49 BC
Jan 12, Julius Caesar crossed the
Rubicon River signaling a war between Rome and Gaul.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1493
Jan 12, This
was the last day for all Jews to leave Sicily.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1519
Jan 12, Maximilian I of Hapsburg
(59), Holy Roman Emperor and German Kaiser, died.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.11)(AP, 1/12/98)(PC,
1992, p.170)
1588
Jan 12, John Winthrop, the first
governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, was born.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1665
Jan 12, Pierre
de Fermat (b.1601), French lawyer, mathematician (Fermat’s Principle),
died. His equation xn + yn = zn is called
Fermat’s
Last Theorem and remained unproven for many years. The history of its
resolution and final proof by Andrew Wiles is told by Amir D. Aczel in
his 1996
book Fermat’s Last Theorem. “Fermat’s Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve
the
World’s Greatest Mathematical Problem” by Simon Singh was published in
1997. In 1905
Paul Wolfskehl, a German mathematician, bequeathed a reward of 100,000
marks to
whoever could find a proof to Fermat’s
“last theorem.” It stumped mathematicians until 1993, when Andrew John
Wiles
made a breakthrough.
(MC, 1/12/02)(SFC, 10/2/02, p.D7)
1729 Jan 12, Edmund Burke (d.1797), British politician and author, was born in Dublin. Burke advocated consistent and sympathetic treatment of the American colonies: "A very great part of the mischiefs that vex this world arises from words."
(V.D.-H.K.p.224)(AP,
7/20/97)(AP, 11/29/98)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Burke)
1737
Jan 12, John Hancock, first
signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born. [see Jan 23]
(HN, 1/12/99)
1755
Jan 12, Tsarina
Elisabeth established the 1st Russian University.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1773
Jan 12, The first public museum
in America was established, in Charleston, S.C.
(AP, 1/12/98)
1777
Jan 12, Franciscans founded Mission
Santa Clara de Asis, the 8th of
California’s original 21 missions.
(SFC, 8/19/00, p.A13)(MC,
1/12/02)
1816
Jan 12, France
decreed the Bonaparte family to be excluded from the country forever.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1820
Jan 12, Royal
Astronomical Society was founded in England.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1856
Jan 12, John
Singer Sargent (d.1925),
American Gilded Age portrait
painter
(Wyndham Sisters), was born.
(SFC, 4/11/01, p.E1)(MC,
1/12/02)
1863
Jan 12,
President Davis delivered his "State of Confederacy" address.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1872
Jan 12, Russian Grand Duke
Alexis began a gala buffalo hunting expedition with Gen. Phil Sheridan
and Lt.
Col. George Armstrong Custer.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1876
Jan 12, Jack London (d.1916),
American writer and adventurer, was born in SF at 3rd and Brannon. The
original
home burned down in the 1906 fire. He is best known for his dog novels
"The Call of the Wild" and “White Fang.”
(HFA, '96, p.22)(AHD, p.768)(HN,
1/12/99)(SFC, 1/10/03, p.E6)
1876
Jan 12, Ermanno
Wolf-Ferrari, composer, was born in Venice, Italy.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1878
Jan 12, Ferenc
Molnar, Hungarian-US playwright (A Pal Utrai Fiuk), was born.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1879
Jan 12,
British-Zulu War began as British troops under Lieutenant General
Frederic Augustus
invaded Zululand from the southern African republic of Natal.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1888
Jan 12, A major
blizzard hit South Dakota and left hundreds of children and adults
dead. In
2004 David Laskin authored “The Children’s Blizzard.”
(WSJ, 11/24/04, p.D10)
1893
Jan 12, Hermann Goring,
Reichsmarshal of the Third Reich and commander of the Luftwaffe, was
born. He
committed suicide before he was to be hung for war crimes.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1896
Jan 12, The 1st
X-ray photo on record in the US was made by Dr. Henry Louis Smith at Davidson, NC. Dr. Henry Smith shot a bullet into the hand
of a dead human body and made a 15 minute x-ray exposure to reveal the
bullet.
(SFEC, 6/14/98, Z1 p.8)(MC,
1/12/02)
1904
Jan 12, Anxious Germans opened
fire on Ovaherero at Okahandja. The Herero people of Southwest Africa
(Namibia)
had risen in rebellion against German colonial rule. The deadly
Deutsche
Schutzruppe “peacekeeping regiment” quelled the tribes. They eventually
annihilated 75% of the Herero and Nama peoples. In 1981 Jon M.
