[Peter Paul Media] — We love history.
In 2008, we began a timeline project listing all major events around the world since at least 1903. After originally thinking we had lost the main file forever, it was found Thursday after 10+ years in a stroke of luck!
We use and have used this list as a reference tool when writing stories and conducting interviews. Below is the original project, which will be updated regularly since being found. It was created by Peter Paul on February 14, 2008, and last updated on December 31, 2019, at 10 P.M. E.T.
2019
∙ February 7: Thousands protest in Haiti demanding resignation of President Jovenel Moise.
∙ March 10: Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 (Boeing 737 MAX 8) crashes after takeoff, killing all 157 people on board.
∙ March 23: Thousands march in central London in protests against Brexit.
∙ April 15: Fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris destroys roof and main spire.
∙ April 18: The Mueller Report is released in Washington D.C.
∙ April 21: Coordinated bomb attacks in Sri Lanka kill at least 253 people.
∙ April 29: ISIS leader appears in undated footage.
∙ May 5: Aeroflot Flight 1492 (Sukhoi Superjet 100) crash lands in Moscow, killing 41 of the 78 souls on board.
∙ May 24: British Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation effective June 7.
∙ July 24: Special Counsel Robert Mueller testifies before U.S. Congress RE: election tampering.
2018
∙ February 14: Jacob Zuma resigns as President of South Africa after nine years.
∙ February 18: Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3704 (ATR-72) crashes en route to Yasuj, killing all 65 aboard.
∙February 24: Indian actress Shridevi dies unexpectedly at the age of 54.
∙ March 4: Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia found on a park bench, poisoned in Salisbury, England. They both survived.
∙ March 18: Russian President Vladimir Putin elected to fourth term.
∙ March 19: World’s last northern white rhinoceros dies in Kenya, subspecies now extinct.
∙ March 25: Qantas launches non-stop (Boeing 787) service between Perth and London, the first commercial flight between Australia and the United Kingdom.
∙ March 26: Skripal poisoning: More than 100 Russian diplomats expelled in more than 20 countries.
∙ April 6: Humboldt Broncos bus accident in Saskatchewan kills 16, 13 others injured.
∙ April 17: Former U.S. First Lady Barbara Bush dies at the age of 92.
∙ April 23: Vehicle-ramming attack in Toronto kills 10 people, 16 others injured. Alek Minassian arrested.
∙ April 27: North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un crosses into South Korea, the first for a DPRK leader since 1953.
∙ May 3: Separatist group ETA confirms final dissolution after 40 years of conflict and 800+ deaths in Spain.
∙ May 18: Cubana Flight 972 (Boeing 737-200) crashes after takeoff from Havana, Cuba, killing 112 people. One person survived.
∙ May 19: Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St. Georges Chapel, England.
∙ June 8: American chef Anthony Bourdain found dead at the age of 61.
∙ June 11: First-ever summit between the United States and North Korea.
∙ June 19: Canada becomes first industrialized country to legalize marijuana.
∙ June 24: Saudi Arabia begins issuing drivers licenses to women for the first time.
∙ July 10: Twelve boys and their soccer coach are rescued from a cave in Thailand after being trapped for 17 days.
∙ July 15: Canadian hockey player Ray Emery dies at the age of 35.
∙ July 26: Large wildfires in Greece kill 102 people, 100+ buildings destroyed.
∙ August 2: Apple Inc. becomes first $1 trillion dollar company.
∙ August 11: Trinidadian-British Nobel writer V.S. Naipaul dies at the age of 85.
∙ August 19: Former U.N. diplomat Kofi Annan dies at the age of 80.
∙ August 25: American politician John McCain dies at the age of 81.
∙ September 6: American actor Burt Reynolds dies at the age of 82.
∙ October 2: Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi murdered inside Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
∙ October 6: U.S. Senate confirms nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
∙ October 16: Canada legalizes sale and use of marijuana, becoming the second country to do so after Uruguay did so in 2013.
∙ October 29: Lion Air Flight 610 (Boeing 737 MAX 8) crashes shortly after takeoff killing all 189 aboard.
∙ November 27: Ukraine declares martial law after security incident.
2017
∙ January 1: Istanbul nightclub bombing kills 39.
∙ January 16: Turkish Airlines Flight 6491 (Boeing 747) crash kills four crew and 35 on the ground.
∙ January 20: Donald J. Trump sworn in as 45th President of the United States.
∙ January 21: Millions around the world take part in Women’s March against President Trump.
∙ February 11: North Korea fires ballistic missile over Sea of Japan.
∙ February 13: Assassination of Kim Jong-nam (North Korea) in Malaysia.
∙ March 30: SpaceX achieves first reflight of orbital rocket in history.
∙ May 9: President Trump fires FBI Director James Comey.
∙ May 12: WannaCry computer attack reported in at least 150 countries.
∙ May 17: Former FBI Director Robert Mueller appointed as Special Counsel to investigate Russia meddling.
∙ May 22: Terrorist attack kills 22 people at Ariana Grande concert in Manchester.
∙ June 1: U.S. withdraws from Paris Climate Agreement.
2016
∙ April 7: American Idol ends 15-year run.
∙ June 12: Terror attack in Orlando kills 50 people.
∙ November 2: Chicago Cubs win first World Series since 1908.
∙ November 28: Donald J. Trump elected as 45th President of the United States.
∙ December 29: Thirty-five Russian diplomats expelled from Washington following hacking scandal.
2015
∙ April 15: Riots in Baltimore erupt following death of Freddie Gray while in police custody.
∙ June 6: American Pharoah begins first horse in 37 years to win Triple Crown of horse racing after win at Belmont Stakes.
∙ June 16: American businessman Donald Trump joins crowded field of Republican presidential nominees.
∙ July 20: Full diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba restored for the first time in 54 years.
∙ September 22: Pope Francis begins first visit to the U.S.
∙ December 2: Islamic extremists kill14 people in San Bernadino, California.
2014
∙ January 11: Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dies years after suffering stroke. He was 85.
∙ March 8: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappears from radar with 239 people aboard.
∙ March 23: WHO declares Ebola epidemic in Guinea.
∙ April 14: An estimated 276 girls are kidnapped and held hostage in Nigeria.
∙ April 25: Flint water crisis in Michigan begins with water supply change.
∙ June 13: Military action against ISIS begins.
∙ June 29: ISIS declares itself a caliphate.
∙ July 17: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (Boeing 777) shot down over eastern Ukraine.
∙ July 24: Air Algerie Flight 5017 (MD-83) crashes in Mali, killing all 116 on board.
∙ August 9: Shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, triggers outrage across America.
∙ November 3: One World Trade Centre (Freedom Tower) opens in New York.
∙ December 28: AirAsia Flight 8501 (Airbus A320) crashes into the Java Sea, killing all 162 on board.
2010
∙ January 1: Tallest man-made structure in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, officially opens.
∙ January 12: Devastating earthquake rocks Haiti, killing over 316,000 people—the 10th-deadliest earthquake on record.
∙ January 14: Yemen declares war against al Qaeda.
∙ January 25: Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 (Boeing 737) crashes into the Mediterranean, killing all 90 on board.
∙ February 12: Winter Olympics open in Vancouver, B.C.
∙ February 27: One of the largest earthquakes in history hits Chile. At least 525 reported dead.
∙ April 10: Polish President, other officials, killed in plane crash (Tupolev Tu-154).
∙ April 14: Volcanic ash from Mount Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland disrupts air traffic.
∙ April 20: Deep Water Horizon oil drilling platform explodes in the Gulf of Mexico. The largest oil spill in history caused widespread damage to the coastline. Eleven workers confirmed dead.
∙ May 12: Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 (Airbus A330) crashes on Tripoli runway, killing 104 people.
∙ May 22: Air India Express Flight 812 (Boeing 737) overshoots Mangalore International runway, killing 158. There were eight survivors.
∙ July 8: The first 24-hour flight by a solar-powered plane is completed by Solar Impulse.
∙ July 25: Major dump by WikiLeaks sees over 90,000 internal reports made public.
∙ July 29: Monsoon rains begin in Pakistan, later blamed for over 1,600 deaths.
∙ August 10: WHO declares the H1N1 swine flu has returned to normal levels.
∙ September 4: Major earthquake in Christchurch, N.Z. No deaths reported.
∙ November 4: Aero Caribbean Flight 883 (ATR 72) crashes in central Cuba, killing all 68 on board.
∙ November 28: In another dump, WikiLeaks releases more than 250,000 classified diplomatic cables.
∙ November 28: Canadian actor Leslie Nielson dies at the age of 84.
∙ December 17: Attempted suicide of Tunisian street vendor triggers Arab Spring.
2009
∙ January 1: Nightclub fire in Bangkok kills 66 people.
