland. The paramilitary White Guards, composed of farmers, along with middle-class and upper-class social strata, controlled rural central and northern Finland led by General C. G. E. Mannerheim.

In the years before the conflict, Finnish society had experienced rapid population growth, industrialisation, pre-urbanisation and the rise of a comprehensive labour movement. The country's political and governmental systems were in an unstable phase of democratisation and modernisation. The socio-economic condition and education of the population had gradually improved, as well as national thinking and cultural life had awakened.

World War I led to the collapse of the Russian Empire, causing a power vacuum in Finland, and a subsequent struggle for dominance led to militarisation and an escalating crisis between the left-leaning labour movement and the conservatives. The Reds carried out an unsuccessful general offensive in February 1918, supplied with weapons by Soviet Russia. A counteroffensive by the Whites began in March, reinforced by the German Empire's military detachments in April. The decisive engagements were the Battles of Tampere and Vyborg (Finnish: Viipuri; Swedish: Viborg), won by the Whites, and the Battles of Helsinki and Lahti, won by German troops, leading to overall victory for the Whites and the German forces. Political violence became a part of this warfare. Around 12,500 Red prisoners died of malnutrition and disease in camps. About 39,000 people, of whom 36,000 were Finns, perished in the conflict.

In the immediate aftermath, the Finns passed from Russian governance to the German sphere of influence with a plan to establish a German-led Finnish monarchy. The scheme ended with Germany's defeat in World War I, and Finland instead emerged as an independent, democratic republic. The Civil War divided the nation for decades. Finnish society was reunited through social compromises based on a long-term culture of moderate politics and religion and the post-war economic recovery.

1. ^ Including conspirative co-operation between Germany and Russian Bolsheviks 1914–1918, Pipes 1996, pp. 113–149, Lackman 2009, pp. 48–57, McMeekin 2017, pp. 125–136
2. ^ ^{a b} Arimo 1991, pp. 19–24, Manninen 1993a, pp. 24–93, Manninen 1993b, pp. 96–177, Upton 1981, pp. 107, 267–273, 377–391, Hoppu 2017, pp. 269–274
3. ^ Ylikangas 1993a, pp. 55–63
4. ^ Muilu 2010, pp. 87–90
5. ^ ^{a b} Paavolainen 1966, Paavolainen 1967, Paavolainen 1971, Upton 1981, pp. 191–200, 453–460, Eerola & Eerola 1998, National Archive of Finland 2004 Archived 10 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Roselius 2004, pp. 165–176, Westerlund & Kalleinen 2004, pp. 267–271, Westerlund 2004a, pp. 53–72, Tikka 2014, pp. 90–118

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

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28 January 1958 – The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.

Lego

This article is about the construction toy. For the company, see The Lego Group. For other uses, see Lego (disambiguation).

Plastic construction toy

Lego (/ˈlɛɡoʊ/ LEG-oh, Danish: [ˈle̝ːko];^[1][2] stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks accompanying an array of gears, figurines called minifigures, and various other parts. Lego pieces can be assembled and connected in many ways to construct objects, including vehicles, buildings, and working robots. Anything constructed can be taken apart again, and the pieces reused to make new things.^[3][4]

The Lego Group began manufacturing the interlocking toy bricks in 1949. Movies, games, competitions and eight Legoland amusement parks have been developed under the brand. As of July 2015, 600 billion Lego parts had been produced.^[5]

In February 2015, Lego replaced Ferrari as Brand Finance's "world's most powerful brand".^[6] At certain points, investing in Lego sets was more valuable than investing in gold.^{[7][neutrality is disputed]}

1. ^ "LEGO® Brand LEGO Historien" on YouTube
2. ^ "Lego pronunciation: How to pronounce Lego in Danish". Forvo. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
3. ^ "Lego History-About Us". Lego. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
4. ^ "How a Lego Works". How Stuff Works. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
5. ^ "Lego Fun Facts". Brick Recycler. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brand Finance was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. ^ "Report claims LEGOs are better investment than gold". fox10phoenix.com. FOX 10 Phoenix. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2019.

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29 January 1980 – The Rubik's Cube makes its international debut at the Ideal Toy Corp. in Earl's Court, London.

Rubik's Cube

3-D combination puzzle

The Rubik's Cube is a 3-D combination puzzle invented in 1974^[2][3] by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube,^[4] the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toy Corp. in 1980^[5] via businessman Tibor Laczi and Seven Towns founder Tom Kremer.^[6] Rubik's Cube won the 1980 German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle. As of January 2009^[update], 350 million cubes had been sold worldwide,^[7][8] making it the world's top-selling puzzle game.^[9][10] It is widely considered to be the world's best-selling toy.^[11]

On the original classic Rubik's Cube, each of the six faces was covered by nine stickers, each of one of six solid colours: white, red, blue, orange, green, and yellow. Some later versions of the cube have been updated to use coloured plastic panels instead, which prevents peeling and fading.^[12] In models as of 1988^[update], white is opposite yellow, blue is opposite green, and orange is opposite red, and the red, white, and blue are arranged in that order in a clockwise arrangement.^[13] On early cubes, the position of the colours varied from cube to cube.^[14] An internal pivot mechanism enables each face to turn independently, thus mixing up the colours. For the puzzle to be solved, each face must be returned to have only one colour. Similar puzzles have now been produced with various numbers of sides, dimensions, and stickers, not all of them by Rubik.

Although the Rubik's Cube reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1980s, it is still widely known and used. Many speedcubers continue to practice it and similar puzzles; they also compete for the fastest times in various categories. Since 2003, the World Cube Association, the international governing body of the Rubik's Cube, has organised competitions worldwide and recognises world records.

1. ^ Evans, Pete (27 October 2020). "Canadian company that owns classic toys Etch A Sketch and Aerobie buys Rubik's Cube for $50M". CBC News.
2. ^ William Fotheringham (2007). Fotheringham's Sporting Pastimes. Anova Books. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-86105-953-6.
3. ^ de Castella, Tom. "The people who are still addicted to the Rubik's Cube". BBC News Magazine. BBC. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ Daintith, John (1994). A Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists. Bristol: Institute of Physics Pub. p. 771. ISBN 0-7503-0287-9.
6. ^ Michael Shanks (8 May 2005). "History of the Cube". Stanford University. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
7. ^ William Lee Adams (28 January 2009). "The Rubik's Cube: A Puzzling Success". Time. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
8. ^ Alastair Jamieson (31 January 2009). "Rubik's Cube inventor is back with Rubik's 360". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
9. ^ "eGames, Mindscape Put International Twist on Rubik's Cube PC Game". Reuters. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
10. ^ Marshall, Ray. Squaring up to the Rubchallenge. icNewcastle. Retrieved 15 August 2005.
11. ^ "Rubik's Cube 25 years on: crazy toys, crazy times". The Independent. London. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
12. ^ "Rubik's 3x3x3". Retrieved 12 April 2018.
13. ^ Michael W. Dempsey (1988). Growing up with science: The illustrated encyclopedia of invention. London: Marshall Cavendish. p. 1245. ISBN 0-87475-841-6.
14. ^ Ewing, John; Czes Kosniowski (1982). Puzzle It Out: Cubes, Groups and Puzzles. Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. p. 4. ISBN 0-521-28924-6. Retrieved 19 May 2014.

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29 January 1980 – The Rubik's Cube makes its international debut at the Ideal Toy Corp. in Earl's Court, London.

Rubik's Cube

3-D combination puzzle

The Rubik's Cube is a 3-D combination puzzle invented in 1974^[2][3] by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube,^[4] the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toy Corp. in 1980^[5] via businessman Tibor Laczi and Seven Towns founder Tom Kremer.^[6] Rubik's Cube won the 1980 German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle. As of January 2009^[update], 350 million cubes had been sold worldwide,^[7][8] making it the world's top-selling puzzle game.^[9][10] It is widely considered to be the world's best-selling toy.^[11]

On the original classic Rubik's Cube, each of the six faces was covered by nine stickers, each of one of six solid colours: white, red, blue, orange, green, and yellow. Some later versions of the cube have been updated to use coloured plastic panels instead, which prevents peeling and fading.^[12] In models as of 1988^[update], white is opposite yellow, blue is opposite green, and orange is opposite red, and the red, white, and blue are arranged in that order in a clockwise arrangement.^[13] On early cubes, the position of the colours varied from cube to cube.^[14] An internal pivot mechanism enables each face to turn independently, thus mixing up the colours. For the puzzle to be solved, each face must be returned to have only one colour. Similar puzzles have now been produced with various numbers of sides, dimensions, and stickers, not all of them by Rubik.