Bridgeman
authored “The Revolt of the Hereros.”
(www.umich.edu/news/MT/NewsE/10_05/steinmetz.html)(SSFC,
6/25/06, p.E5)
1908
Jan 12, A wireless message was
sent long-distance for the first time from the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1913
Jan 12, Kiel and Wilhelmshaven
became submarine bases in Germany.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1915
Jan 12, The U.S. House of
Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote.
(AP, 1/12/98)
1915
Jan 12, The U.S. Congress
established Rocky Mountain National Park.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1916
Jan 12, Pieter
W. Botha, later president of South Africa, was born in Orange Free
State.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1926
Jan 12, U.S. coal talks broke
down, leaving both sides bitter as the strike dragged on into its fifth
month.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1927
Jan 12, U.S. Secretary of State
Kellogg claimed that Mexican rebel Plutarco Calles was aiding the
communist
plot in Nicaragua.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1928
Jan 12, Ruth Snyder (b.1895) became
the
first woman to die in the electric chair. She was electrocuted by
“state
electrician” Robert G. Elliott at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New
York, along
with Judd Gray, her lover and co-conspirator, for the murder of her
husband,
Albert on March 20, 1927. This was billed in the press as “The
Dumb-Bell
Murder.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Snyder)
1932
Jan 12, Philip
Barry's "Animal Kingdom," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1932
Jan 12, Mrs. Hattie W. Caraway
(Ophelia Wyatt Caraway) a Democrat from Arkansas, became the first woman elected to the US
Senate.
(AP, 1/12/98)
1932
Jan 12, Oliver Wendell Holmes
quit the Supreme Court at age 90.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1933
Jan 12, US
Congress recognized the independence of the Philippines.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1933
Jan 12, An
uprising of Guardia Civil in Spain left 25 dead.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1938
Jan 12, Austria recognized the
Franco government in Spain.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1940
Jan 12, Soviet bombers raided
cities in Finland.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1942
Jan 12, President Roosevelt
created the National War Labor Board.
(AP, 1/12/98)
1943
Jan 12,
Frankfurters were replaced by Victory Sausages, a mix of meat & soy meal.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1943
Jan 12, Soviet forces raised the
siege of Leningrad.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1945
Jan 12, US Task
Force 38 destroyed 41 Japanese ships in Battle of South China Sea.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1945
Jan 12, German
forces in Belgium retreated in Battle of Bulge.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1945
Jan 12, Soviet forces began a
huge offensive against the Germans in Eastern Europe.
(AP, 1/12/98)
1947
Jan 12, In
Haifa, Palestine, the Stern Gang drove a truckload of explosives into a
British
police station. 4 people were
killed and 140 injured.
(SSFC, 4/16/06,
p.E4)
1948
Jan 12, The Supreme Court ruled
that states could not discriminate against law-school applicants
because of
race.
(AP, 1/12/98)
1950
Jan 12, Sec. of
State Dean Acheson in a speech placed South Korea and
Formosa outside the US defense perimeter in Asia. Japan,
Okinawa, Philippines, and the Aleutians were inside the perimeter to be
defended.
(WSJ, 5/26/00, p.W8)(http://history.acusd.edu/gen/20th/acheson.html)
1952
Jan 12, The Viet Minh cut the
supply lines to the French forces in Hoa Bihn, Vietnam.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1954
Jan 12, Howard
Stern, "Radio's Bad Boy,” was born in Roosevelt, NY.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1954
Jan 12,
Austria's worst avalanche killed 200. 9hrs later a 2nd one killed 115.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1960
Jan
12, The San Francisco Chronicle learned that jazz musician Dave Brubeck
had
lost $40,000 in bookings on a monthlong Southern tour by his quartet
because
the group included black bass player Eugene Wright. Brubeck refused to
drop
Wright from his group.
(SSFC, 1/10/10, DB
p.42)
1962
Jan 12, The United States
resumed aid to the Laotian regime.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1964
Jan
12, Jeffrey Bezos, later founder of Amazon.com, was born in Albuquerque.
(SFEC, 10/10/99, p.B3)
1964
Jan 12, Leftist rebels in
Zanzibar, soon joined with Tanganyika to form Tanzania, began their
successful
revolt against the government. The socialist uprising unseated Sultan
Jamshid
and was fatal to thousands of Indian and Arabian gentry.
(AP, 1/12/98)(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.C12)
1966
Jan 12,
"Batman" with Adam West & Burt Ward premiered on ABC TV.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1966
Jan 12, President Johnson said
in his State of the Union address that the United States should stay in
South
Vietnam until Communist aggression there was ended.