∙ January 15: U.S. Airways Flight 1549 (Airbus A320) ditches in the Hudson River, all survive.
∙ January 20: President Barack Obama is sworn in as 44th President of the United States.
∙ January 21: Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip ending a three-week war with Hamas.
∙ January 26: Icelandic government and banking system collapse; Prime Minister resigns.
∙ January 26: Annual solar eclipse in Indian Ocean.
∙ March 4: Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir indicted by International Criminal Court.
∙ April 6: L’Aquila earthquake in Italy, killing at least 308 people.
∙ April 21: UNESCO launches World Digital Library.
∙ April 25: American actress Bea Arthur dies at the age of 86.
∙ May 18: After a quarter-century of war, Sri Lankan civil war ends.
∙ June 1: Air France Flight 447 (Airbus A330) crashes into the Atlantic, killing all 228 on board.
∙ June 11: H1N1 swine flu declared global epidemic.
∙ June 13: Mass protests in Iran.
∙ June 25: Pop superstar Michael Jackson dies at the age of 50.
∙ June 30: Yemenia Airlines Flight 626 crashes off the coast of the Comoros, 152 of 153 on board killed.
∙ July 15: Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 (Tupolev Tu-154) crashes over Iran, killing all 168 people on board.
∙ July 17: American broadcaster Walter Cronkite dies at the age of 92.
∙ September 30: Indonesian earthquake kills 1,115 people.
∙ November 10: D.C. sniper John Allen Muhammad executed in Virginia.
∙ December 8: Coordinated attacks in Baghdad kill at least 127 people with another 448 injured.
2008
∙ January 2: Crude oil trades at $100 a barrel for the first time in history.
∙ January 4: More than one-million people are without power in California after storms and rain batter the state.
∙ January 4: “Dakar Rally”, the epic motorcycle, car and truck race across the Sahara Desert is cancelled for the first time in 30 years after direct threats from al Qaeda, organizers say.
∙ January 7: Two Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
∙ January 11: Sir Edmund Hillary, first man to reach summit of Mount Everest, dies at the age of 88, New Zealand P.M. announces.
∙ January 19: Sportscaster Don Whittman dies at 71.
∙ January 21: Stock markets in New York and Toronto plummet in highest single-day losses in seven years. Toronto stock markets fall more than 600 points.
∙ January 22: Stock markets bounce back in New York and Toronto.
∙ January 23: Trevor Rees-Jones, the only survivor of the 1997 crash that killed the Princess of Wales, testifies at inquest.
∙ January 24: Societe Generale, a French bank, uncovers $7 billion dollar fraud by single trader identified as 31-year-old Frenchmen Jerome Kerviel.
∙ January 26: Gunmen shoot 11 people dead in Lusignan, Guyana; the worst mass murder since the 1978 Jim Jones mass suicides.
∙ January 27: Indonesian dictator Suharto dies, he was 86. His health had deteriorated in the past few days.
∙ January 28: President George W. Bush delivers final State of the Union address.
∙ January 28: U.S. Predator drone assassinates Abu Laith al-Libi, a senior al Qaeda commander in North Waziristan province in Pakistan.
∙ February 1: Netscape Navigator, the first commercial internet browser, retired after 13 years on the market.
∙ February 14: Gunman kills five people in Northern Illinois University shootings.
∙ February 15: Adventurer Steve Fossett declared legally dead at the age of 63.
∙ February 17: Kosovo Parliament votes 109-0 to declare independence from Kosovo. Serbs have had a presence in Kosovo for at least 1,000 years.
∙ February 18: Mohammed al-Fayed, father of Dodi al-Fayed, testifies at Diana death inquest.
∙ February 19: Fidel Castro resigns as Cuban President. Raul Castro, his brother, takes over.
∙ February 19: Crude oil closes above $100 USD a barrel, an increase of $4.51, or 4.7 percent.
∙ February 20: Space Shuttle Atlantis touches down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida as another, Shuttle Endeavour, is pointed skyward ready for launch.
∙ February 22: Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien receives Order of Canada.
∙ February 26: Attempted robbery at Toronto CIBC branch at Victoria Park and Lawrence Ave. shortly after 10 a.m. Sixteen-year-old suspected arrested by police.
∙ February 28: British MOD confirms that Prince Harry has been serving in Afghanistan for the past 10 weeks.
∙ February 29: Oil trades at a new record, $103 USD
∙ February 29: British MOD announces that Prince Harry will be leaving Afghanistan.
∙ February 29: Execution of “Chemical Ali” approved by Iraqi government.
∙ March 2: Dmitry Medvedev, 42, elected Russian president.
∙ March 2: Canadian soldier reported dead in Afghanistan.
∙ March 2: Canadian blues guitarist, Jeff Healey, 41, dies.
∙ March 2: Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in Baghdad for landmark visit.
∙ March 3: Conrad Black reports to Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Florida to serve his six and a half year prison sentence.
∙ March 5: Oil prices close at another record, $104.52 USD.
∙ March 5: Transport Canada says that 33 pilots across Canada report being flashed by lasers during final approach; five incidents reported above Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
∙ March 6: Improvised explosive device explodes at military recruiting center in Times Square. No injuries reported.
∙ March 9: Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero wins re-election.
∙ March 10: Oil prices close at another record, $108 USD.
∙ March 11: Space Shuttle Endeavour blasts off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
∙ March 12: New York Governor Eliot Spitzer resigns amid prostitution allegations.
∙ March 12: For the sixth straight day, oil closes above previous day’s records, $110.
∙ March 13: Gold futures hit $1,000 an ounce for the first time.
∙ March 13: Canadian Parliament votes to extend Afghan mission until 2011, provided NATO provides more reinforcements.
∙ March 14: The flag draped casket of the 80th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan arrives at CFB Trenton.
∙ March 15: One man killed, six injured in Dufferin and Lawrence Toronto shooting.
∙ March 15: The Chinese legislature re-elects President Hu Jintao to a second five-year term.
∙ March 16: Canadian soldier reported dead in Afghanistan, the 81st Canadian to die.
∙ March 17: David Paterson sworn in as the 55th Governor of New York, replacing former governor Eliot Spitzer, who resigned amid prostitution scandal.
∙ March 18: Over 200 (239 to be exact) people share second prize in Lotto 6/49 draw.
∙ March 17: A former drummer for the Swedish pop band “ABBA”, Ola Brunkert, is found dead in Mallorca at the age of 62.
∙ March 19: The Canadian dollar logs its biggest drop in nearly 49 years ( May 1962) falling 2.19 cents Wednesday.
∙ March 19: CNN’s Anderson Cooper announces he may have skin cancer, one day after a two hour procedure to remove a cancerous mole under his left eye.
∙ March 19: Five year anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
∙ March 24: Jack Kervorkian, 79, announces he will run for U.S. Congress in Detroit.
∙ March 24: U.S. military confirms 4,000th death in Iraq war.
∙ March 26: Space Shuttle Endeavour lands at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
∙ March 26: Ford Motor Co. sells Jaguar and Land Rover businesses to India’s Tata Motors Ltd. for an estimated $1.7 billion dollars.
∙ March 27: Terminal Five at Heathrow Airport opens with an early morning arrival from Hong Kong. The new terminal, exclusive to British Airways, was built at a cost of more than $8 billion.
∙ March 27: Canadian Tire ends twice-a-year printed catalogue, moves it online. For each printed edition, six million copies were issued over more than nine decades.
∙ March 29: Teenage girl, 17, shot at Spadina TTC station in Toronto.
∙ March 29: Cities across the globe turn out the lights to mark Earth Hour.
∙ March 29: Zimbabwe votes in country-wide elections.
∙ March 31: More flights (54) cancelled at the Terminal Five, Heathrow.
∙ April 1: After more than 35 years on air, CBC’s Royal Canadian Air Farce calls it a show.
∙ April 2: Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe loses control of Parliament following Saturday’s election.
∙ April 2: Ayman al-Zawahri releases 90-minute audio message, the Associated Press reports.
∙ April 3: Zimbabwean forces raid offices of main opposition party movement.
∙ April 3: Twenty years after releasing the last album, “New Kids on the Block” announce reunion tour.
∙ April 3: Supermodel Naomi Campbell arrested at Heathrow Airport for spitting at a police officer.
∙ April 5: Jay-Z and Beyonce wed in New York after six-year relationship.
∙ May 12: Sichuan earthquake: Over 87,000 confirmed dead with $150 billion U.S. in damages.
∙ May 25: NASA’s Phoenix spacecraft lands on the northern polar region of Mars, the first to do so.
∙ June 11: Prime Minister Stephen Harper formally apologizes for the Indian residential school system.
∙ July 2: Íngrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages rescued from FARC by Columbian security forces.
∙ August 7: Georgia invades South Ossetia.
∙ August 8: Summer Olympics open in Beijing.