Although the Rubik's Cube reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1980s, it is still widely known and used. Many speedcubers continue to practice it and similar puzzles; they also compete for the fastest times in various categories. Since 2003, the World Cube Association, the international governing body of the Rubik's Cube, has organised competitions worldwide and recognises world records.

1. ^ Evans, Pete (27 October 2020). "Canadian company that owns classic toys Etch A Sketch and Aerobie buys Rubik's Cube for $50M". CBC News.
2. ^ William Fotheringham (2007). Fotheringham's Sporting Pastimes. Anova Books. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-86105-953-6.
3. ^ de Castella, Tom. "The people who are still addicted to the Rubik's Cube". BBC News Magazine. BBC. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ Daintith, John (1994). A Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists. Bristol: Institute of Physics Pub. p. 771. ISBN 0-7503-0287-9.
6. ^ Michael Shanks (8 May 2005). "History of the Cube". Stanford University. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
7. ^ William Lee Adams (28 January 2009). "The Rubik's Cube: A Puzzling Success". Time. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
8. ^ Alastair Jamieson (31 January 2009). "Rubik's Cube inventor is back with Rubik's 360". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
9. ^ "eGames, Mindscape Put International Twist on Rubik's Cube PC Game". Reuters. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
10. ^ Marshall, Ray. Squaring up to the Rubchallenge. icNewcastle. Retrieved 15 August 2005.
11. ^ "Rubik's Cube 25 years on: crazy toys, crazy times". The Independent. London. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
12. ^ "Rubik's 3x3x3". Retrieved 12 April 2018.
13. ^ Michael W. Dempsey (1988). Growing up with science: The illustrated encyclopedia of invention. London: Marshall Cavendish. p. 1245. ISBN 0-87475-841-6.
14. ^ Ewing, John; Czes Kosniowski (1982). Puzzle It Out: Cubes, Groups and Puzzles. Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. p. 4. ISBN 0-521-28924-6. Retrieved 19 May 2014.

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30 January 1933 – Adolf Hitler's rise to power: Hitler takes office as the Chancellor of Germany.

Adolf Hitler's rise to power

Overview of Adolf Hitler's rise to power

Hitler in conversation with Ernst Hanfstaengl and Hermann Göring, 21 June 1932

Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in Germany in September 1919 when Hitler joined the political party then known as the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei – DAP (German Workers' Party). The name was changed in 1920 to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei – NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers' Party, commonly known as the Nazi Party). It was anti-Marxist and opposed to the democratic post-war government of the Weimar Republic and the Treaty of Versailles, advocating extreme nationalism and Pan-Germanism as well as virulent anti-Semitism. Hitler attained power in March 1933, after the Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act of 1933 in that month, giving expanded authority. President Paul von Hindenburg had already appointed Hitler as Chancellor on 30 January 1933 after a series of parliamentary elections and associated backroom intrigues. The Enabling Act – when used ruthlessly and with authority – virtually assured that Hitler could thereafter constitutionally exercise dictatorial power without legal objection.

Hitler rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Being one of its best speakers, he was made leader after he threatened to leave otherwise. He was aided in part by his willingness to use violence in advancing his political objectives and to recruit party members who were willing to do the same. The Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923 and the later release of his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle) expanded Hitler's audience. In the mid-1920s, the party engaged in electoral battles in which Hitler participated as a speaker and organizer,^[a] as well as in street battles and violence between the Communist's Rotfrontkämpferbund and the Nazis' Sturmabteilung (SA). Through the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Nazis gathered enough electoral support to become the largest political party in the Reichstag, and Hitler's blend of political acuity, deceptiveness, and cunning converted the party's non-majority but plurality status into effective governing power in the ailing Weimar Republic of 1933.

Once in power, the Nazis created a mythology surrounding their rise to power, and they described the period that roughly corresponds to the scope of this article as either the Kampfzeit (the time of struggle) or the Kampfjahre (years of struggle).
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

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31 January 1953 – A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands and over 300 in the United Kingdom.

North Sea flood of 1953

Late January-early February 1953 North sea flood storm

Synoptic chart at midnight 1 February 1953

The 1953 North Sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm at the end of Saturday, 31 January 1953 and morning of the next day. The storm surge struck the Netherlands, north-west Belgium, England and Scotland.

A combination of a high spring tide and a severe European windstorm over the North Sea caused a storm tide. The combination of wind, high tide, and low pressure caused the sea to flood land up to 5.6 metres (18.4 ft) above mean sea level. Most sea defences facing the surge were overwhelmed, causing extensive flooding.

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1 February 1964 – The Beatles have their first number one hit in the United States with "I Want to Hold Your Hand".

I Want to Hold Your Hand

Original song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

For other uses, see I Want to Hold Your Hand (disambiguation).

1963 single by the Beatles

"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded on 17 October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment.

With advance orders exceeding one million copies in the United Kingdom, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" would have gone straight to the top of the British record charts on its day of release (29 November 1963) had it not been blocked by the group's first million-seller "She Loves You", their previous UK single, which was having a resurgence of popularity following intense media coverage of the group. Taking two weeks to dislodge its predecessor, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" stayed at number one for five weeks and remained in the UK top 50 for 21 weeks in total.^[2]

It was also the group's first American number-one hit, entering the Billboard Hot 100 chart on 18 January 1964 at number 45 and starting the British Invasion of the American music industry. By 1 February it topped the Hot 100, and stayed there for seven weeks before being replaced by "She Loves You". It remained on the Billboard chart for 15 weeks.^[3] "I Want to Hold Your Hand" became the Beatles' best-selling single worldwide selling more than 12 million copies.^[4] In 2018, Billboard magazine named it the 48th biggest hit of all time on the Billboard Hot 100.^[5] In the UK, it was the second highest selling single of the 1960s, behind "She Loves You".^[6]

1. ^ MacDonald 1998, p. 89. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFMacDonald1998 (help)
2. ^ Gambaccini 1991, pp. 27.
3. ^ Harry 1985, pp. 66.
4. ^ Harry 2000, p. 561.
5. ^ "Hot 100 turns 60". Billboard. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
6. ^ "Ken Dodd 'third best-selling artist of 1960s'". BBC News. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2020.

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2 February 1913 – Grand Central Terminal is opened in New York City.

Grand Central Terminal

"Grand Central Station" redirects here. For other uses, see Grand Central Station (disambiguation).

Railway terminal in New York City

Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station^{[N 2]} or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus of the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines, serving the northern parts of the New York metropolitan area. It also contains a connection to the New York City Subway at Grand Central–42nd Street station. The terminal is the third-busiest train station in North America, after New York Penn Station and Toronto Union Station.

The distinctive architecture and interior design of Grand Central Terminal's station house have earned it several landmark designations, including as a National Historic Landmark. Its Beaux-Arts design incorporates numerous works of art. Grand Central Terminal is one of the world's ten most visited tourist attractions,^[4] with 21.6 million visitors in 2018, excluding train and subway passengers.^[3] The terminal's Main Concourse is often used as a meeting place, and is especially featured in films and television. Grand Central Terminal contains a variety of stores and food vendors, including upscale restaurants and bars, two food halls, and a grocery marketplace.

Grand Central Terminal was built by and named for the New York Central Railroad; it also served the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and, later, successors to the New York Central. Opened in 1913, the terminal was built on the site of two similarly-named predecessor stations, the first of which dates to 1871. Grand Central Terminal served intercity trains until 1991, when Amtrak began routing its trains through nearby Penn Station. The East Side Access project, which will bring Long Island Rail Road service to a new station beneath the terminal, is expected to be completed in late 2022.

Grand Central covers 48 acres (19 ha) and has 44 platforms, more than any other railroad station in the world. Its platforms, all below ground, serve 30 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower. In total, there are 67 tracks, including a rail yard and sidings; of these, 43 tracks are in use for passenger service, while the remaining two dozen are used to store trains.^{[N 3]} Another eight tracks and four platforms are being built on two new levels deep underneath the existing station as part of East Side Access.

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference MTA-GCT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference ridership was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference tourists was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ Shields, Ann (November 10, 2014). "The World's 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions – No. 3: Times Square, New York City – Annual Visitors: 50,000,000". Travel+Leisure. Retrieved November 14, 2018. No. 3 Times Square,...No. 4 (tie) Central Park,...No. 10 Grand Central Terminal, New York City

Cite error: There are <ref group=N> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=N}} template (see the help page).

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3 February 1998 – Cavalese cable car disaster: a United States military pilot causes the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.

Cavalese cable car disaster (1998)

1998 disaster in which a U.S. Navy aircraft flew into ski lift cables in Cavalese, Italy

This article is about the 1998 disaster. For the 1976 disaster, see Cavalese cable car disaster (1976).