(AP, 1/12/98)
1966
Jan 12, A 12
day NYC transit strike ended.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1967
Jan 12, HAL, the Heuristically
Programmed Algorithmic Computer, from the 1968 Arthur C. Clark and
Stanley
Kubrick movie/book, became operational at the HAL plant in Urbana,
Illinois.
The book “HAL’s Legacy: 2001’s Computer as Dream and Reality” was
published in
1997 by MIT Press. The birthday in the movie was 1/12/92.
(SFEC, 1/12/97, p.C14)(SFC,
1/25/97, p.E1)(SFEC, 3/16/97, Par
p.31)(WSJ, 10/3/97, p.A8)
1969 Jan 12, The New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts, 16-7, in Super Bowl III at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
(AP,
1/12/99)
1970
Jan
12, In Nigeria the 30-month civil war ended. The Biafran forces
surrendered
after nearly a million ethnic Igbos died mostly of hunger and disease.
Emeka
Ojukwu had led some 40 million Igbos in secession. In 2008 Nigeria paid
the
pension of Ojukwu and 63 other former rebels as part of efforts to heal
wounds.
In 2007 Pres. Obasanjo declared Jan 15 as “Armed Forces Remembrance
Day"
in honor of the soldiers that died in the war.
(HNQ, 5/9/00)(AFP, 1/15/07)
1971
Jan 12, The situation comedy
“All in the Family” with Carroll O’Connor (d.2001) as Archie Bunker,
began on
CBS TV and ran to 1983. It later became “Archie Bunker’s Place.” It was
the
first video-taped sitcom. It was based on the 1964 British series “Till
Death
Do Us Part,” written by Johnny Speight (d.1998 at 78).
(SFEC, 5/24/98, DB p.39)(AP, 1/12/00)(SFC,
6/22/01, p.A1)
1971
Jan 12, Jimmy Carter (b.1924)
was sworn in as the 76th governor of Georgia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter)
1971
Jan 12, A
federal grand jury indicted Rev. Philip Berrigan and 5 others,
including a nun
& 2 priests, on charges of plotting to kidnap Henry Kissinger.
On 5
September 1972 the Justice Department dropped all charges.
(http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3468302715.html)
1973
Jan 12, Yasser Arafat was
re-elected as head of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1975
Jan 12, The Pittsburgh Steelers
beat the Minnesota
Vikings (16-6) in the Superbowl in New Orleans.
Bob McCurry of Chrysler Corp. introduced the auto rebate in a 1975
Superbowl
commercial.
(www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/1974-pit)
1976
Jan 12, Dame Agatha Christie
(b.1890) (Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan),
English mystery writer, died in Wallingford, England. She also
wrote
romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but is remembered for her 66
mystery
novels. Her work with mystery novels, particularly featuring detectives
Hercule
Poirot or Miss Marple, have given her the title the “Queen of Crime”
and made
her one of the most important and innovative writers in the development
of the
mystery novel. Two of her most famous novels might be Murder on the
Orient
Express (1934) and Death on the Nile (1937).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_Christie)(SFC,12/26/97,
p.C22)(AP,
1/12/98)
1977 Jan 12, Anti-French demonstrations took place in Israel after Paris released Abu Daoud, responsible for the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli athletes.
(www.cnn.com/almanac/9801/12/)
1977
Jan 12, Henri-Georges Clouzot (b.1907),
French film director and producer, died. His films included “Les
Diaboliques”
(1955) and “La Verite” (1960).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri-Georges_Clouzot)
1978
Oct 12, Nancy
Spungen (b.1958), girlfriend of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, was found dead on the bathroom floor of
their NYC hotel room.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Spungen)
1979
Jan 12, Kenneth
Bianchi, LA's Hillside Strangler, was arrested in Bellingham, Wa. He
and his
cousin Angelo Buono (d.2002 at 67) sexually assaulted and murdered as
man as 13
young women (12-28) in 1977-1978, and dumping their bodies on LA-area
hillsides.
Bianchi testified against Buono to escape the death penalty. Buono was
convicted on 9 of 10 murder counts and was sentenced to life in prison
(SSFC, 9/22/02, p.A7)(SFC, 10/1/02, p.A17)
1981
Jan 12, The US District Court in
SF sentenced Joseph Bonanno Sr. (75), the reputed NY mafia boss, to
serve 5
years in prison. Bonanno
was released from prison July 29, 1984.