∙ August 20: Spanair Flight 5022 (MD-82) crashes in Madrid, killing 154 on board.
∙ September 10: CERN’s proton beam circulated for the first time in Large Hadron Collider.
∙ September 20: Suicide truck bomb at Marriott Hotel in Islamabad kills 54, 266 injured.
∙ September 28: SpaceX Falcon 1 become world’s first privately developed space vehicle by going into orbit.
∙ October 3: President George W. Bush signs $700 billion treasury fund.
∙ October 7: Spotify launched in Sweden.
∙ October 21: Large Hadron Collider inaugurated in Geneva.
∙ October 22: India launches Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft on lunar mission.
∙ November 4: U.S. Senator Barack Obama elected as 44th President of the United States.
∙ November 26: Coordinated shooting and bombing attacks in Mumbai kill 164 people, ending on November 29.
∙ December 27: Israel invades the Gaza Strip over rocket attacks, weapons smuggling.
∙ December 31: Extra “Leap Second” added to the end of the year, last time was 2005.
2007
∙ January 3: Iraqi government says 12,000 people reported dead during war last year.
∙ January 10: President Bush calls for a 21,500-strong troop surge.
∙ January 23: E. Howard Hunt, who helped organize the 1974 Watergate break-in, dies at the age of 88.
∙ February 8: Former Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith dies at the age of 39.
∙ February 17: The U.N. announces some 18,000 children die daily due to hunger and malnutrition.
∙ March 12: BBC′s Alan Johnston, 45, kidnapped off Gaza City Street.
∙ March 18: Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer found dead in Jamaican hotel, one day after Pakistan’s elimination from the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
∙ April 4: CBS host Don Imus refers to U.S. Rutgers University women’s basketball as “nappy-headed hoes.” Days later, he apologized. He was later fired by CBS on April 13.
∙ April 15: Pope Benedict celebrates his 80th birthday.
∙ April 15: Orlando Sentinel newspaper reports that NASA has paid $26.6 million to the families affected by the 2003 Shuttle Columbia disaster. Details not disclosed.
∙ April 16: Former French intelligence officials say the U.S. government was warned of possible hijacking of U.S. airliners nine months before 9/11.
∙ April 16: Seung-Hui Cho, 23, kills 32 people in Virginia Tech massacre.
∙ April 23: Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin dies. He was 76.
∙ April 23: Tour De France champion Floyd Landis tests positive for synthetic testosterone, a banned substance in the Tour.
∙ April 25: New York’s Dow Jones Industrial Average passes 13,000 point mark for the first time in history.
∙ May 15: Televangelist Jerry Falwell dies. He was 73.
∙ May 23: Gunman shoots and kills 14-year-old Jordan Manners inside C.W. Jefferies Collegiate Institute in Toronto.
∙ June 1: Jack Kervorkian, 79, released from prison after serving more than eight years for helping a terminally-ill man end his life.
∙ June 5: Lewis “Scooter” Libby sentenced to 30 months in prison in CIA leak case.
∙ June 7: U.S. death toll in Iraq surpasses 3,501 soldiers.
∙ June 17: Nicolas Sarkozy wins French presidential elections.
∙ June 21: British P.M. Tony Blair chairs his last cabinet meeting as British Prime Minister; he hands over the reins of the Labour Party to Gordon Brown who is 56-years-old.
∙ July 3: BBC′s Alan Johnston, 45, released by militants in Gaza.
∙ July 4: Six Canadian soldiers killed in roadside bombing in Afghanistan.
∙ July 6: Bob Barker films last episode of The Price is Right. Barker, 83, ends 35 years on show, 50 years on television.
∙ July 7: (7-7-7) New Seven Wonders of the world unveiled.
∙ July 8: Boeing Co. unveils 787 Dreamliner.
∙ July 11: “Honest Ed” Mirvish dies at the age of 92, weeks away from his 93rd birthday.
∙ July 12: Jordan’s King Abdullah II arrives in Ottawa for talks.
∙ July 13: Judge sentences media baron Conrad Black to 35 years in prison.
∙ July 23: Drew Carey tapped as new host for The Price is Right.
∙ July 25: India inaugurates first female president, Prabtibha Patil, a former lawyer. She is 72.
∙ August 13: President Bush advisor and architect Karl Rove resigns from office effective August end.
∙ August 10: William Elliott becomes new RCMP Commissioner.
∙ August 14: Prime Minister Stephen Harper shuffles cabinet.
∙ August 16: Jose Padilla, 36, convicted of federal terrorism support charges.
∙ August 27: Embattled U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigns.
∙ September 3: Adventurer Steve Fossett goes missing from Las Vegas airfield and never returns.
∙ September 6: Luciano Pavarotti, part of the infamous Three Tenors loses his battle with pancreatic cancer, he was 71.
∙ September 10: In a rare interview on someone else’s talk show, David Letterman, 60, tapes show with Oprah Winfrey in New York City instead of Chicago, where it’s usually taped.
∙ September 25: Yasuo Fukuda, 71, elected as Japanese prime minister.
∙ September 23: An estimated 20,000 people protest Myanmar government, the largest since the military junta seized power.
∙ September 29: Iranian MPs vote to name CIA, U.S. Army, as “terrorist organizations.”
∙ October 1: South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il meet in Pyongyang. Roh had travelled 3 ½ hours to Mr. Kim.
∙ October 4: North, South Korean leaders, pledge summit declaration of peace.
∙ October 18: Reggae star, Lucky Dube, dies after being shot in a carjacking attempt in Johannesburg, the South African capital. He was 43.
∙ October 29: For the first time in Canadian history, a Canadian Prime Minister (Stephen Harper) meets with the Dalai Lama.
∙ October 29: Exit polls indicate Christina Fernandez, first lady to Argentina’s President Nestor Kirchner, has won Argentinean presidency.
∙ October 30: Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announces GST cuts; 5% as of Jan. 1.
∙ November 1: Pilot who dropped first Atomic bomb on Hiroshima dies. Paul Tibbets was 92.
∙ November 6: Soul superstar Aretha Franklin performs at Holt Renfrew flagship store in Toronto.
∙ November 7: An 18-year-old gunman kills eight people at southern Finland school.
∙ November 12: Airbus A-380 lands at Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport in Montreal, its maiden flight to Canada.
∙ November 15: Archaeologists discover 1,700-year-old cemetery in northeast Syria.
∙ November 24: Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s 11 years of power come’s to an end. Labours John Rudd wins majority in country’s election.
∙ November 25: Rampaging youth launch riots in a troubled Paris suburb after a young man dies in a car accident.
∙ November 26: Princess Diana was not pregnant at the time of her death, a pathologist testified at her inquest says.
∙ November 27: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf bids farewell to Pakistani Army, one day before he officially quits as country’s army chief.
∙ December 3: The U.N. says that Somalia is now Africa’s worst humanitarian crisis.
∙ December 11: Aqsa Parvez, 16, dies after being strangled at her Mississauga home. Her father is accused in her murder.
∙ December 11: Judge sentences Robert Pickton, 58, to six consecutive life terms for his role in the killing of Vancouver prostitutes.
∙ December 12: Twin bombings in Algiers target U.N. offices, dozens are killed and Al Qaeda later claims responsibility.
∙ December 17: New Jersey bans the death penalty; the first U.S. state to do so in 40 years.
∙ December 17: Don Chevrier dies at the age of 69. He was the first TV voice of the Toronto Blue Jays.
∙ December 19: Former Hyundai CEO wins South Korean presidency.
∙ December 23: Jazz sensation Oscar Peterson dies at his Toronto home, he was 82.
∙ December 25: Canadian Press names RCMP as “Newsmaker of the Year”.
∙ December 27: Benazir Bhutto assassinated shortly after Rawalpindi political rally. She was 54.
∙ December 29: Bin Laden threatens Israel and the United States in new audio message.
∙ December 31: Ottawa marks 150 years as Canada’s capital.
2006
∙ January 4: Ariel Sharon, former Israeli prime minister, suffers massive stroke.
∙ January 7: Jill Carroll, a 28-year-old journalist for the Christian Science Monitor, kidnapped off Baghdad street. Her Iraqi interpreter was killed at the scene.
∙ January 12: Mehmet Ali Agca released from prison nearly 25 years after attempting to shoot Pope John Paul II in St. Peters Square.
∙ January 15: The chief judge in the Saddam Hussein trial submits resignation. Rizgar Mohammed Amin resigns in protest that he is too soft on the ousted leader.
∙ January 23: Stephen Harper elected Canadian PM.
∙ January 23: Former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin steps down as Liberal leader.
∙ January 26: HAMAS wins parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories, prompting the resignation of PM Ahmed Qurei and his entire cabinet.