The Cavalese cable car disaster of 1998, also known as the Strage del Cermis (Italian: Massacre of Cermis), occurred on February 3, 1998, near the Italian town of Cavalese, a ski resort in the Dolomites some 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Trento. Twenty people died when a United States Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler aircraft, flying too low and against regulations, cut a cable supporting a cable car of an aerial lift.^[1][2]

The pilot, Captain Richard J. Ashby, and his navigator, Captain Joseph Schweitzer, were put on trial in the United States and found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide.^[3][4] Later they were found guilty of obstruction of justice and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman for having destroyed a videotape recorded from the plane, and were dismissed from the Marine Corps.^[5] The disaster, and the subsequent acquittal of the pilots, strained relations between the U.S. and Italy.^[6]

1. ^ "20 die after plane clips tram line". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. February 4, 1998. p. A4.
2. ^ Tagliabue, John (March 13, 1998). "Marine fliers to get hearing in ski accident". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (New York Times). p. A4.
3. ^ Vogel, Steve (March 5, 1999). "Pilot acquitted in skiers' deaths". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (Washington Post). p. A1.
4. ^ Griffin, Anna (March 5, 1999). "Marine pilot is found not guilty in ski tragedy". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. p. 1A.
5. ^ http://espresso.repubblica.it/attualita/cronaca/2012/01/20/news/cermis-il-pilota-confessa-1.39576
6. ^ Scaliati, Giuseppe (2006). Dove va la Lega Nord: radici ed evoluzione politica di un movimento populista. Zero in condotta. p. 67. OCLC 66373351.

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4 February 1169 – A strong earthquake struck the Ionian coast of Sicily, causing tens of thousands of injuries and deaths, especially in Catania.

1169 Sicily earthquake

1169 earthquake in Sicily

The 1169 Sicily earthquake occurred on 4 February 1169 at 08:00 local time on the eve of the feast of St. Agatha of Sicily (in southern Italy). It had an estimated magnitude of between 6.4 and 7.3 and an estimated maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Catania, Lentini and Modica were severely damaged. It triggered a tsunami. Overall, the earthquake is estimated to have caused the deaths of at least 15,000 people.

1. ^ "IN SEARCH OF TSUNAMI DEPOSITS ALONG THE EASTERN COAST OF SICILY (Italy): STATE OF THE ART" (PDF). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
2. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference CFTI5MED was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ Azzaro, R.; Barbano M.S. (2000). "Analysis of the seismicity of Southeastern Sicily: a proposed tectonic interpretation". Annali di Geofisica. 43 (1): 171–188. Viewed 25 June 2012.

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5 February 1810 – Peninsular War: Siege of Cádiz begins.

Siege of Cádiz

1810s siege in Spain by the French

For other battles in the same place, see Battle of Cádiz.

The Siege of Cádiz was a siege of the large Spanish naval base of Cádiz^[6] by a French army from 5 February 1810 to 24 August 1812^[7] during the Peninsular War. Following the occupation of Seville, Cádiz became the Spanish seat of power,^[8] and was targeted by 70,000 French troops under the command of the Marshals Claude Victor and Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult for one of the most important sieges of the war.^[9] Defending the city were 2,000 Spanish troops who, as the siege progressed, received aid from 10,000 Spanish reinforcements as well as British and Portuguese troops.

During the siege, which lasted two and a half years, the Cortes of Cádiz – which served as a parliamentary Regency after Ferdinand VII was deposed – drew up a new constitution to reduce the strength of the monarchy, which was eventually revoked by Fernando VII when he returned.^[10]

In October 1810 a mixed Anglo-Spanish relief force embarked on a disastrous landing at Fuengirola. A second relief attempt was made at Tarifa in 1811. However, despite defeating a detached French force of 15,000–20,000 under Marshal Victor at the Battle of Barrosa, the siege was not lifted.

In 1812 the Battle of Salamanca eventually forced the French troops to retreat from Andalusia, for fear of being cut off by the Coalition armies.^[11] The French defeat contributed decisively to the liberation of Spain from French occupation, due to the survival of the Spanish government and the use of Cádiz as a jump-off point for the Coalition forces.^[1]

1. ^ ^{a b} Rasor 2004, p. 148.
2. ^ Payne 1973, p. 432.
3. ^ Clodfelter 2002, p. 174.
4. ^ Napier 1840, p. 100.
5. ^ Southey 1837b, p. 68.
6. ^ "The Spanish Ulcer: Napoleon, Britain, and the Siege of Cádiz". Humanities, January/February 2010, Volume 31/Number 1. Retrieved 2010-07-05.
7. ^ Fremont-Barnes 2002, p. 12–13.
8. ^ Russell 1818, p. 306.
9. ^ Fremont-Barnes 2002, p. 26.
10. ^ Noble 2007, p. 30.
11. ^ Napoleonic Guide Cadiz 5 February, 1810 – 24 August, 1812 retrieved 21 July 2007.

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6 February 1833 – Otto becomes the first modern King of Greece.

Otto of Greece

"Otho I" redirects here. For the German king, see Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor.

King of Greece

Otto Friedrich Ludwig (Greek: Όθων, Óthon; 1 June 1815 – 26 July 1867) was a Bavarian prince who ruled as King of Greece from the establishment of the monarchy on 27 May 1832, under the Convention of London, until he was deposed on 23 October 1862.

The second son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Otto ascended the newly created throne of Greece while still a minor. His government was initially run by a three-man regency council made up of Bavarian court officials. Upon reaching his majority, Otto removed the regents when they proved unpopular with the people, and he ruled as an absolute monarch. Eventually his subjects' demands for a constitution proved overwhelming, and in the face of an armed (but bloodless) insurrection, Otto granted a constitution in 1843.

Throughout his reign Otto was unable to resolve Greece's poverty and prevent economic meddling from outside. Greek politics in this era were based on affiliations with the three Great Powers that had guaranteed Greece's independence, Britain, France and Russia, and Otto's ability to maintain the support of the powers was key to his remaining in power. To remain strong, Otto had to play the interests of each of the Great Powers' Greek adherents against the others, while not irritating the Great Powers. When Greece was blockaded by the British Royal Navy in 1850 and again in 1854, to stop Greece from attacking the Ottoman Empire during the Crimean War, Otto's standing amongst Greeks suffered. As a result, there was an assassination attempt on Queen Amalia, and finally in 1862 Otto was deposed while in the countryside. He died in exile in Bavaria in 1867.

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7 February 2009 – Bushfires in Victoria leave 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.

Black Saturday bushfires

Series of deadly bushfires throughout Victoria State, Australia in early 2009

The Black Saturday bushfires^[10] were a series of bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009, and were among Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. The fires occurred during extreme bushfire weather conditions and resulted in Australia's highest-ever loss of human life from a bushfire,^[11] with 173 fatalities.^[12] Many people were left homeless as a result.

As many as 400 individual fires were recorded on Saturday 7 February; the day has become widely referred to in Australia as Black Saturday.

A Royal Commission, headed by Justice Bernard Teague, was held.

1. ^ Collins, Pádraig (12 February 2009). "Rudd criticised over bush fire compensation". Irish Times. Ireland. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference VBRC-Vol.01-ch.5-p.075 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ Rennie, Reko (1 April 2009). "deliberately lit: police". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
4. ^ "Lightning starts new bushfires in Grampians". ABC News. 8 February 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
5. ^ "Police track arsonists responsible for Victoria bushfires". News Limited. The Australian. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
6. ^ "About Black Saturday - Country Fire Authority". 27 September 2019. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
7. ^ "What has Australia learned from Black Saturday?". 16 April 2019. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
8. ^ "2009 Victorian Bushfires". 20 May 2019. Archived from the original on 20 May 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Australian Medical Journal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
10. ^ Zwartz, Barney (9 February 2009). "Counting the terrible cost of a state burning". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
11. ^ Huxley, John (11 February 2009). "Horrific, but not the worst we've suffered". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
12. ^ 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission - Final Report (PDF) (Report). Government Printer for the State of Victoria. July 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2020.

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8 February 1942 – World War II: Japan invades Singapore.

Battle of Singapore

World War II battle; decisive Japanese victory

The Battle of Singapore, also known as the Fall of Singapore, was fought in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War when the Empire of Japan invaded the British stronghold of Singapore—nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East". Prior to the invasion, Singapore was a major British military base and economic trading port in South–East Asia and was the key to British imperial interwar defence planning for South-East Asia and the South-West Pacific, then known as the "Far East". The fighting in Singapore lasted for about a week from 8 to 15 February 1942, after the two months during which Japanese forces advanced down the Malayan Peninsula.