(SFC, 1/6/06, p.F2)(www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=12052002-011843-1177r)
1982
Jan 12, Peking protested the
sale of U.S. planes to Taiwan.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1986
Jan 12, Space shuttle Columbia
blasted off with a crew that included the first Hispanic-American in
space, Dr.
Franklin R. Chang-Diaz.
(AP, 1/12/98)
1987
Jan
12, Neil Goldschmidt (b.1940), former mayor of Portland, began serving
a 4-year
term as governor of Oregon. He later served under Pres. Carter as Sec.
of
Transportation. It was later reported that Goldschmidt had engaged in a
3-year
relationship, while mayor of Portland, with a girl (14) who babysat his
children.
(http://tinyurl.com/5l7rj)(SFC,
4/5/05, p.A11)
1987
Jan 12,
Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite arrived in
Lebanon on his latest mission to win the release of Western hostages;
however,
Waite ended up being taken captive himself.
(AP,
1/12/07)
1988
Jan 12, Willie Stargell, a
21-year slugger with the Pittsburgh Pirates, was elected to the
Baseball Hall
of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in his first year of eligibility.
(AP, 1/12/98)
1989
Jan 12, President-elect Bush
completed the selection of his Cabinet, naming retired Adm. James D.
Watkins
secretary of energy and former education secretary William J. Bennett
drug
czar.
(AP, 1/12/99)
1989
Jan 12, Idi
Amin was expelled from Zaire (later CongoDRC)
and forced to return
to Saudi Arabia.
(www.moreorless.au.com/killers/amin.html)
1990
Jan 12, Astronauts aboard the
space shuttle Columbia retrieved an 11-ton floating science laboratory
in a
rescue mission that kept the satellite from plunging to Earth.
(AP,
1/12/00)
1990
Jan 12, Civil
Rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton was stabbed in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
(http://tinyurl.com/fpmgu)
1990
Jan 12,
Laurence J. Peter (70), author (Peter Principle), died of a stroke.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1991
Jan 12, A deeply divided
Congress gave President Bush the authority to wage war in the Persian
Gulf. The
Senate voted 52-to-47 to empower Bush to use armed forces to expel Iraq
from
Kuwait; the House followed suit on a vote of 250-to-183. 45 of 55
Democratic
senators voted against the congressional resolution authorizing the use
of
force.
(HN, 1/12/99)(AP, 1/12/01)(NW, 9/30/02,
p.72)
1992
Jan 12, The
Washington Redskins won the NFC championship, defeating the Detroit
Lions 41 to
10; the Buffalo Bills won the AFC title, beating the Denver Broncos 10
to 7.
(AP, 1/12/02)
1992
Jan 12, HAL, the Heuristically
Programmed Algorithmic Computer, from the 1968 Arthur C. Clark and
Stanley
Kubrick movie and book, “became operational” at the HAL plant in
Urbana, Illinois.
[1997 article claimed 1/12/97 as birthdate] The book "HAL’s Legacy:
2001’s
Computer as Dream and Reality" was published in 1997 by MIT Press. The
birthday in the movie was 1/12/92.
(SFEC, 1/12/97, p.C14)(SFC,
1/25/97, p.E1)(SFEC, 3/16/97, Par
p.31)(WSJ, 10/3/97, p.A8)
1992
Jan 12, One day
after the surprise resignation of Algeria's president, Chadli
Bendjedid, the
army-backed Algerian government canceled parliamentary elections to
prevent
fundamentalist Muslims from winning power.
(AP, 1/12/02)
1994
Jan 12, Pres. Clinton bowed to
political pressure and asked that a special prosecutor be named to
investigate
his 1980's Whitewater land dealings with Arkansas businessman James B.
McDougal.
(SFEC, 11/15/98, p.A3)(AP, 1/12/99)
1994
Jan 12, President Clinton, en
route to Russia, nailed down an agreement with Ukraine to eliminate the
country's nuclear arsenal, the third-largest in the world.
(AP, 1/12/99)
1994
Jan 12, In Mexico after an
initial hard line, the government agreed to a cease-fire with the
Zapatista
rebels.
(SFC,12/18/97, p.C2)
1995
Jan 12, Qubilah Shabazz, the
daughter of Malcolm X, was arrested in Minneapolis on charges that she
had
tried to hire a hitman to kill Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan;
the
charges were later dropped.
(AP,
1/12/00)
1995
Jan 12, In LA, Ca., Judge Ito
heard defense arguments for questioning racial attitudes of Detective
Mark
Fuhrman in the murder trial against OJ Simpson. Fuhrman had found a
bloody
glove at O.J.'s estate.