∙ January 29: ABC journalist Bob Woodruff critically injured in Baghdad roadside bombing. He later recovers. Canadian cameraman Doug Vogt is injured in the same attack. Days later, his mother confirms his arrival home, says he is resting.
∙ January 31: Alan Greenspan resigns as chairman of U.S. Federal Reserve after serving since 1987.
∙ February 16: Rene Preval announced as winner of Haitian elections.
∙ February 22: More than 70-CIA linked flights have passed through Canada, internal government memos say, CTV reported.
∙ February 24: Threes Company star Don Knotts dies at the age of 81.
∙ March 7: U.S. House of Representatives renews USA Patriot Act in cliffhanger vote late Tuesday.
∙ March 8: The body of kidnapped American Tom Fox, 54, found in Baghdad.
∙ March 11: Former leader of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic found dead in prison cell. He was 64.
∙ March 22: The E.U. announces a ban on 92 airlines, mostly based in Africa, citing safety concerns.
∙ March 23: Special Forces raid Iraqi house in hostage rescue operation, freeing Iraqi hostages James Loney, Harmeet Singh Sooden and Norman Kember from captivity.
∙ March 28: Construction workers near Ground Zero in New York find more bone fragments and human remains near WTC. They are linked to September 11 terror attacks.
∙ March 28: White House chief of staff Andrew Card resigns.
∙ March 28: U.S. advisor Caspar W. Weinberger dies. He was 88.
∙ March 30: Portia Simpson Miller, 60, Jamaica’s first female PM, is sworn in.
∙ March 30: Jill Carroll, 28, released by Iraqi captors.
∙ April 19: White House spokesman Scott McClennan resigns.
∙ April 22: Guyana’s Agriculture Minister Satyadeo Sawh brutally assassinated along with his sister, brother and a security guard at their home.
∙ April 24: Former Maple Leafs Chairman, Steve Stavro, dies. He was 79.
∙ April 25: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi releases unprecedented video message condemning Iraqi government as an American “stooge.”
∙ May 3: Earl Woods, father of pro-golfer Tiger Woods, dies at his home in California. He was 74.
∙ May 4: Zacarias Moussaoui, the alleged 20th hijacker on 9/11, escapes the death penalty inside a Virginia courtroom.
∙ May 22: WHO chief dies after brain surgery, Dr. Lee-Jong-wook was 61.
∙ May 26: Reggae great Desmond Dekker dies in England. His manager said he collapsed after suffering a heart attack, he was 64.
∙ May 28: Barry Bonds hits his 715th home run in San Diego, moving ahead of Hank Aaron on the all time homer list. He is second place all time.
∙ May 28: Toronto Argonauts announce the signing of former NFLer Ricky Williams.
∙ May 29: Two CBS crewmen killed in Iraq by IED. Kimberly Dozier, 39, a CBS correspondent, was critically injured in the attack as well.
∙ June 8: Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed in Iraq, U.S. Confirms.
∙ June 10: Three inmates at the U.S.-run terror camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, commit suicide. Two Saudis and one Yemeni man died shortly after midnight says the commander of the camp.
∙ June 19: Carolina Hurricanes win first Stanley Cup in team history.
∙ June 21: Dan Rather, 74, cuts ties with CBS after 44 years.
∙ June 24: Patsy Ramsey, mother of slain Jon Benet Ramsey, dies. She was 49.
∙ June 25: Kidnapping of Israeli soldier sparks war between Hezbollah and Israel.
∙ July 5: Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay, 64, dies after heart attack.
∙ July 10: Shamil Basayev, Russia’s most-wanted warlord, killed by truck bomb. He was 41.
∙ July 11: Terror attacks rock commuter rail network in Mumbai, India, 180 reported dead.
∙ July 11: Groundhog Wiarton Willie, who helped predict the coming of spring, dies at the age of eight, his caretaker said.
∙ July 11: Dan Rather, 74, announces that he will join “HDNet” in new show titled Dan Rather Reports. Rather will produce the show as well.
∙ July 13: Valerie Plame, wife of former Amb. Joseph Wilson, sues U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney.
∙ July 16: Family members confirm deaths of RCMP officers as a result of July 7 shooting.
∙ July 25: Israeli Defence Forces mistakenly bombs U.N. outpost in El Khiam, southern Lebanon. Four U.N. officers are killed, one of them was Canadian.
∙ July 26: Former U.S. President Gerald Ford released from hospital, two days after he was admitted for shortness of breath.
∙ August 9: The U.S. military confirms arrest of four Iraqi men in connection with Jill Carroll’s abduction.
∙ August 24: Astronomers declare Pluto will no longer be considered a planet.
∙ September 4: Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin dies at the age of 44 after stingray incident.
∙ September 5: Katie Couric’s first broadcast for CBS Evening News.
∙ September 9: Space Shuttle Atlantis blasts off to the International Space Station. Six astronauts, including Canadian Steve MacLean aboard, launched at 11:15 A.M.
∙ September 13: Kimveer Gill, 25, opens fire at Dawson College in Montreal. One person reported dead, 20 others are injured.
∙ September 20: During U.N. address in New York, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez calls U.S. President George W. Bush a “devil.” Said he “smells sulpher” at the podium.
∙ September 26: Shinzo Abe becomes Japan’s 90th prime minister.
∙ October 11: New York Yankees pitcher Corey Lidle dies after his plane crashes into 71 street and York Ave., building in New York. He was 34.
∙ October 14: Tex-Mex country singer Freddy Fender dies at the age of 69.
∙ October 15: Brett Hull retires after 19 seasons in the NHL.
∙ October 23: Former Enron CEO Jeffery Skilling sentenced to 24 years in prison for his role in the fall of the company.
∙ November 8: Donald Rumsfeld resigns as U.S. Defence Secretary, President Bush announces Robert Gates, who served under President H. W. Bush, as his successor.
∙ November 9: CBS broadcast journalist (60 Minutes) Ed Bradley dies at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. He was 65.
∙ November 15: Al Jazeera English launches into millions of North American homes.
∙ November 14: Ban ki-Moon officially sworn as the U.N. Secretary-General, replacing Kofi Annan.
∙ November 21: Gunmen assassinate Lebanese Christian politician, Pierre Gemayel, in Beirut.
∙ November 26: Ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko dies after being poisoned with polonium-210.
∙ December 2: Stephane Dion wins Liberal Party leadership.
∙ December 6: NASA announces that photographs taken on Mars indicate water once flowed on the Red Planet as recently as a few years ago.
∙ December 7: Alexander Litvinenko laid to rest in London’s exclusive Highgate cemetery.
∙ December 16: Time Magazine names “You” as “Person of the Year.”
∙ December 26: Former U.S. President Gerald Ford dies in Rancho Mirage, California. He was 93.
∙ December 25: Godfather of Soul James Brown dies at the age of 73.
∙ December 30: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein executed in Baghdad.
∙ December 31: Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr., dies at the age of 78.
2005
∙ January 10: CBS fires four top executives over Bush military report.
∙ January 11: President Bush names Michael Chertoff as Homeland Security Secretary.
∙ January 14: NASA’s Huygens probe lands on Saturn’s surface.
∙ January 23: Former Tonight Show host Johnny Carson dies at the age of 79.
∙ February 2: SkyDome renamed Rogers Centre.
∙ February 6: Thousands celebrate the late Bob Marley’s birthday in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
∙ February 14: Former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri assassinated. He was 60.
∙ February 24: A record 199 individuals are nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
∙ March 3: Four RCMP officers killed in the line of duty in Mayerthorpe, Alberta.
∙ March 9: “To the oppressed or to those whose lot it is to struggle in financial hardship or in failing health; to my fellow journalists, in places where reporting the truth means risking all — courage.” With that, Dan Rather wrapped up his final newscast on the “CBS Evening News.” Today was actually the 24th anniversary of his first broadcast on CBS.
∙ March 11: Gunman identified as 33-year-old Brian Nichols kills three sheriffs-deputies in Atlanta.
∙ March 12: After intense manhunt, Brian Nichols is arrested in North Atlanta.
∙ March 24: Ashley Smith, 26, a widowed mother of one, receives $70,000 in reward money. She was held hostage by Brian Nichols for seven hours on March 12.
∙ March 29: Johnnie Cochrane Jr., who gained notoriety for his defence of O.J. Simpson, dies in Los Angeles at the age of 67.
∙ April 2: Pope John Paul II dies at 9:37 P.M. local time.
∙ April 19: Pope Benedict becomes new Pope after vote in Roman conclave.
∙ April 27: Airbus A-380 completes maiden flight in France.
∙ May 2: Al Qaeda operative, Abu Farraj al-Libbi, captured by Pakistani forces after intense shootout.
∙ May 17: Conservative M.P. Belinda Stronach crosses the floor to the Liberals.