The campaign, including the final battle, was a decisive Japanese victory, resulting in the Japanese capture of Singapore and the largest British surrender in its history.^[6] About 80,000 British, Indian, Australian and Malayan troops in Singapore became prisoners of war, joining 50,000 taken by the Japanese in the earlier Malayan Campaign. Famously, about 40,000 mostly Indian soldiers would join the Indian National Army and fight alongside the Japanese.^[7][8] British prime minister, Winston Churchill, called it the "worst disaster" in British military history.^[9]

1. ^ Allen 2013, pp. 300–301.
2. ^ Blackburn & Hack 2004, p. 74.
3. ^ Blackburn & Hack 2004, p. 193.
4. ^ Allen 2013, p. 169.
5. ^ Toland 2003, p. 272.
6. ^ Corrigan 2010, p. 280.
7. ^ Rai 2014.
8. ^ Toye 2006.
9. ^ Churchill 2002, p. 518.

Cite error: There are <ref group=Note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=Note}} template (see the help page).

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9 February 1849 – The new Roman Republic is declared.

Roman Republic (1849)

Short-lived state entity declared on February 9, 1849

For the ancient republic, see Roman Republic. For the Napoleonic client state, see Roman Republic (18th century).

The Roman Republic (Latin: Res Publica Romana, Italian: Repubblica Romana) was a short-lived state declared on 9 February 1849, when the government of the Papal States was temporarily replaced by a republican government due to Pope Pius IX's flight to Gaeta. The republic was led by Carlo Armellini, Giuseppe Mazzini, and Aurelio Saffi. Together they formed a triumvirate, a reflection of a form of government in the ancient Roman Republic.

One of the major innovations the Republic hoped to achieve was enshrined in its constitution; freedom of religion, with Pope Pius IX and his successors guaranteed the right to govern the Catholic Church. These religious freedoms were quite different from the situation under the preceding government, which allowed only Catholicism and Judaism to be practiced by its citizens. The Constitution of the Roman Republic was the first in the world to abolish capital punishment in its constitutional law.^[1]

1. ^ "Art. 5. — Le pene di morte e di confisca sono proscritte" [The penalties of death and confiscation are proscribed] (PDF). Costituzione Della Repubblica Romana (in Italian). 1849. Retrieved 18 January 2016.

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10 February 2009 – The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collide in orbit, destroying both.

2009 satellite collision

2009 collision between the Iridium 33 and Cosmos-2251 satellites

The two satellites involved in the collision: Iridium 33 (replica on the left) and Kosmos-2251 (digital rendering on the right)

On February 10, 2009, two communications satellites—the active commercial Iridium 33 and the derelict Russian military Kosmos-2251—accidentally collided at a speed of 11,700 m/s (26,000 mph; 42,000 km/h) and an altitude of 789 kilometres (490 mi) above the Taymyr Peninsula in Siberia.^{[1][2][3] [4][5][6]} It was the first time a hypervelocity collision occurred between two satellites – until then, all accidental hypervelocity collisions had involved a satellite and a piece of space debris.^[7]

1. ^ McDowell, Jonathan (February 15, 2009). "Jonathan's Space Report No. 606". Archived from the original on April 5, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2009. Strela-2M satellites had lifetimes of around 3 years, and Gen. Yakushin of the Military Space Forces was quoted in Moscow Times as saying Kosmos-2251 went out of service in 1995.
2. ^ Iannotta, Becky (February 22, 2009). "U.S. Satellite Destroyed in Space Collision". Space.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
3. ^ Achenbach, Joel (February 11, 2009). "Debris From Satellites' Collision Said to Pose Small Risk to Space Station". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
4. ^ Marks, Paul (February 13, 2009). "Satellite collision 'more powerful than China's ASAT test". New Scientist. Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2009. (putting the collision speed at 42,120 kilometres per hour (11.7 km/s))
5. ^ Matthews, Mark K. (February 13, 2009). "Crash imperils satellites that monitor Earth". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on February 16, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2009. (reporting it as "what amounted to a 26,000 mph [(7.7 miles/sec)] collision")
6. ^ "Collision between Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251". N2YO. Archived from the original on February 16, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
7. ^ "Satellite Collision Leaves Significant Debris Clouds" (PDF). Orbital Debris Quarterly News. NASA Orbital Debris Program Office. 13 (2): 1–2. April 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 27, 2010. Retrieved May 20, 2010.

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11 February 1979 – The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Iranian Revolution

This article is about the 1979 revolution in Iran. For the 1905 to 1911 revolution, see Persian Constitutional Revolution. For the series of reforms launched in 1963, see White Revolution.

"1979 Revolution" redirects here. For the video game based off the events, see 1979 Revolution: Black Friday.

1978–79 revolution that overthrew the Pahlavi dynasty

The Iranian Revolution (Persian: انقلاب ایران‎, romanized: Enqelâbe Irân, pronounced [ʔeɴɢeˌlɒːbe ʔiːɾɒːn]); locally known as the Islamic Revolution (or the 1979 Revolution)^[1] was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the replacement of his government with an Islamic republic under the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a leader of one of the factions in the revolt.^[2] The revolution was supported by various Islamist and leftist organizations^[3] and student movements.

Demonstrations against the Shah commenced in October 1977, developing into a campaign of civil resistance that included both secular and religious elements.^[4][5][6] The protests rapidly intensified in 1978 as a result of the burning of Rex Cinema which was seen as the trigger of the revolution,^[7][8] and between August and December that year, strikes and demonstrations paralyzed the country. The Shah left Iran in exile on 16 January 1979, as the last Persian monarch, leaving his duties to a regency council and Shapour Bakhtiar, who was an opposition-based prime minister. Ayatollah Khomeini was invited back to Iran by the government,^[9][10] and returned to Tehran to a greeting by several thousand Iranians.^[11] The royal reign collapsed shortly after, on 11 February, when guerrillas and rebel troops overwhelmed troops loyal to the Shah in armed street fighting, bringing Khomeini to official power.^[12][13] Iran voted by national referendum to become an Islamic republic on 1 April 1979^[14] and to formulate and approve a new theocratic-republican constitution^{[4][5][15][16]} whereby Khomeini became supreme leader of the country in December 1979.

The revolution was unusual for the surprise it created throughout the world.^[17] It lacked many of the customary causes of revolution (defeat in war, a financial crisis, peasant rebellion, or disgruntled military);^[18] occurred in a nation that was experiencing relative prosperity;^[9][16] produced profound change at great speed;^[19] was massively popular; resulted in the exile of many Iranians;^[20] and replaced a pro-Western authoritarian monarchy^[9] with an anti-Western theocracy^{[9][15][16][21]} based on the concept of velayat-e faqih (or Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists). In addition to these,the revolution sought a global Shia Revival and uprootal of Sunni hegemony.^[22] It was a relatively nonviolent revolution, and it helped to redefine the meaning and practice of modern revolutions (although there was violence in its aftermath).^[23]

1. ^ * "Islamic Revolution | History of Iran." Iran Chamber Society. Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
   • Brumberg, Daniel. [2004] 2009. "Islamic Revolution of Iran." MSN Encarta. Archived on 31 October 2009.
   • Khorrami, Mohammad Mehdi. 1998. "The Islamic Revolution." Vis à Vis Beyond the Veil. Internews. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009.
   • "Revolution." The Iranian. 2006. from the original on 29 June 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
   • "Iran." Jubilee Campaign. Archived from the original on 6 August 2006.
   • Hoveyda, Fereydoon. The Shah and the Ayatollah: Iranian Mythology and Islamic Revolution. ISBN 0-275-97858-3.
2. ^ Gölz, Olmo. 2017. "Khomeini's Face is in the Moon: Limitations of Sacredness and the Origins of Sovereignty." Pp. 229–44 in Sakralität und Heldentum, edited by F. Heinzer, J. Leonhard, and R. von den Hoff, (Helden - Heroisierungen - Heroismen 6). Würzburg: Ergon. doi:10.5771/9783956503085. p. 229.
3. ^ Goodarzi, Jubin M. (8 February 2013). "Syria and Iran: Alliance Cooperation in a Changing Regional Environment" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
4. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference Abrahamian was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ ^{a b} Afkhami, Gholam-Reza (12 January 2009). The Life and Times of the Shah. ISBN 9780520942165. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.
6. ^ Abrahamian, Ervand. 2009. "Mass Protests in the Islamic Revolution, 1977–79." Pp. 162–78 in Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present, edited by A. Roberts and T. G. Ash. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
7. ^ Mottahedeh, Roy. 2004. The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran. p. 375.
8. ^ "The Iranian Revolution". fsmitha.com. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016.
9. ^ ^{a b c d} Cite error: The named reference Milani Shah was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
10. ^ Milani, Abbas (2008). Eminent Persians. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-0907-0.
11. ^ "1979: Exiled Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran." BBC: On This Day. 2007. Archived 24 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
12. ^ Graham, p. 228.
13. ^ Kurzman, p. 111
14. ^ "Islamic Republic | Iran." Britannica Student Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 16 March 2006.
15. ^ ^{a b} Kurzman
16. ^ ^{a b c} Amuzegar, Jahangir (1991). Dynamics of the Iranian Revolution. p. 253. ISBN 9780791407318.
17. ^ Amuzegar, The Dynamics of the Iranian Revolution, (1991), pp. 4, 9–12
18. ^ Arjomand, p. 191.
19. ^ Amuzegar, Jahangir, The Dynamics of the Iranian Revolution, SUNY Press, p. 10
20. ^ Kurzman, p. 121
21. ^ International Journal of Middle East Studies 19, 1987, p. 261
22. ^ Nasr, Vali (2006). "The Battle for the Middle East". THE SHIA REVIVAL:How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future. 500 Fifth Avenue, New York,NY 10110: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-32968-1. What Iran’s revolution had failed to do, the Shia revival in post-Saddam Iraq was set to achieve. The challenge that the Shia revival poses to the Sunni Arab domination of the Middle East and to the Sunni conception of political identity and authority is not substantially different from the threat that Khomeini posed. Iran’s revolution also sought to break the hegemonic control of the Sunni Arab establishment.CS1 maint: location (link)
23. ^ Ritter, Daniel (May 2010). "Why the Iranian Revolution Was Non-Violent". Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