(http://www.usatoday.com/news/index/nns053.htm)
1995
Jan 12, In Port-au-Prince,
Haiti, an American soldier was killed and another wounded during a
shootout
with a former Haitian army officer who also was killed.
(AP,
1/12/00)
1996
Jan 12, Chechen fighters holding
more than 100 hostages in the Russian village of Pervomayskaya freed
about a
dozen of their captives and pledged to release the rest if four top
Russian
officials took their place.
(AP, 1/12/01)
1997
Jan 12, Two recently enrolled
female cadets at The Citadel announced they were not returning for the
spring
semester, citing harassment by male cadets.
(AP, 1/12/98)
1997
Jan 12, The Green Bay Packers
defeated the Carolina Panthers, 30-13, to win the NFC Championship,
while the
New England Patriots beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-6 to claim the
AFC
Championship.
(AP, 1/12/98)
1997
Jan 12, The Atlantis space
shuttle went up for a rendezvous with the MIR space station. Jerry Linenger, physician, was to replace
astronaut Jim [John] Blaha.
(USAT, 1/13/97, p.3A)(AP, 1/12/98)
1997
Jan 12, In Mexico four generals
and a colonel met with Mr. Gonzalez Quirarte, the right-hand man of
drug lord,
Carillo Fuentes, to arrange protection according to later statements
made by
Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo.
(WSJ, 10/2/97, p.A12)
1998
Jan 12, The music groups
Santana, the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, the Mamas and the Papas were
inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Also inducted were rockabilly legend
Gene
Vincent, and New Orleans musician Lloyd Price as well as jazz composer
Jelly
Roll Morton and New Orleans producer Allen Toussaint.
(SFC, 1/14/98, p.D3)
1998
Jan 12, Linda Tripp provided
Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's office with taped conversations
between
herself and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
(AP, 1/12/99)
1998
Jan 12, Former Senator Robert
Dole signed a $30,000 per month contract as a foreign agent for Taiwan.
(WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A1)
1998
Jan 12, CBS signed a $4 billion
eight-year deal to televise American Football Conference games on
Sunday
afternoons; Fox signed a $4.4 billion eight-year contract to continue
showing
National Football Conference games on Sunday afternoons.
(AP, 1/12/99)
1998
Jan 12, A human-cloning ban was
signed in Paris by 19 European nations.
(WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A1)(AP, 1/12/99)
1998
Jan 12, In
Algeria gangs of men hurled bombs into a mosque in Haouche Sahraoui and a movie theater in Sidi Ahmed and up to
120 people were killed. It coincided with the 6th anniversary of the
coup that
thwarted the Islamic Salvation Front’s rise to power by cancelled
elections.
The number killed was reported by local papers to be at least 400.
(SFC, 1/13/98,
p.A11)(SFC, 1/14/98, p.C2)(www.tkb.org/Incident.jsp?incID=10201)
1998
Jan 12, Britain and Ireland
proposed a power-sharing compromise to reconcile the divided
Protestants and
Roman Catholics. Home rule was offered to Northern Ireland under an
assembly
elected by proportional representation.
(SFC, 1/13/98, p.A10)
1998
Jan 12, In Burundi Hutu rebels
attacked army positions and at least 55 people were killed.
(WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A1)
1998
Jan 12, Germany announced that
it will pay $110 million over 5 years in pensions to Holocaust
survivors in
Eastern Europe.
(SFC, 1/13/98, p.A11)
1998
Jan 12, In Hong Kong the
Peregrine finance house collapsed due to a debt burden to an Indonesian
cab
company of $260 million.
(SFC, 1/13/98, p.A1)
1998
Jan 12, Iraq authorities said
they would block a UN inspection team led by former US Marine captain
Scott
Ritter.
(SFC, 1/13/98, p.A10)
1998
Jan 12, Japan announced that the
nation’s banks carried only about $580 billion in bad or questionable
loans.
(SFC, 1/13/98, p.A10)
1998
Jan 12, In Mexico Chiapas state
police opened fire on stone-throwing Indian protestors and 1 woman was
killed
and 2 others wounded. The government said the army arrested 27 state
police at
the site of the shooting near Ocosingo. Separately Chiapas state police
commander
Felipe Vazquez Espinosa was indicted for helping arm the paramilitary
gunmen of
the Acteal massacre.
