istoryworld
All Events
The first module is launched of the International Space Station, a cooperative venture by five space agencies (USA, Russia, Japan, Canada, Europe)
Thomas Hales proves the Kepler Conjecture, named after the astronomer who first put it forward in his 1611 paper On the six-cornered snowflake
Michel Houellebecq publishes Les Particules élémentaires ("The Elementary Particles" AKA Atomised), a picture of a future without love where humans are cloned
Aung San Suu Kyi's husband, Michael Aris, dies in England
Eleven of the nations in the European Union adopt the euro as a shared single currency
The US Senate begins an impeachment trial of President Clinton for perjury and obstruction
King Hussein of Jordan dies and is succeeded by his son as Abdullah II
Marxist guerrillas in Colombia, in partnership with drug cartels, control much of the south of the country
President Clinton escapes impeachment when the Senate divides 55-45 and 50-50 on the two charges, well short of the required two thirds majority
Moderate Shiite cleric Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr and two of his sons are assassinated in the Iraqi city of Najaf
A fire in the Mont Blanc road tunnel kills 39 people and closes the tunnel for three years
Andrew Hamilton and David Baulcombe discover the small interfering RNA involved in RNA-mediated gene silencing (it wins them the Nobel Prize in 2006)
The lawn and gardens surrounding Garrick's Temple are re-landscaped and replanted to replicate something of its appearance in Garrick's day
Libya hands over, for trial in the Hague, two men suspected of causing the Lockerbie disaster of 1988
Two teenage boys in Littleton, Colorado, open fire on their fellow students in Columbine High School, killing twelve and one teacher
Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the new president of Algeria, reveals that as many as 100,000 people have died in seven years of civil war and massacre
The Scottish parliament and the Welsh assembly hold their first elections, both narrowly won by Labour
UNITA's widespread advance in Angola's long civil war brings terror and starvation
Buena Vista Social Club, a nostalgic documentary by Wim Wenders, triggers a cult for Cuban music
A plebiscite in East Timor delivers a vote for independence from Indonesia
Ehud Barak becomes prime minister after leading the Labour party to election victory in Israel
NATO peacekeepers enter Kosovo after Milosevic agrees to withdraw Serb troops
Nelson Mandela retires from active politics and is succeeded by Thabo Mbeki as South Africa's president
A Scottish parliament resumes business in Edinburgh after an interval of 292 years
President Kabbah and the guerrilla leader Foday Sankoh arrange for shared government in Sierra Leone