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12 February 2004 – The city of San Francisco begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.

San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings

The San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings took place between February 12 and March 11, 2004, after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom directed the city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and a number of interest groups sued to end the practice. About 4,000 such licenses were issued before the California Supreme Court ordered a halt to the practice on March 11. On August 12, 2004, the California Supreme Court voided all of the licenses that had been issued in February and March.

The legal dispute over the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples led to the 2008 In re Marriage Cases ruling by the California Supreme Court, which legalized same-sex marriage in California.

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13 February 1955 – Israel obtains four of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls.

Dead Sea Scrolls

For the travelling exhibition, see Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times.

Ancient manuscripts

The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish religious manuscripts that were found in the Qumran Caves in the Judaean Desert, near Ein Feshkha on the northern shore of the Dead Sea in the West Bank. Scholarly consensus dates these scrolls from the last three centuries BCE and the first century CE.^[1][2] The texts have great historical, religious, and linguistic significance because they include the second-oldest known surviving manuscripts of works later included in the Hebrew Bible canon, along with deuterocanonical and extra-biblical manuscripts which preserve evidence of the diversity of religious thought in late Second Temple Judaism. Almost all of the Dead Sea Scrolls are held by the state of Israel in the Shrine of the Book on the grounds of the Israel Museum, but ownership of the scrolls is disputed by Jordan and Palestine.

Many thousands of written fragments have been discovered in the Dead Sea area. They represent the remnants of larger manuscripts damaged by natural causes or through human interference, with the vast majority holding only small scraps of text. However, a small number of well-preserved, almost intact manuscripts have survived – fewer than a dozen among those from the Qumran Caves.^[1] Researchers have assembled a collection of 981 different manuscripts – discovered in 1946/47 and in 1956 – from 11 caves.^[3] The 11 Qumran Caves lie in the immediate vicinity of the Hellenistic-period Jewish settlement at Khirbet Qumran in the eastern Judaean Desert, in the West Bank.^[4] The caves are located about one mile (1.6 kilometres) west of the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, whence they derive their name. Scholarly consensus dates the Qumran Caves Scrolls from the last three centuries BCE and the first century CE.^[1] Bronze coins found at the same sites form a series beginning with John Hyrcanus (in office 135–104 BCE) and continuing until the period of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), supporting the radiocarbon and paleographic dating of the scrolls.^[5]

In the larger sense, the Dead Sea Scrolls include manuscripts from additional Judaean Desert sites, dated as early as the 8th century BCE and as late as the 11th century CE.^[6]

Biblical texts older than the Dead Sea Scrolls have been discovered only in two silver scroll-shaped amulets containing portions of the Priestly Blessing from the Book of Numbers, excavated in Jerusalem at Ketef Hinnom and dated c. 600 BCE; some scholars also include the controversial Shapira Scroll.

Most of the texts use Hebrew, with some written in Aramaic (for example the Son of God text; in different regional dialects, including Nabataean), and a few in Greek.^[7] Discoveries from the Judaean Desert add Latin (from Masada) and Arabic (from Khirbet al-Mird) texts.^[8] Most of the texts are written on parchment, some on papyrus, and one on copper.^[9]

Archaeologists have long associated the scrolls with the ancient Jewish sect called the Essenes, although some recent interpretations have challenged this connection and argue that priests in Jerusalem, or Zadokites, or other unknown Jewish groups wrote the scrolls.^[10][11]

Owing to the poor condition of some of the scrolls, scholars have not identified all of their texts. The identified texts fall into three general groups:

1. About 40% are copies of texts from the Hebrew Scriptures.
2. Approximately another 30% are texts from the Second Temple Period which ultimately were not canonized in the Hebrew Bible, like the Book of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, the Book of Tobit, the Wisdom of Sirach, Psalms 152–155, etc.
3. The remainder (roughly 30%) are sectarian manuscripts of previously unknown documents that shed light on the rules and beliefs of a particular group (sect) or groups within greater Judaism, like the Community Rule, the War Scroll, the Pesher on Habakkuk, and The Rule of the Blessing.^{[12][need quotation to verify]}

1. ^ ^{a b c} "The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls: Nature and Significance". Israel Museum Jerusalem. Archived from the original on 1 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
2. ^ "The Digital Library: Introduction". Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
3. ^ "Hebrew University Archaeologists Find 12th Dead Sea Scrolls Cave". The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Archived from the original on 2 June 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
4. ^ Donahue, Michelle Z. (10 February 2017). "New Dead Sea Scroll Find May Help Detect Forgeries". nationalgeographic.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
5. ^ Leaney, A. R. C. From Judaean Caves: The Story of the Dead Sea Scrolls. p.27, Religious Education Press, 1961.
6. ^ "The Digital Library: Introduction". Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
7. ^ Vermes, Geza (1977). The Dead Sea Scrolls. Qumran in Perspective. London: Collins. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-00-216142-8.
8. ^ "Languages and Scripts". Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
9. ^ McCarthy, Rory (27 August 2008). "From papyrus to cyberspace". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
10. ^ Ofri, Ilani (13 March 2009). "Scholar: The Essenes, Dead Sea Scroll 'authors,' never existed". Ha'aretz. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
11. ^ Golb, Norman (5 June 2009). "On the Jerusalem Origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls" (PDF). University of Chicago Oriental Institute. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 June 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
12. ^ Abegg, Jr., Martin, Peter Flint, and Eugene Ulrich, The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible: The Oldest Known Bible Translated for the First Time into English, San Francisco: Harper, 2002.

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14 February 1899 – Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.

Voting machine

machine used to vote in elections

"Electronic voting machine" redirects here. For e-voting, see Electronic voting.

A voting machine is a machine used to record or tally votes. The first voting machines were mechanical but it is increasingly more common to use electronic voting machines. Traditionally, a voting machine has been defined by its mechanism, and whether the system tallies votes at each voting location, or centrally.

Voting machines differ in usability, security, cost, speed, accuracy, and ability of the public to oversee elections. Machines may be more or less accessible to voters with different disabilities.

Tallies are simplest in parliamentary systems where just one choice is on the ballot, and these are often tallied manually. In other political systems where many choices are on the same ballot, tallies are often done by machines to give quick results.

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15 February 2001 – The first draft of the complete human genome is published in Nature.

Human genome

For a non-technical introduction to the topic, see Introduction to genetics.

Complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans

The human genome is a complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans, encoded as DNA within the 23 chromosome pairs in cell nuclei and in a small DNA molecule found within individual mitochondria. These are usually treated separately as the nuclear genome and the mitochondrial genome.^[2] Human genomes include both protein-coding DNA genes and noncoding DNA. Haploid human genomes, which are contained in germ cells (the egg and sperm gamete cells created in the meiosis phase of sexual reproduction before fertilization creates a zygote) consist of three billion DNA base pairs, while diploid genomes (found in somatic cells) have twice the DNA content. While there are significant differences among the genomes of human individuals (on the order of 0.1% due to single-nucleotide variants^[3] and 0.6% when considering indels),^[4] these are considerably smaller than the differences between humans and their closest living relatives, the bonobos and chimpanzees (~1.1% fixed single-nucleotide variants ^[5] and 4% when including indels).^[6]

The first human genome sequences were published in nearly complete draft form in February 2001 by the Human Genome Project^[7] and Celera Corporation.^[8] Completion of the Human Genome Project's sequencing effort was announced in 2004 with the publication of a draft genome sequence, leaving just 341 gaps in the sequence, representing highly-repetitive and other DNA that could not be sequenced with the technology available at the time.^[9] The human genome was the first of all vertebrates to be sequenced to such near-completion, and as of 2018, the diploid genomes of over a million individual humans had been determined using next-generation sequencing.^[10] These data are used worldwide in biomedical science, anthropology, forensics and other branches of science. Such genomic studies have led to advances in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, and to new insights in many fields of biology, including human evolution.

Although the sequence of the human genome has been (almost) completely determined by DNA sequencing, it is not yet fully understood. Most (though probably not all) genes have been identified by a combination of high throughput experimental and bioinformatics approaches, yet much work still needs to be done to further elucidate the biological functions of their protein and RNA products. Recent results suggest that most of the vast quantities of noncoding DNA within the genome have associated biochemical activities, including regulation of gene expression, organization of chromosome architecture, and signals controlling epigenetic inheritance.

Prior to the acquisition of the full genome sequence, estimates of the number of human genes ranged from 50,000 to 140,000 (with occasional vagueness about whether these estimates included non-protein coding genes).^[11] As genome sequence quality and the methods for identifying protein-coding genes improved,^[9] the count of recognized protein-coding genes dropped to 19,000-20,000.^[12] However, a fuller understanding of the role played by sequences that do not encode proteins, but instead express regulatory RNA, has raised the total number of genes to at least 46,831,^[13] plus another 2300 micro-RNA genes.^[14] By 2012, functional DNA elements that encode neither RNA nor proteins have been noted.^[15] and another 10% equivalent of human genome was found in a recent (2018) population survey.^[16] Protein-coding sequences account for only a very small fraction of the genome (approximately 1.5%), and the rest is associated with non-coding RNA genes, regulatory DNA sequences, LINEs, SINEs, introns, and sequences for which as yet no function has been determined.^[17]

In June 2016, scientists formally announced HGP-Write, a plan to synthesize the human genome.^[18][19]

1. ^ "GRCh38.p13". ncbi. Genome Reference Consortium. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
2. ^ Brown TA (2002). The Human Genome (2nd ed.). Oxford: Wiley-Liss.
3. ^ Abecasis GR, Auton A, Brooks LD, DePristo MA, Durbin RM, Handsaker RE, Kang HM, Marth GT, McVean GA (November 2012). "An integrated map of genetic variation from 1,092 human genomes". Nature. 491 (7422): 56–65. Bibcode:2012Natur.491...56T. doi:10.1038/nature11632. PMC 3498066. PMID 23128226.
4. ^ Auton A, Brooks LD, Durbin RM, Garrison EP, Kang HM, Korbel JO, et al. (October 2015). "A global reference for human genetic variation". Nature. 526 (7571): 68–74. Bibcode:2015Natur.526...68T. doi:10.1038/nature15393. PMC 4750478. PMID 26432245.
5. ^ Chimpanzee Sequencing; Analysis Consortium (2005). "Initial sequence of the chimpanzee genome and comparison with the human genome" (PDF). Nature. 437 (7055): 69–87. Bibcode:2005Natur.437...69.. doi:10.1038/nature04072. PMID 16136131. S2CID 2638825.
6. ^ Varki A, Altheide TK (December 2005). "Comparing the human and chimpanzee genomes: searching for needles in a haystack". Genome Research. 15 (12): 1746–58. doi:10.1101/gr.3737405. PMID 16339373.
7. ^ International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium Publishes Sequence and Analysis of the Human Genome
8. ^ Pennisi E (February 2001). "The human genome". Science. 291 (5507): 1177–80. doi:10.1126/science.291.5507.1177. PMID 11233420. S2CID 38355565.
9. ^ ^{a b} International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium (October 2004). "Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome". Nature. 431 (7011): 931–45. Bibcode:2004Natur.431..931H. doi:10.1038/nature03001. PMID 15496913.
10. ^ Molteni M (19 November 2018). "Now You Can Sequence Your Whole Genome For Just $200". Wired.
11. ^ Wade N (23 September 1999). "Number of Human Genes Is Put at 140,000, a Significant Gain". The New York Times.
12. ^ Ezkurdia I, Juan D, Rodriguez JM, Frankish A, Diekhans M, Harrow J, Vazquez J, Valencia A, Tress ML (November 2014). "Multiple evidence strands suggest that there may be as few as 19,000 human protein-coding genes". Human Molecular Genetics. 23 (22): 5866–78. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddu309. PMC 4204768. PMID 24939910.
13. ^ Saey TH (17 September 2018). "A recount of human genes ups the number to at least 46,831". Science News.
14. ^ Alles J, Fehlmann T, Fischer U, Backes C, Galata V, Minet M, et al. (April 2019). "An estimate of the total number of true human miRNAs". Nucleic Acids Research. 47 (7): 3353–3364. doi:10.1093/nar/gkz097. PMC 6468295. PMID 30820533.
15. ^ Pennisi E (September 2012). "Genomics. ENCODE project writes eulogy for junk DNA". Science. 337 (6099): 1159–1161. doi:10.1126/science.337.6099.1159. PMID 22955811.
16. ^ Zhang S (28 November 2018). "300 Million Letters of DNA Are Missing From the Human Genome". The Atlantic.
17. ^ International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium (February 2001). "Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome". Nature. 409 (6822): 860–921. Bibcode:2001Natur.409..860L. doi:10.1038/35057062. PMID 11237011.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
18. ^ Pollack A (2 June 2016). "Scientists Announce HGP-Write, Project to Synthesize the Human Genome". New York Times. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
19. ^ Boeke JD, Church G, Hessel A, Kelley NJ, Arkin A, Cai Y, et al. (July 2016). "The Genome Project-Write". Science. 353 (6295): 126–7. Bibcode:2016Sci...353..126B. doi:10.1126/science.aaf6850. PMID 27256881. S2CID 206649424.

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16 February 1985 – Hezbollah is founded.

Hezbollah

Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group

For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation).

Hezbollah (/ˌhɛzbəˈlɑː/;^[21] Arabic: حزب الله‎ Ḥizbu 'llāh, literally "Party of Allah" or "Party of God", also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others)^[22] is a Shia Islamist political party and militant group based in Lebanon.^[23][24] Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council,^[25] and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese parliament. Since the death of Abbas al-Musawi in 1992, the group has been headed by Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General. Either the entire organization or only its military wing has been designated a terrorist organization by several countries including the European Union^[26] and since 2017 by most member states of the Arab League, with the exception of Iraq and Lebanon, where Hezbollah is the most powerful political party.^[27] Russia does not view Hezbollah as a "terrorist organization" but as a "legitimate socio-political force.”^[28]

After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the idea of Hezbollah arose among Lebanese clerics who had studied in Najaf, and who adopted the model set out by Ayatollah Khomeini after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The organization was established as part of an Iranian effort, through funding and the dispatch of a core group of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (pasdaran) instructors, to aggregate a variety of Lebanese Shia groups into a unified organization to resist the Israeli occupation^[29][30][5] and improve the standing and status of the long marginalised and underrepresented Shia community in that country.^[31] A contingent of 1,500 pasdaran instructors arrived after the Syrian government, which occupied Lebanon's eastern highlands, permitted their transit to a base in the Bekaa valley.^[32]

During the Lebanese Civil War, Hezbollah's 1985 manifesto listed its objectives as the expulsion of "the Americans, the French and their allies definitely from Lebanon, putting an end to any colonialist entity on our land", the submission of the Christian Phalangists to "just power", bringing them to justice "for the crimes they have perpetrated against Muslims and Christians", and permitting "all the sons of our people" to choose the form of government they want, while calling on them to "pick the option of Islamic government".^[33] Hezbollah organised volunteers who fought for the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War.^[34] From 1985 to 2000, Hezbollah participated in the South Lebanon conflict against the South Lebanon Army (SLA) and Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which finally led to the rout of the SLA and the retreat of the IDF from South Lebanon in 2000. Hezbollah and the IDF fought each other again in the 2006 Lebanon War.