(SFC, 1/13/98, p.A10)
1998
Jan 12, In Nigeria an underwater
pipeline from a Mobil Oil production platform broke and released 40,000
barrels
of oil into the Niger delta.
(SFEC, 9/20/98, p.A26)
1998
Jan 12, It was reported that
Turkish police rounded up 1,374 people, mostly Kurds, around Istanbul
in an
effort to stem illegal emigration.
(SFC, 1/12/98, p.A1)
1998
Jan 12, From Venezuela it was
reported that over 140 dead dolphins were recently washed ashore on La
Tortuga
Island. There were no external wounds other than some reddish marks on
the
abdomen.
(SFC, 1/12/98, p.A8)
1999
Jan 12, The Mark McGwire 70th
home run ball was auctioned off for $3.005 million. The high bid was
$2.7
million plus commission. Todd McFarlane, creator of "Spawn" comic
books, was the buyer.
(SFC, 1/13/99, p.A3)(SFC, 2/9/99,
p.A2)
1999
Jan 12, The Supreme Court
limited state regulation of voter initiatives, striking down several
methods
used by Colorado to police such measures.
(AP,
1/12/00)
1999
Jan 12, In Haiti 2 gunmen on
motorcycle opened fire on a vehicle carrying the sister of Pres. Rene
Preval.
She was seriously wounded and her driver was killed.
(SFC, 1/13/99, p.A10)
1999
Jan 12, In Iraq a US F-16 jet
encountered an active radar site and fired a HARM anti-radiation
missile at it.
(SFC, 1/13/99, p.A10)
1999
Jan 12, In Zimbabwe military
police detained a newspaper editor who printed an article saying 23
soldiers
were arrested for plotting to overthrow Pres. Mugabe last month. The
government
denied any coup attempt.
(WSJ, 1/13/99, p.A1)
2000
Jan 12, The US Supreme Court
gave police broad authority to stop and question people who run at the
sight of
an officer.
(AP, 1/12/01)
2000
Jan 12, US Attorney General
Janet Reno said that the Florida court order granting temporary custody
of
Elian Gonzalez to his great uncle had no force or effect on the INS
decision
that the boy should be returned to his father in Cuba.
(SFC, 1/13/00, p.A3)
2000
Jan 12, Scientists reported that
the temperature of the Earth's surface had risen 0.7-1.4 degrees
Fahrenheit
over the past century and that the Earth has been warming for the past
300
years.
(SFC, 1/13/00, p.A7)
2000
Jan 12, Charlotte Hornets guard Bobby Phills was
killed in a crash during a drag
race.
(AP, 1/12/05)
2000
Jan 12, An Argentine a tour bus
crashed into a 2nd local bus in Brazil and 42 people were killed.
(WSJ, 1/13/00, p.A1)
2000
Jan 12, Forced to act by a
European court ruling, the British government ended its ban on gay men
and
women serving in the armed forces.
(SFC, 1/13/00, p.A1)(AP, 1/12/01)
2000
Jan 12, In Colombia rebels ended
a holiday truce and 24 people were feared dead in attacks on southern
mountain
towns.
(WSJ, 1/13/00, p.A1)
2000
Jan 12, In Malaysia police arrested
3 vocal critics of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
(SFC, 1/13/00, p.A12)
2000
Jan 12, Turkish leaders
postponed the execution of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.
(SFC, 1/13/00, p.A12)
2001
Jan 12, The
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights concluded a two-day hearing on
Florida's
presidential election, with members accusing Secretary of State
Katherine
Harris of presiding over a “disaster” and trying to shift blame to
others.
(AP, 1/12/02)
2001
Jan 12, The FERC approved a
corporate restructure for California’s PG&E that allowed the parent
company
to shield profits from the mounting debts of its utility subsidiary.
(SFC, 1/16/01, p.A1)
2001
Jan 12, William Hewlett
(b.1913), co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Corp., died in Palo
Alto, Calif.
(SFC, 1/13/01, p.A1)(NW,
12/31/01, p.109)
2002
Jan
12, Michelle Kwan won her fifth successive U.S. Figure Skating
Championships
crown and sixth overall.
(AP,
1/12/03)
2002
Jan
12, The United States intensified its anti-terror campaign in eastern
Afghanistan,
dropping bombs on suspected al-Qaida and Taliban hideouts.
(SSFC,
1/13/02, p.A8)(AP, 1/12/03)
2002
Jan
12, Cyrus R. Vance (84), former US Sec. of State under Jimmy Carter,
died in
New York.