∙ June 1: Washington Post confirms identity of Deep Throat, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernsteins’ secret source on Watergate. W. Mark Felt, 91, the number two FBI official at the time, was revealed earlier in the week in a Vanity Fair report.
∙ June 2: From London to Paris to South Africa, Live 8 concerts focus attention on world poverty and debt burdens on poor countries.
∙ June 3: CNN programs Inside Politics and Crossfire” cancelled; The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer will air in the same timeslots.
∙ June 17: First criminal case against deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein filed in Baghdad for massacres in Dujail.
∙ June 25: Iranian hardliner, 49-year-old Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wins Iranian presidency.
∙ June 27: Billionaire John Walton, son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, dies in plane crash at the age of 58.
∙ July 4: Karla Homolka released from jail after serving 12-year jail term for sex-torture killings committed in the early nineties in Toronto.
∙ July 6: Journalist Judith Miller of the New York Times leaves court in handcuffs after failing to reveal a secret source related to the CIA leak case.
∙ July 6: L. Patrick Gray, Watergate-era FBI Director, dies at the age of 88.
∙ July 6: London stuns Paris, the front-runner, after winning the 2012 Olympics.
∙ July 6: Tibetan exiles mark the Dalai Lama’s 70th birthday.
∙ July 7: Three bombs explode on London’s transit system, 52 people are killed.
∙ July 20: James Doohan, who played Scotty on the original Star Trek series, dies at the age of 85.
∙ July 21: Bombers target London again: All four bombers arrested by British security forces a week later.
∙ July 22: Jean Charles de Menezes, a 27-year-old Brazilian, is shot dead by British security forces inside London’s transit system.
∙ July 26: In the first manned space flight since the Columbia disaster, Shuttle Shuttle Discovery rockets away from Kennedy Space Centre in a blaze of glory.
∙ August 1: Sudan’s Vice President John Garang dies after helicopter crash in Sudan. He was 60.
∙ August 2: Air France Flight 358 (Airbus A340) crash lands at Toronto Pearson. Remarkably, all passengers and crew escaped the jet minutes before it burst into flames.
∙ August 7: Broadcaster Peter Jennings dies of lung cancer at the age of 67.
∙ August 17: Pierce Brosnan, 52, out as James Bond after appearing in four films.
∙ August 19: BTK killer, Dennis Radler handed ten consecutive life sentences by a Kansas judge for his role in BTK murders.
∙ August 21: San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Thomas Herrion collapses in team locker room shortly after NFL game. He died a short time later at the age of 23.
∙ August 29: Hurricane Katrina slams into U.S. Gulf Coast.
∙ September 4: U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, William Rehnquist, dies. He was 80.
∙ September 19: NASA Administrator Michael Griffin announces $104 million dollar plan to send astronauts back to the moon within the next 50 years.
∙ September 26: Adrienne Clarkson completes her last day as Governor General of Canada.
∙ September 29: John G. Roberts Jr., sworn in as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
∙ September 30: Cartoons published in Jyllands-Posten ( Danish newspaper) depicting the Prophet Muhammed cause global uproar.
∙ October 5: Massive earthquake in Pakistan kills as many as 73,000 people.
∙ October 19: Trial of Saddam Hussein begins.
∙ October 20: Saddam defence lawyer Saadoun al-Janabi kidnapped leaving Baghdad office, found dead next day.
∙ October 24: President George W. Bush names Ben Bernanke as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman as Greenspan’s term expires next year.
∙ October 24: Rosa Lee Parks, who on Dec. 1, 1955, gained notoriety because she didn’t give up her seat on a bus to a white man, dies at the age of 92.
∙ October 25: Hans Blix, former chief U.N. weapons inspector, calls Iraq invasion a “pure failure”.
∙ October 27: Riots in Parisian suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois erupt after two youths are killed at a power substation.
∙ October 28: U.S. VP’s Chief of Staff Lewis Libby resigns, relating to grand jury indictment relating to CIA leak case.
∙ October 29: For the first time in 60,000 years, Mars orbits very close to Earth. The orbit brought Mars 43.1 million miles away from Earth; it was most visible around 11:25 P.M. EST. This is expected to happen again in 2018.
∙ November 2: Washington Post reports about CIA-run prison network in Eastern European countries.
∙ November 9: Judith Miller of the New York Times announces retirement, NYT confirms.
∙ November 16: FBI announces a new most-wanted list: most wanted stolen art.
∙ November 24: Pat Morita, 73, star of Karate Kid movies, dies in Las Vegas of natural causes.
∙ November 22: Angela Merkel, 51, becomes Germany’s first elected female chancellor. Merkel succeeds Gerhard Schroeder, who lost his seven-year government on September 18.
∙ November 26: Canadians James Loney, 41, Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, Briton Norman Kember, 74, and American Tom Fox, 54, kidnapped in Baghdad. They were affiliated with Christian Peacemaker Teams.
∙ December 13: Tookie Williams, 51, the founder of the “Cripps” gang, is executed in San Quentin prison for killing four people 24 years ago. He died at 12:35 a.m. local time.
∙ December 16: Robert Novak, 74, announces he’s jumping ship from CNN to Fox News.
∙ December 20: Retired RCMP officer dies in Port-au-Prince after shots fired at his car, Mark Bourque was 57.
∙ December 24: U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld serves Christmas Eve dinner to soldiers in Mosul, Iraq.
∙ December 26: A 15-year-old bystander, identified as Jane Creba, shot to death outside a Yonge Street Foot Locker store during the Boxing Day shopping rush in Toronto.
2004
∙ January 3: NASA’s rover Spirit lands on Mars.
∙ January 24: NASA’s rover Opportunity lands on Mars.
∙ February 21: Two officials from the International Red Cross visit Saddam Hussein in prison, the first time since he was taken into U.S. custody.
∙ February 25: Libya government confirms its responsibility in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
∙ February 29: Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide flees country.
∙ March 1: Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide claims he was kidnapped by U.S. forces.
∙ March 11: At least 192 dead in Madrid terror attacks on transit system.
∙ March 14: Gerard Latortue of Boca Roton, Florida, sworn in as Haitian President.
∙ March 15: Haiti’s interim prime minister ends relations with Jamaica after President Aristide granted temporary asylum there.
∙ March 21: The pilot of Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin’s plane reports seeing UFO as his aircraft passed over Suffield, Alberta.
∙ March 22: HAMAS founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin assassinated after morning prayers in Gaza.
∙ April 22: Former NFL player Pat Tillman dies during firefight in Afghanistan. He was 27.
∙ April 27: South Africa celebrates decade of democracy; President Thabo Mbeki sworn in two second term.
∙ May 10: Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov assassinated in sports stadium. He was 52.
∙ May 13: South Africa grants Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide permanent exile.
∙ May 15: South Africa win 2010 Soccer World Cup.
∙ May 22: Oxford-educated Manmohan Singh sworn in as Indian Prime Minister. He is 71.
∙ May 27: Radical Muslim cleric, Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Masri arrested by British police at the request of U.S. government.
∙ May 30: Iyad Allawi appointed Iraqi Prime Minister.
∙ June 2: CIA Director George Tenet submits resignation to President Bush.
∙ June 6: Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan dies in California, he was 93.
∙ June 9: Body of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan arrives in Washington D.C.
∙ June 13: George H. W. Bush celebrates 80th birthday with skydive.
∙ June 30: Saddam Hussein along with 11 other henchmen placed in Iraqi custody, U.S. government says.
∙ July 1: American Actor Marlon Brando dies of lung failure at the age of 80.
∙ July 21: Min Chen, 23, arrested in connection with Cecilia Zhang Toronto homicide.
∙ July 22: 9/11 Commission releases long-awaited report after studying two million documents for over 20 months.
∙ July 26: Rap star JA Rule, 28, surrenders to Toronto Police after assault outside downtown Toronto nightclub (La Rouge; June 5 incident).
∙ August 6: Funk star Rick James found dead at home in Los Angeles, he was 56.
∙ August 10: President Bush nominates Porter Goss as CIA director.
∙ August 25: Two Russian airliners crash almost simultaneously; Russia says at least one crash is linked to terrorism. “Black Widows” most likely responsible, Russian security forces say.
∙ September 1: Beslan Tragedy: Terrorists storm school in Beslan demanding independence for Chechnya.
∙ September 3: Beslan Tragedy: After several explosions and gunfire, 334 people are reported dead in the Beslan school siege, mostly children.
∙ October 5: Rodney Dangerfield, who was known for his catch line “I didn’t get any respect”, dies at the age of 82. He had been in a coma since August after a heart valve replacement surgery.
∙ October 5: Lieut. Chris Saunders, 32, dies during fire while on board HMCS Chicoutimi, eight other crewmembers are injured.