Its military strength has grown so significantly since 2006^[35][36] that its paramilitary wing is considered more powerful than the Lebanese Army.^[37][38] Hezbollah has been described as a "state within a state"^[39] and has grown into an organization with seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite TV station, social services and large-scale military deployment of fighters beyond Lebanon's borders.^[40][41][42] Hezbollah is part of Lebanon's March 8 Alliance, in opposition to the March 14 Alliance. It maintains strong support among Lebanese Shia Muslims,^[43] while Sunnis have disagreed with its agenda.^[44][45] Hezbollah also has support in some Christian areas of Lebanon.^[46] It receives military training, weapons, and financial support from Iran and political support from Syria.^[47]

Since 1990, Hezbollah has participated in Lebanese politics, in a process which is described as the Lebanonisation of Hezbollah, and it later participated in the government of Lebanon and joined political alliances. After the 2006–08 Lebanese protests^[48] and clashes,^[49] a national unity government was formed in 2008, with Hezbollah and its opposition allies obtaining 11 of 30 cabinet seats, enough to give them veto power.^[24] In August 2008, Lebanon's new cabinet unanimously approved a draft policy statement that recognizes Hezbollah's existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to "liberate or recover occupied lands" (such as the Shebaa Farms).^[50] Since 2012, Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian civil war has seen it join the Syrian government in its fight against the Syrian opposition, which Hezbollah has described as a Zionist plot and a "Wahhabi-Zionist conspiracy" to destroy its alliance with Bashar al-Assad against Israel.^[51][52] It has deployed its militia in both Syria and Iraq to fight or train local forces to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).^[53][54] The group's legitimacy is considered to have been severely damaged due to the sectarian nature of the Syrian war.^[40][55][56] In the 2018 Lebanese general election, Hezbollah held 12 seats and its alliance won the election by gaining 70 out of 128 seats in the Parliament of Lebanon.^[57][58]

1. ^ Ekaterina Stepanova, Terrorism in Asymmetrical Conflict: Ideological and Structural Aspects Archived 10 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Oxford University Press 2008, p. 113
2. ^ Elie Alagha, Joseph (2011). Hizbullah's Documents: From the 1985 Open Letter to the 2009 Manifesto. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 15, 20. ISBN 978-90-8555-037-2.
   Shehata, Samer (2012). Islamist Politics in the Middle East: Movements and Change. Routledge. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-415-78361-3.
   Husseinia, Rola El (2010). "Hezbollah and the Axis of Refusal: Hamas, Iran and Syria". Third World Quarterly. 31 (5): 803–815. doi:10.1080/01436597.2010.502695.
3. ^ ^{a b} Philip Smyth (February 2015). The Shiite Jihad in Syria and Its Regional Effects (PDF) (Report). The Washington Institute for Near East Studies. pp. 7–8. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
4. ^ Levitt, Matthew (2013). Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God. p. 356. ISBN 9781849043335. Hezbollah's anti-Western militancy began with attacks against Western targets in Lebanon, then expanded to attacks abroad intended to exact revenge for actions threatening its or Iran's interests, or to press foreign governments to release captured operatives.
   Hanhimäki, Jussi M.; Blumenau, Bernhard (2013). An International History of Terrorism: Western and Non-Western Experiences. p. 267. ISBN 9780415635400. Based upon these beliefs, Hezbollah became vehemently anti-West and anti-Israel.
   Siegel, Larry J. (3 February 2012). Criminology: Theories, Patterns & Typology. p. 396. ISBN 978-1133049647. Hezbollah is anti-West and anti-Israel and has engaged in a series of terrorist actions including kidnappings, car bombings, and airline hijackings.
5. ^ ^{a b} "Who Are Hezbollah?". BBC News. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
6. ^ Julius, Anthony. Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England. Via Google Books. 1 May 2015.
   Michael, Robert and Philip Rosen. Dictionary of Antisemitism from the Earliest Times to the Present. Via Google Books. 1 May 2015.
   Perry, Mark. Talking to Terrorists: Why America Must Engage with Its Enemies. Via Google Books. 1 May 2015
   "Analysis: Hezbollah's lethal anti-Semitism". The Jerusalem Post.
7. ^ "Interior Ministry releases numbers of votes for new MPs". The Daily Star. 9 May 2018.
8. ^ ^{a b} "Hezbollah fighters train Iraqi Shiite militants near Mosul - FDD's Long War Journal". longwarjournal.org. 5 November 2016.
9. ^ "New Experience of Hezbollah with Russian Military". 2 February 2016.
10. ^ Rosenfeld, Jesse (11 January 2016). "Russia is Arming Hezbollah, Say Two of the Group's Field Commanders". The Daily Beast.
11. ^ "Hezbollah Fights Alongside LAF Demonstrating its Continuing Control over Lebanon". The Tower. 21 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
12. ^ ^{a b} "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
13. ^ McElroy, Damien (29 July 2014). "North Korea denies reports of missile deal with Hamas". The Daily Telegraph.
14. ^ "Yemeni FM slams Hezbollah's Houthi support: report". THE DAILY STAR.
15. ^ "Lebanon's Hezbollah denies sending weapons to Yemen". Reuters. 20 November 2017.
16. ^ "Hezbollah – International terrorist organization". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 22 July 2013.
17. ^ https://eurasiantimes.com/israel-impressed-how-turkish-army-crushed-hezbollah-in-idlib-syria/?amp
18. ^ https://m.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/israel-learned-from-hezbollahs-defeat-at-the-hands-of-turkey-628836/amp
19. ^ https://www.haaretz.com/amp/middle-east-news/syria/turkish-strike-in-syria-kills-nine-hezbollah-members-according-to-source-1.8599581
20. ^ Dr. Nimrod Raphaeli (11 February 2009). "The Iranian Roots of Hizbullah". MEMRI. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009.
21. ^ "Hezbollah". The Collins English Dictionary. Glasgow: HarperCollins. 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
    "Hezbollah". Webster's New World College Dictionary. Cleveland: Wiley Publishing, Inc. 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
22. ^ Other transliterations include Hizbollah, Hezbolla, Hezballah, Hisbollah, Hizbu'llah and Hizb Allah.
23. ^ Jamail, Dahr (20 July 2006). "Hezbollah's transformation". Asia Times. Retrieved 23 October 2007.
24. ^ ^{a b} "Hezbollah (a.k.a. Hizbollah, Hizbu'llah)". Council on Foreign Relations. 13 September 2008. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
25. ^ Levitt, Matthew (2013). Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God. p. 15. ISBN 9781849043335. ... the Jihad Council coordinates 'resistance activity'.
    Ghattas Saab, Antoine (15 May 2014). "Hezbollah cutting costs as Iranian aid dries up". The Daily Star. Retrieved 1 June 2014. ... Hezbollah's military wing ... Known as the 'Jihad Council'
26. ^ Cite error: The named reference auto4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
27. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wedeman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
28. ^ Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Greg Mahlich. "Russia says Hezbollah not a terrorist group: Ifax". Reuters. Retrieved 19 February 2021.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
29. ^ Dominique Avon, Anaïs-Trissa Khatchadourian, Hezbollah: A History of the "Party of God", Harvard University Press, 2012 ISBN 978-0-674-07031-8 pp.21ff.
30. ^ E. Azani, Hezbollah: The Story of the Party of God: From Revolution to Institutionalization, Springer, 2011 ISBN 978-0-230-11629-0pp.59-63
31. ^ Mariam Farida, Religion and Hezbollah: Political Ideology and Legitimacy, Routledge, 2019 ISBN 978-1-000-45857-2 pp.1-3.
32. ^ Adam Shatz (29 April 2004). "In Search of Hezbollah". The New York Review of Books. Archived from the original on 22 August 2006. Retrieved 14 August 2006.
33. ^ Itamar Rabinovich (2008). Israel in the Middle East. UPNE. ISBN 9780874519624. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
34. ^ Fisk, Robert (7 September 2014). "After the atrocities committed against Muslims in Bosnia, it is no wonder today's jihadis have set out on the path to war in Syria". The Independent. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
35. ^ "UN: Hezbollah has increased military strength since 2006 war". Haaretz. 25 October 2007. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
36. ^ Frykberg, Mel (29 August 2008). "Mideast Powers, Proxies and Paymasters Bluster and Rearm". Middle East Times. Retrieved 31 May 2011. And if there is one thing that ideologically and diametrically opposed Hezbollah and Israel agree on, it is Hezbollah's growing military strength.
37. ^ Barnard, Anne (20 May 2013). "Hezbollah's Role in Syria War Shakes the Lebanese". New York Times. Retrieved 20 June 2013. Hezbollah, stronger than the Lebanese Army, has the power to drag the country into war without a government decision, as in 2006, when it set off the war by capturing two Israeli soldiers
38. ^ Morris, Loveday (12 June 2013). "For Lebanon's Sunnis, growing rage at Hezbollah over role in Syria". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013. ... Hezbollah, which has a fighting force generally considered more powerful than the Lebanese army.
39. ^ "Iran-Syria vs. Israel, Round 1: Assessments & Lessons Learned". Defense Industry Daily. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
40. ^ ^{a b} Hubbard, Ben (20 March 2014). "Syrian Fighting Gives Hezbollah New but Diffuse Purpose". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 May 2014. ... the fighting has also diluted the resources that used to go exclusively to facing Israel, exacerbated sectarian divisions in the region, and alienated large segments of the majority Sunni population who once embraced Hezbollah as a liberation force... Never before have Hezbollah guerrillas fought alongside a formal army, waged war outside Lebanon or initiated broad offensives aimed at seizing territory.
41. ^ Deeb, Lara (31 July 2006). "Hizballah: A Primer". Middle East Report. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
42. ^ Goldman, Adam (28 May 2014). "Hezbollah operative wanted by FBI dies in fighting in Syria". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 May 2014. ... Hasan Nasrallah has called the deployment of his fighters to Syria a 'new phase' for the movement, and it marks the first time the group has sent significant numbers of men outside Lebanon's borders.
43. ^ "Huge Beirut protest backs Syria". BBC News. 8 March 2005. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
44. ^ "Hariri: Sunnis 'refuse' to join Hezbollah-Al Qaida war". AFP, 25 January 2014.
45. ^ Blanford & Salim 2013.
46. ^ Zirulnick 2012.
47. ^ Filkins, Dexter (30 September 2013). "The Shadow Commander". The New Yorker. Retrieved 4 October 2013. From 2000 to 2006, Iran contributed a hundred million dollars a year to Hezbollah. Its fighters are attractive proxies: unlike the Iranians, they speak Arabic, making them better equipped to operate in Syria and elsewhere in the Arab world.
48. ^ Ghattas, Kim (1 December 2006). "Political ferment in Lebanon". BBC News. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
49. ^ Stern, Yoav; Issacharoff, Avi (10 May 2008). "Hezbollah fighters retreat from Beirut after 37 die in clashes". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
50. ^ Nafez Qawas (6 August 2008). "Berri summons Parliament to vote on policy statement". The Daily Star. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
51. ^ Barnard, Anne (3 January 2014). "Mystery in Hezbollah Operatives Life and Death". The New York Times.
52. ^ Barnard, Anne (9 July 2013). "Car Bombing Injures Dozens in Hezbollah Section of Beirut". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2013. Hezbollah has portrayed the Syrian uprising as an Israeli-backed plot to destroy its alliance with Mr. Assad against Israel.
53. ^ Liz Sly and Suzan Haidamous 'Lebanon’s Hezbollah acknowledges battling the Islamic State in Iraq,' Washington Post 16 February 2015.
54. ^ Ali Hashem, arrives in Iraq Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Al Monitor 25 November 2014
55. ^ "Hezbollah's Syrian Quagmires" (PDF). The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Retrieved 17 September 2014. By siding with the Assad regime, the regime's Alawite supporters, and Iran, and taking up arms against Sunni rebels, Hezbollah has placed itself at the epicenter of a sectarian conflict that has nothing to do with the group's purported raison d'être: 'resistance' to Israeli occupation.
56. ^ Kershner, Isabel (10 March 2014). "Israel Watches Warily as Hezbollah Gains Battle Skills in Syria". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 May 2014. ... the Lebanese group's image at home and in the broader Arab world has been severely damaged because it is fighting Sunni rebels in Syria while its legitimacy rested on its role in fighting Israel.
57. ^ Reuters Staff (22 May 2018). "Factbox: Hezbollah and allies gain sway in Lebanon parliament" – via www.reuters.com.
58. ^ Ajroudi, Asma. "Hezbollah and allies biggest winners in Lebanon polls". www.aljazeera.com.