(SSFC,
1/13/02, p.A27)(AP, 1/12/03)
2002
cJan 12, The World Food Program
halted aid shipments to Afghanistan this week due to theft and looting
by
bandits and warlords.
(SSFC, 1/13/02,
p.A10)
2002
Jan
12, In Colombia Pres. Pastrana rejected a last minute FARC proposal to
save the
peace process.
(SSFC,
1/13/02, p.A19)
2002
Jan
12, Israeli missile boats hit a Palestinian fuel depot in a 4th day of
reprisals.
(SSFC,
1/13/02, p.A20)
2002
Jan
12, Malaysia announced the arrests of 2 more suspected militants tied
to al
Qaeda and linked to a cell in Singapore.
(SSFC,
1/13/02, p.A11)
2002
Jan
12-13, In Mexico a rain storm was followed by a freeze and as many as
270
million monarch butterflies were killed at the Rosario and Sierra
Chincua
colonies in Michoacan state.
(SFC,
2/12/02, p.A4)(SFC, 2/18/02, p.A3)
2002
Jan
12, In Nigeria fighting broke out in Owo when members of the Odua
People’s Congress
approached the palace of a Yoruba tribal leader. Dozens were feared
dead.
(SFC,
1/14/02, p.A6)
2002
Jan
12, In Northern Ireland Protestant militants, the Red Hand Defenders,
killed a
Catholic postman, Daniel McColgan (20). On Jan 16 the group announced
that it
was disbanding and lifting its threat to kill Catholic workers.
(WSJ,
1/14/02, p.A1)(SFC, 1/17/02, p.a10)
2002
Jan
12, Pakistan’s Pres. Musharraf vowed to crack down on militant
Islamists using
Pakistan as a base of operations in Kashmir. Musharraf also announced
new
regulations on education criteria for the estimated 6,000 madrassas,
the
Islamic schools.
(SSFC,
1/13/02, p.A1)(SFC, 1/21/02, p.A10)
2002
Jan
12, In Zimbabwe police fired on some 5,000 opposition supporters in
Buhera. Opposition
MDC offices were wet on fire in Kwekwe.
(SFC,
1/15/02, p.A9)
2003
Jan 12, It was
reported that the $250 billion-a-year US Medicare program was riddled
with
conflicts of interest and fraud estimated at $50-75 billion.
(SSFC, 1/12/03, p.A1)
2003
Jan
12, Steve Case announced he was stepping down as chairman of the
conglomerate
he'd helped to create. Shareholders blamed him for AOL Time Warner's
sharp fall
in fortunes. The Board soon named
Richard Parsons as chairman.
(AP,
1/12/04)(WSJ, 1/2/04, p.R8)
2003
Jan 12, Maurice
Gibb (53), member of the Bee Gees musical group, died in Miami
following
surgery for a blocked intestine. The group's work included the 1977
"Saturday Night Fever" album.
(SSFC, 1/12/03, p.A2)
2003
Jan 12, In
Argentina former military dictator Leopoldo F. Galtieri (76), who in
1982 led
Argentina into the Falkland Islands war against Britain, died.
(AP, 1/12/03)
2003
Jan 12, The
death toll from a month-long cold spell rose to 986 people in northern
India,
Nepal and Bangladesh.
(AP, 1/13/03)
2003
Jan 12, Three
missiles fired from an Israeli helicopter missed their apparent target,
Islamic
militants riding in a car, and killed two 15 year-old Palestinian boys,
seriously
wounding another teen. In Israel 7 Palestinians, two other Arab
attackers and
two Israelis were killed in raids and infiltrations.
(AP, 1/13/03)(SFC,
1/13/03, p.A3)
2003
Jan 12, Kinji
Fukasaku (72), Japanese film director, died. His films included "Battle
without Honor and Humanity" (1973), "Cops vs. Thugs" (1975),
"Yakuza Graveyard" (1976) and "Graveyard of Honor" (1976)
and "The Geisha House" (1999).
(SFC, 1/28/03, p.A15)
2004
Jan 12, President Bush and Mexican President
Vicente Fox forged agreement on the
contentious issues of immigration and Iraq, meeting in Monterrey before
the
opening of a 34-nation hemispheric summit.
(AP, 1/12/05)
2004
Jan 12, It was reported that a
new US Homeland Security program planned to screen airline passengers
according
to a color code based on computerized data.
(SFC, 1/13/04, p.A1)
2004
Jan 12, The US Supreme Court
refused to hear on appeal by civil liberties groups seeking access to
basic
data of individuals detained indefinitely by the government after the
Sep. 11,
2001, attacks.