∙ October 7: British hostage, Kenneth Bigley, 62 reported dead in Iraq, three weeks after being kidnapped (September 16).
∙ October 18: India’s most wanted bandit, 60-year-old Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, killed by Indian forces. Veerappan was accused of killing police officers and kidnapping a movie star.
∙ October 19: Margaret Hassan, 59, director of CARE, kidnapped in Iraq.
∙ November 2: U.S. President George W. Bush re-elected, defeats Democratic John Kerry with 286 electoral votes.
∙ November 9: U.S. Attorney-General John Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Don Evans resign.
∙ November 11: PLO leader Yassir Arafat dies at French military hospital, he was 75.
∙ November 13: Rapper Russell Jones, aka “ODB”, dies in New York, he was 35.
∙ November 16: President Bush nominates Condoleezza Rice as next U.S. Secretary of State.
∙ November 16: Al Jazeera broadcasts a video purportedly showing the murder of Margaret Hassan. Hassan was Director of the aid group, CARE, She was 59.
∙ November 21: Toronto Argonauts win the 92nd CFL Grey Cup.
∙ November 29: SkyDome sold for $25 million to Rogers Communications.
∙ December 1: President George W. Bush begins visit to Halifax by thanking citizens for help during 9/11.
∙ December 3: Eighth member of President Bush’s cabinet steps down. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thomson resigns.
∙ December 17: Raptors all-star Vince Carter traded to the New Jersey Nets.
∙ December 20: U.S. President George W. Bush named as Time magazines “Person of the Year”.
∙ December 24: Former Indian P.M. P.V. Narasimha Rao dies at the age of 83.
∙ December 26: South-Asian tsunami kills more than 230,000 people. The undersea quake measured 9.15 on the Richter scale.
∙ December 26: Former NFL star, Reggie White, dies at the age of 43, his wife confirms.
2003
∙ January 27: Official investigation into 9/11 begins in Washington D.C.
∙ February 1: Space Shuttle Columbia breaks apart over Texas, killing seven astronauts aboard.
∙ February 3: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell gives major U.N. address on Iraq WMDs.
∙ February 28: President George W. Bush promised a “united defence” against terrorism in launching the Department of Homeland Security. About 170,000 federal employees from 22 agencies will move in tomorrow. Former Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Ridge will be the first in history to lead the agency.
∙ February 3: British government reports Iraqi intelligence is bugging the rooms and telephones of U.N. personnel in country.
∙ February 24: In his first TV interview in 10 years (taped today in Baghdad), Iraqi President Saddam Hussein told CBS’s Dan Rather that he would rather die than to leave the country. The interview aired on the 27th of this month.
∙ February 24: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein challenges (Rather interview) U.S. President to debate. Hussein envisions a live debate, along the lines of U.S. presidential campaign, CBS says.
∙ February 27: Toronto architect Daniel Libeskind’s Freedom Tower plan, including a 1,776-foot spire and sunken memorial, chosen for WTC memorial.
∙ February 27: Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers) dies of cancer, he was 74.
∙ March 1: Al Qaeda operative Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) captured during Pakistani raid.
∙ March 5: SARS virus first reported in Canada.
∙ March 12: WHO issues first global alert related to SARS.
∙ March 17: Canadian PM Jean Chrétien announces he will not join Iraq invasion without U.N. mandate.
∙ March 20: Coalition Forces invade Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Decapitation attack launched against Saddam fails.
∙ March 20: Ten of thousands of people launch worldwide protests against the Iraq war.
∙ March 21: U.S. President George W. Bush confirms the first two casualties of the war on Iraq.
∙ March 24: Saddam Hussein claims victory will come soon to Iraq. “The victory is soon.”
∙ April 1: Coalition commandos rescue U.S. POW Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital. Her convoy had been ambushed March 23 in Nasiriyah, Iraq.
∙ April 9: U.S. Marines, Iraqis infamously topple Saddam statue in Baghdad.
∙ April 29: Former Iraqi Oil Minister Amer Mohammed Rashid turns himself in to coalition forces, U.S. Central Command said.
∙ May 1: Former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair resigns from New York Times after falsifying reports filed on behalf of the paper.
∙ May 19: White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer announces resigns.
∙ May 12: Holly Jones, 10, goes missing from her home in Toronto, police and neighbours launch intense search.
∙ May 12: L Paul Bremer arrives in Baghdad, succeeding Jay Garner as U.S. Administrator of Iraq.
∙ May 12: Iraq’s Dr. Rihab Rashid Taha, known as “Dr. Germ”, taken into custody by coalition forces. She had been negotiating her surrender in the days prior.
∙ May 22: General Tommy Franks, a 36-year-veteran of the U.S. military and architect of the Iraq war, announces desire to retire with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
∙ May 29: Bob Hope celebrates 100th birthday at home.
∙ May 31: Air France Concorde departs Kennedy Airport in New York destined for Paris (Final NY).
∙ June 10: Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi dies in Iranian custody, she was 54.
∙ June 16: Tokyo dethrones Hong Kong as the world’s most expensive city; a survey by Mercer Human Resources Consulting says.
∙ June 20: Daniel Briere, 30, arrested in connection with the disappearance of Holly Jones in Toronto.
∙ June 26: Former U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond dies in hospital, he was 100.
∙ July 5: Two female, Russian suicide bombers strike rock concert in Moscow, at least 16 dead.
∙ July 6: Former U.S. Ambassador, Joseph Wilson, writes an op/ed piece in the New York Times, saying the U.S. administration “glossed” over certain intelligence in their push for war on Iraq.
∙ July 8: Conjoined Iranian twins, Ladan and Laleh Bijani, die shortly after a marathon 50-hour surgery. Ladan died at around 2:30 p.m. local time after her circulation began to fail. Laleh died a short time later at 4 p.m. local time. Both twins were 29-years-old. The surgery began on July 6.
∙ July 13: A 25-member governing council is named in Iraq, the first national-governing body since the Saddam Hussein era.
∙ July 18: Body of British weapons expert David Kelly found dead one day after going missing while leaving his home for a short walk. He was 59.
∙ July 22: Saddam Hussein’s two sons, Uday and Qusay, killed by U.S. forces in northern Iraq.
∙ July 26: Mick Jagger celebrates 60th birthday in Prague.
∙ July 28: Comedian Bob Hope dies at the age of 100.
∙ August 1: Rwandan genocide trial ends, 100 people convicted of crimes.
∙ August 1: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell approves $30 million dollar payout to Iraqi tipster who provided intelligence on location of Saddam Hussein’s two sons, Uday and Qusay. Both were killed during Iraq war.
∙ August 14: Northeastern blackout wreaks havoc on U.S., Canadian cities. Power restored two days later while over 50 million people are affected.
∙ August 16: Former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin dies of kidney failure, he was 80. He died at 8:20 AM, local hospital reported.
∙ August 19: Sergio Vieira de Mello, U.N. Special Envoy to Iraq, killed during U.N. HQ bombing in Baghdad.
∙ September 6: Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas resigns, citing power struggles with PLO Leader Yassir Arafat.
∙ September 11: Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh dies one day after being stabbed in Stockholm department store while shopping.
∙ September 29: Atlanta Thrashers forward Dan Snyder involved in high-speed crash with team mate Dany Heatley.
∙ October 3: Illusionist Roy Horn severely mauled at Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.
∙ October 5: Atlanta Thrashers forward Dan Snyder dies from injuries sustained in Sept. 29 car accident.
∙ October 21: Loblaw’s announces that it is to buy the Toronto Maple Leafs` old home, Maple Leaf Gardens. Financial details were not disclosed.
∙ October 23: Cecilia Zhang goes missing from her north Toronto home.
∙ October 24: As part of its North American farewell tour, the Concorde touches down at Pearson International Airport for the last time. It was the last scheduled flight for the Concorde.
∙ November 26: A British Airways Concorde flew over the English Channel at a top speed of 1,350 mph during the final flight, the airline said.
∙ November 29: In the first overseas mission since it was bombed, the USS Cole deploys from Norfolk, VA.
∙ December 15: Saddam Hussein captured in Tikrit, Iraq–his hometown.
2002
∙ January 9: The U.S. Department of Justice announces criminal investigation into Enron.
∙ January 11: U.S. government opens Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba, which will hold terror suspects indefinitely during the U.S.-led War on Terror.
∙ January 25: Clifford Baxter, former head of Enron’s trading unit and later VP, found dead of self-inflicted gunshot wound.
∙ January 29: President George W. Bush delivers State of the Union address, labels North Korea, Iran, and Iraq as part of an “axis of evil”.
∙ February 11: Bank of Montreal announces creation of insurance firm, BMO Life Insurance Co.
∙ February 21: Daniel Pearl confirmed dead in a three minute videotape released by kidnappers. He was abducted in Karachi on January 23 by Islamic militants, He was 38.