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17 February 1979 – The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.

Sino-Vietnamese War

War between the People's Republic of China and Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1979

This article is about the 1979 war. For other Sino-Vietnamese military conflicts, see Sino-Vietnamese War (disambiguation).

The Sino-Vietnamese War (Vietnamese: Chiến tranh biên giới Việt-Trung; Chinese: 中越战争; pinyin: Zhōng-Yuè Zhànzhēng) was a border war fought between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in early 1979. China launched an offensive in response to Vietnam's invasion and occupation of Cambodia in 1978 (which ended the rule of the Chinese-backed Khmer Rouge).

Chinese forces entered northern Vietnam and captured several cities near the border. On March 6, 1979, China declared that the gate to Hanoi was open and that their punitive mission had been achieved. Chinese troops then withdrew from Vietnam. Both China and Vietnam claimed victory in the last of the Indochina Wars. As Vietnamese troops remained in Cambodia until 1989, one can say that China remained unsuccessful in its goal of dissuading Vietnam from involvement in Cambodia. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Sino-Vietnamese border was finalized.

Although unable to deter Vietnam from Cambodia, China demonstrated that its Cold War communist and socialist adversary, the Soviet Union, was unable to protect its Vietnamese ally.^[18] Following worsening relations between the Soviet Union and China as a result of the Sino-Soviet split of 1956–1966, as many as 1.5 million Chinese troops were stationed along the Sino-Soviet border in preparation for a full-scale war against the Soviets.

1. ^ Gompert, David C.; Binnendijk, Hans; Lin, Bonny. Blinders, Blunders, and Wars: What America and China Can Learn (PDF) (Report). RAND Corporation. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
2. ^ Nayan Chanda, "End of the Battle but Not of the War", p. 10. Khu vực có giá trị tượng trưng tinh thần nhất là khoảng 300m đường xe lửa giữa Hữu Nghị Quan và trạm kiểm soát biên giới Việt Nam.
3. ^ Nguyen, Can Van. "Sino-Vietnamese Border Issues". NGO Realm. Archived from the original on August 31, 2014. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
4. ^ Nguyen, Can Van. "INTERVIEW ON TERRITORY AND TERRITORIAL WATERS". vlink.com. Archived from the original on January 12, 2015. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
5. ^ Zygmunt Czarnotta and Zbigniew Moszumański, Altair Publishing, Warszawa 1995, ISBN 83-86217-16-2
6. ^ ^{a b} Zhang Xiaoming, "China's 1979 War with Vietnam: A Reassessment" Archived October 31, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, China Quarterly, Issue no. 184 (December 2005), pp. 851–874. Actually thought to have been 200,000 with 400–550 tanks. Zhang writes that: "Existing scholarship tends towards an estimate of as many as 25,000 PLA killed in action and another 37,000 wounded. Recently available Chinese sources categorize the PLA's losses as 6,594 dead and approximately 31,000 injured, giving a total of 24,000 casualties from an invasion force of 200,000."
7. ^ "Chinese Invasion of Vietnam February 1979". GlobalSecurity.org. Archived from the original on October 25, 2005. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
8. ^ King V. Chen (1987): China's War With Việt Nam, 1979. Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, page 103
9. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference mil.chinaiiss.org was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
10. ^ China at War: An Encyclopedia, p. 413, at Google Books
11. ^ Russell D. Howard, INSS Occasional Paper 28: Regional Security Series, USAF Institute for National Security Studies, USAF Academy, September 1999^{[permanent dead link]}
12. ^ ^{a b} Tonnesson, Bởi Stein (2010). Vietnam 1946: How the War Began. University of California Press. p. 2. ISBN 9780520256026.
13. ^ ^{a b} Chan, Gerald (1989). China and international organizations: participation in non-governmental organizations since 1971 (illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 80. ISBN 0195827384.
14. ^ ^{a b} Military Law Review, Volumes 119-122. Volumes 27-100 of DA pam. Contributors United States. Dept. of the Army, Judge Advocate General's School (United States. Army). Headquarters, Department of the Army. 1988. p. 72.CS1 maint: others (link)
15. ^ ^{a b c d e} King C. Chen (1983). "China's war against Vietnam, 1979: a military analysis". Journal of East Asian Affairs. 3 (1). Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
16. ^ ^{a b} Chen, King C. (1987). China's War with Vietnam, 1979: Issues, Decisions, and Implications. Hoover Press. p. 114. ISBN 9780817985738. Archived from the original on October 16, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
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18 February 2003 – Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea.

Daegu subway fire

2003 subway arson in Jungangno Station, Daegu, South Korea

The Daegu subway fire occurred on February 18, 2003, when an arsonist set fire to a train, killing 192 people and injuring 151 others at the Jungangno Station of the Daegu Metropolitan Subway in Daegu, South Korea. The fire had spread across two trains within minutes. It remains the deadliest deliberate loss of life in a single incident in South Korean peacetime history, succeeding the previous record set by a 1982 mass shooting.

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