∙ February 26: President Bush’s speech writer, 41-year-old David Frum, resigns. He is well-known for coining the phrase “Axis of Evil” during a State of the Union speech by the president months earlier.
∙ April 14: Former South African President Nelson Mandela becomes the first living person to receive an honorary Canadian citizenship.
∙ April 25: Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez, former member of the hit group TLC, dies in Honduras days before her birthday after her vehicle rolls off a local highway. She was 30.
∙ May 10: NBA owners approve the move of the Charlotte Hornets to New Orleans.
∙ May 13: Former MLB MVP Jose Canseco announces his retirement.
∙ June 10: New York mobster John Gotti dies in federal prison after being sentenced to life for murder. He was 61.
∙ June 29: U.S. President George Bush temporarily transfers the U.S. presidency to V.P. Dick Cheney before undergoing a medical procedure. President Bush reassumed power at 9:24 a.m., after the procedure. Bush had transferred power to Cheney at 7:09 a.m.
∙ July 5: Baseball great Ted Williams dies at the age of 83.
∙ July 15: A British Airways Concorde destined for New York returns to Heathrow safely after engine problems reported on board.
∙ August 16: Pope John Paul II arrives in homeland of Poland for a four-day visit.
∙ October 2: First shooting linked to D.C. snipers in Maryland, VA. No one reported injured.
∙ October 4: American Taliban John Walker Lindh, 21, sentenced to 20 years in prison for fighting alongside the Taliban against U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
∙ October 12: At least 182 people are killed during Bali resort terror attacks.
∙ October 23: Former CIA Director Richard Helms dies at the age of 89.
∙ October 24: Sniper suspects John Allen Muhammed, 41 and Lee Boyd Malvo, 17, arrested in connection with D.C. sniper shootings.
∙ October 28: U.S. International Development Agency employee, Laurence Foley, shot dead outside his Amman, Jordan home.
∙ November 8: U.N. Resolution 1441 (relating to Iraq’s disarmament) officially adopted.
∙ November 24-27: First U.N. inspection teams arrive at Saddam International Airport in Baghdad on-board a white, C-130 aircraft.
∙ December 6: U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill resigns from the Bush Administration.
∙ December 8: Iraq submits report outlying WMD details (over 12,000 pages) to the U.N.
∙ December 27: Clonaid claims to have cloned the first human.
2001
∙ January 10: America Online and Time Warner merge to form AOL Time Warner.
∙ January 13: Magnitude 7.6 earthquake rocks El Salvador, killing at least 800 people.
∙ January 14: Toronto Blues Jays pitcher David Wells traded to Chicago White Sox for four players.
∙ January 14: Wikipedia is launched.
∙ January 20: President-elect George W. Bush sworn in as 43rd President of the United States.
∙ February 13: Another earthquake (6.6) hits El Salvador killing at least 400.
∙ February 16: FBI agent Robert Hanssen arrested and charged with spying for Russia.
∙ March 23: Deorbit of Russia’s Mir space station carried out, later falls into South Pacific.
∙ April 18: Canada’s only other team, the Vancouver Grizzlies, play their final game against Golden State.
∙ June 1: Nepal royal massacre.
∙ June 9: Ray Bourque wins his first Stanley Cup after 22 years in the NHL.
∙ June 11: Oklahoma City bomber executed for his role in the bombing of a federal building.
∙ June 19: Cal Ripkin Jr. announces his retirement after 21 years of MLB service.
∙ August 1: Minnesota Vikings player Korey Stringer dies 15 hours after intense team workout in the hot sun. He was 27.
∙ August 6: Marion “Suge” Knight released from prison after serving nearly nine years for involvement in Las Vegas brawl.
∙ August 16: Al Qaeda conspirator, Zacarias Moussaoui, arrested on immigration charges in Minnesota. He was the purported 20th hijacker on 9/11.
∙ August 24: Air Transat Flight 236 (Airbus A330) runs out of fuel over Atlantic, lands later in Azores, 306 survive.
∙ August 25: American singer Aaliyah dies in Bahamas plane crash. She was 22.
∙ September 9: Suicide bomber kills Northern Alliance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.
∙ September 9: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reveals $2.3 trillion is unaccounted for at the Pentagon.
∙ September 11: Al Qaeda terror attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania kill more than 3,000 people.
∙ September 13: Civilian flights resume in the U.S. after being grounded on 9/11.
∙ September 14: Former U.S. Presidents Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton attend national prayer service at National Cathedral in Washington to honour 9/11 victims. The Rev. Billy Graham leads a national prayer. Ceremony also held on Parliament Hill.
∙ September 17: New York Stock Exchange opens for the first time since 9/11.
∙ September 18: U.S. anthrax attacks begin.
∙ September 20: President Bush addresses a joint session of Congress, declares War on Terror.
∙ October 2: Swissair seeks bankruptcy protection; Fleet grounded, 230 flights cancelled.
∙ October 4: Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 (Tupolev Tu-154) crashes over Black Sea, killing 78 people.
∙ October 7: War on Terror begins with air strikes in Afghanistan.
∙ October 11: Michael Jordan plays his first game out of retirement in a Washington Wizards uniform and blocks the first shot of the game.
∙ October 23: Apple releases iPod.
∙ October 26: President Bush signs Patriot Act into law.
∙ November 4: Hurricane Michelle hits Cuba, destroying thousands of homes.
∙ November 7: Belgium’s national airline, Sabena, goes bankrupt.
∙ November 12: American Airlines Flight 587 (Airbus A300) crashes in Queens, New York. All 250 aboard are killed. An investigation blamed a faulty rudder as the cause of the disaster.
∙ November 14: Northern Alliance forces retake Kabul.
∙ November 15: BBC Pashto service lands exclusive interview with Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
∙ November 15: Microsft Xbox launched for the first time.
∙ November 25: CIA agent Mike “Johnny” Spann dies (Mazir-e-Sharif battle) shortly after attempting to interrogate American Taliban John Walker Lindh.
∙ November 29: George Harrison, a former Beatle, dies at the age of 58 of lung cancer.
∙ November 30: Green River Killer Gary Ridgeway arrested in Washington state.
∙ December 1: Last TWA flight in history lands in St. Louis after AA purchases TWA.
∙ December 2: Enron announces bankruptcy; thousands of workers laid-off while employee benefits, stocks, and savings are totally lost.
∙ December 22: Hamid Karzai and his interim government are sworn in to lead post-war Afghanistan.
∙ December 22: Shoe bomber Richard Reid arrested after attempting to bomb American Airlines Flight 63.
2000
∙ January 1: The new millennium arrives without incident.
∙ July 25: The Supersonic Concorde jet explodes shortly after takeoff from Paris` Charles de Gaulle airport; All 109 passengers plus four people on the ground are killed.
∙ September 28: Former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau dies at the age of 80.
∙ October 12: An explosives-laden boat attacks the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden. A total of 17 U.S. Sailors are killed, more than 40 others are injured.
∙ November 8: Refuted leader of Japanese Red Army, Fusako Shigenobu, 55, captured in Tokyo.
∙ December 8: A discarded cigarette leads to a massive fire on the TTC in Toronto. The fire broke out about 2 a.m. at Old Mill station. About 160,000 commuters stranded.
1999
∙ February 13: Final game at Maple Leaf Gardens: Blackhawks win 6-2.
∙ February 20: First NHL game at Air Canada Centre: Maple Leafs defeat Canadiens 3-2.
∙ February 21: First NBA game at Air Canada Centre: Raptors defeat Grizzlies 102-87.
∙ February 22: First concert at Air Canada Centre: The Tragically Hip.
∙ July 16: John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife and her sister are killed when their plane crashes near Martha’s Vineyard, New York. JFK Jr. was 38.
∙ December 14: Al Qaeda linked terrorist Ahmed Ressam, 35, arrested in Port Angeles, Washington, in the middle of a plot to attack the U.S.
∙ December 31: Vladimir Putin assumes Russian presidency following Boris Yeltsin’s abrupt resignation.
1998
∙ August 4: Det.-Const. Bill Hancox stabbed to death in east-end Toronto strip mall. Two women were later sentenced to life in prison.
∙ August 7: Al Qaeda terrorists bomb U.S. Embassies in Tanzania and Nairobi, 291 people reported dead, thousands more injured.
∙ August 20: U.S. military launches cruise missiles at four sites in Afghanistan and one in Sudan, claiming the targets are terror training camps.
∙ September 2: Swissair Flight 111 (MD-11) crashes just off Peggy’s Cove, N.S., killing all 229 people aboard.
1997
∙ March 9: Christopher Wallace, better known as Notorious BIG, shot dead shortly after leaving an after-party. He was only 24.
∙ May 25: Pakistani government officially acknowledges Taliban government in Afghanistan; Saudi Arabia does the same on May 26.
∙ July 15: Italian designer Gianni Versace shot dead outside his Miami Beach, Fl., home. He was 51.
∙ August 31: Princess Diana killed in horrific car crash along with her companion Dodi al Fayed and their driver Henri Paul. Trevor Rees-Jones, the couple’s bodyguard, survives.
∙ September 5: Mother Teresa dies at the age of 87.
∙ November 14: Reena Virk, a B.C. teenager, killed as she is swarmed by friends seeking revenge. Her body is found eight days later floating face-up. She had been drowned after temporarily escaping the gang beating. Kelly Ellard was later convicted of her murder after several mistrials.
1996
∙ July 17: TWA Flight 800 en-route to Paris explodes in-flight shortly after departing Kennedy Airport in New York, 230 people are killed.
∙ September 7: Rapper Tupac Shakur dies hours after being shot on Las Vegas strip. He was 25.
∙ September 26: Taliban captures Kabul, creating Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
1995
∙ January 31: First and only performance by the Notorious BIG in Toronto.
∙ November 3: Toronto Raptors win first-ever NBA game 94-79 versus the New Jersey Nets at SkyDome.
1994
∙ April 5: Kurt Cobain writes suicide note, says he couldn’t stand to see his daughter become like him, he is found dead three days later on April 8 by an electrician. He was 27.
∙ June 17: Constable Todd Baylis, 25, shot to death during foot patrol in Toronto’s west-end. Suspect later convicted of first-degree murder.
1993
∙ February 26: First World Trade Center bombing kills six people.
∙ March 31: Brandon Lee dies after he is shot in a bizarre incident on the set of “The Crow.” He was 28-years-old.
∙ July 23: James Jordan Sr., father of NBA star Michael Jordan, shot dead at the age of 56.
∙ October 3: Warlord Farah Aided’s militia engages U.S. forces in nineteen-hour battle in downtown Mogadishu. A total of 19 U.S. soldiers are killed. Body of U.S. soldier dragged through the streets becomes most powerful story of the war, later made into the movie Black Hawk Down.
1991
∙ January 15: U.N.-imposed deadline for Iraqi forces to withdraw from Kuwait passes, Iraqi forces still in Kuwait.
∙ January 17: “Operation Desert Storm” begins with coalition airstrikes.
∙ February 24: Persian Gulf War ends; Kuwait liberated three days later.
∙ October 11: Sanford and Son star Redd Foxx dies at the age of 68.
∙ December 8: Boris Yeltsin, leaders of Belarus and Ukraine declare Soviet Union extinct.
∙ December 25: Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as leader of Soviet Union.
1989
∙ June 4: Chinese government orders troops into Tiananmen Square, hundreds of students reported dead in crackdown.
1988
∙ July 3: Iran Air (Airbus A300) shot out of the sky by USS Vincennes over the Persian Gulf; 290 killed.
∙ December 21: Pan Am Flight 103 (Boeing 747) explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 people aboard. Eleven people on the ground are killed in the aftermath.
1987
∙ June 30: The first, shiny new Canadian “loonies” are put into circulation. The Royal Canadian Mint releases 80 million to start.
1986
∙ January 28: Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 72 seconds after launch. All seven astronauts are killed.
1985
∙ June 23: Air India Flight 182 crashes off the Irish coast: 329 killed, 280 were Canadians.
∙ August 12: Japan Airlines Flight 123 (Boeing 747) crashes into a mountain during a routine domestic flight, 524 people aboard.
1983
∙ February 28: Final episode of acclaimed TV series MASH.
∙ March 25: Motown Records marks 25 years.
∙ April 4: Space Shuttle Challenger blasts off on maiden voyage.
∙ April 18: U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut kills 63.
∙ June 18: Sally Ride becomes first U.S. woman in space aboard Shuttle Challenger.
∙ September 1: Korean Airlines Flight 007 (Boeing 747) is shot down by a Soviet fighter jet [Su-15 Interceptor] near Sakhalin Island, killing 269 people.
1982
∙ January 7: Commodore 64 home computer launched in Las Vegas.
∙ January 13: Air Florida Flight 90 (Boeing 737-222) crashes into Washington D.C.’s 14th Street Bridge, killing 78.
∙ June 18: Cal Ripkin Jr. plays his first MLB game at Yankee Stadium.
1981
∙ March 30: John Hinckley attempts to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in front the Hilton hotel in Washington. Reagan survives, along with three others hit by gunfire.
∙ May 11: Reggae superstar Bob Marley, 36, dies in Florida.
∙ May 13: Mehmet Ali Agca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II at St. Peters Square in Rome. The Pope recovers, later forgives Agca.
∙ June 28: Terry Fox dies of cancer at the age of 22.
1980
∙ April 12: Terry Fox begins his “Marathon of Hope” in St. Johns, Newfoundland.
∙ April 18: Zimbabwe gains independence from Britain after violent uprisings.
∙ September 1: Terry Fox is forced to end his run outside Thunder Bay, Ontario.
∙ December 8: John Lennon shot dead outside his apartment in New York City by deranged fan.
1979
∙ November 4: Militant students seize hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The hostages were held in reprisal for Washington’s refusal to surrender the ousted Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
1978
∙ November 18: Jim Jones leads his followers to mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. A total of 912 people are reported dead, Jones was found dead with a bullet wound to his head.
1977
∙ March 27: Two Boeing 747s, operated by Pan Am and KLM collide on the runway at Tenerife airport in the Canary Islands. A total of 582 people are killed, known as one of the worst disasters in aviation history.
∙ August 16: Elvis Presley, 44, dies of heart disease worsened by drug abuse.
1975
∙ August 27: Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie dies at the age of 83.
∙ April 30: Saigon falls, marking the end of Vietnam War.
1974
∙ August 9: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon resigns (Watergate) U.S. presidency.
∙ September 8: U.S. President Gerald Ford pardons President Nixon.
1973
∙ July 20: Bruce Lee dies at the age of 32.
1972
∙ June 17: Five burglars are caught breaking into Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington D.C. President Richard Nixon later resigns.
1971
∙ January 25: Idi Amin seizes power in Uganda, overthrowing former president Milton Obote while he is out of the country.
∙ DATE UNCONFIRMED: Cinesphere opens at Ontario Place, the world’s first permanent IMAX theatre.
1969
∙ July 16: Apollo 11 launches with three astronauts aboard from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
∙ July 20: Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong steps on the Moon as part of Apollo 11 at 9:39 P.M. (EST).
∙ July 24: Apollo 11 crew returns to Earth.
∙ September 18: Jimi Hendrix dies at the age of 27.
1970
∙ April 22: Twenty-million Americans take to the streets demanding a sustainable environment.
∙ September 18: Jimi Hendrix dies at the age of 27.
1968
∙ April 4: Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis, TN. He was 39.
∙ June 5: U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy shot dead at the age of 42.
1967
∙ January 1: Scarborough incorporated as a Toronto borough.
∙ June 5: Six-Day War [Middle East] war begins.
1966
∙ October 14: Lines 1 and 2 of the Montreal Metro open for the first time.
1965
∙ February 1: Peter Jennings, 26, becomes one of the youngest broadcasters in U.S. history.
1963
∙ November 22: U.S. President John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas, at the age of 46.
1962
∙ August 4: Marilyn Monroe found dead unexpectedly at the age of 36.
1955
∙ April 18: Albert Einstein dead at the age of 76.
1953
∙ March 5: Russian dictator Josef Stalin dead at the age of 74.
∙ May 29: Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first climbers in history to reach Mount Everest summit.
∙ June 2: Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
1951
∙ March 12: First episode of Dennis the Menace.
1947
∙ April 15: Jackie Robinson plays his first MLB game becoming the first African American in the league with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1946
∙ November 1: First game in NBA history played at Maple Leaf Gardens.
1945
∙ January 27: Red Army troops liberate Auschwitz death camp, opened in 1940.
∙ August 6: First atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in response to Pearl Harbour attacks.
1944
∙ June 6: Allied forces reach Normandy coast in France, over 5,000 Canadians would die in the subsequent battles.
1941
∙ May 27: The German Bismarck sinks four days after maiden mission.
∙ December 7: Kamikaze pilots from Japan attack Pearl Harbour, killing 2,400 people.
1931
∙ November 12: First NHL game at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto: Blackhawks defeat Maple Leafs 2-1.
1919
∙ November 11: An armistice ends World War 1, now marked as Remembrance Day.
1912
∙ April 16: RMS Titanic hits an iceberg southeast of Newfoundland and Labrador, killing over 1,500 people in the ensuing chaos while 710 others survive.
∙ April 20: First MLB pitch at Fenway Park in Boston.
1903
∙ December 17: The Wright Brothers take off in the world’s first powered flight.
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