(SFC, 1/13/04, p.A1)
2004
Jan 12, Randy VanWarmer (48), singer-songwriter, died in
Seattle.
(AP, 1/12/05)
2004
Jan 12, In Afghanistan dozens of
suspected Taliban fighters armed with assault rifles attacked a police
checkpoint and killed four policemen.
(AP, 1/12/04)
2004
Jan 12, Juan Barrionuevo,
Argentine legislator from Tierra del Fuego, was arrested and charged
with
committing crimes and torture during the 1976-83 military dictatorship.
(WPR, 3/04, p.26)
2004
Jan 12, In Burundi Hutu rebels
killed 17 people, including five soldiers, in attacks northwest of
Bujumbura
over the last 2 days.
(AP, 1/13/04)
2004
Jan 12, The $780 million Queen
Mary 2 departed Southampton, England, for Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The
ship was
built by Chantieres de l'Atlantique in St. Nazaire, France.
(WSJ, 10/2/03, p.A1)
2004
Jan 12, A roadside bomb
explosion in Baghdad killed one U.S. soldier and wounded two, bringing
the
American death toll to nearly 500 since the start of fighting in March.
US soldiers
killed an Iraqi man and a boy driving in a car behind a convoy after a
roadside
bomb went off nearby.
(AP, 1/12/04)(SFC, 1/13/04, p.A10)
2004
Jan 12, It was reported that
China might inject $40 billion into its Industrial and Commercial Bank.
2 other
state-run lenders, Bank of China and China Construction Bank, split $45
billion
in transfers from foreign exchange reserves a week earlier.
(WSJ, 1/12/04, p.A1)
2004
Jan 12, In northwest Colombia
suspected FARC rebels using a grenade launcher and guns killed at least
five
paramilitary fighters inside a bar in Anza.
(AP, 1/13/04)
2004
Jan 12, A 2-day meeting began
for leaders of the 34 members of the Organization of American States
opened in
Monterrey, Mexico.
(AP, 1/12/04)
2004
Jan 12, The United States
announced plans to return to Peru $20 million stolen by a corrupt
government
official and stashed in U.S. bank accounts. In December, Peru accused
Victor
Venero Garrido of hiding the money in U.S. accounts under the guidance
of
Vladimiro Montesinos.
(AP, 1/12/04)
2004
Jan 12, In the Philippines a
huge fire in a Manila shantytown hurt at least 23 people, destroyed
thousands
of homes and left about 25,000 residents homeless.
(AP, 1/12/04)
2004
Jan 12, Olga Ladyzhenskaya (81),
Russian mathematician, died. Her studies in differential equations
helped
improve weather forecasts and advance other fields of science.
(AP, 1/27/04)
2005
Jan 12, The US
Supreme Court ruled that federal sentencing guidelines enacted 2
decades ago
are unconstitutional. The decision was not retroactive.
(WSJ, 1/13/05, p.A1)
2005
Jan 12, New US
government Dietary Guidelines suggested 30 minutes of daily physical
activity
to reduce risk of chronic disease; 60 minutes to maintain a healthy
weight; and
90 minutes to lose weight.
(SFC, 1/13/05, p.A4)
2005
Jan
12, Democrat Christine Gregoire, winner of
the
extremely close Washington governor’s race, was inaugurated.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2005
Jan
12, It was reported that researchers had synthesized a DNA molecule of
14,500
chemical units with 21 genes used by a harmless laboratory bacterium.
(SFC, 1/12/05, p.A2)
2005
Jan 12, NASA launched its Deep
Impact spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Fla. It was scheduled to launch
an
820-poind impactor vehicle at Comet Tempel-1 on July 4.
(WSJ, 1/13/05, p.D8)
2005
Jan 12, In southern Afghanistan
gunmen kidnapped
six government soldiers in a former Taliban stronghold and dumped their
bullet-ridden bodies in a canal.
(AP, 1/13/05)
2005
Jan 12, Firefighters brought
Australia's deadliest
bushfires in 20 years under control after 9 people died in the blazes
in the
Eyre Peninsula.
(AP, 1/12/05)
2005
Jan 12,
Britain’s Prince Harry
apologized after a newspaper published a photograph of the young royal
wearing
a Nazi uniform to a costume party.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2005
Jan 12, The European Parliament
gave its
overwhelming endorsement to the European Union's first-ever
constitution and
urged EU governments to quickly follow suit.
(CP, 1/12/05)
2005
Jan 12, Maud Fontenoy, a French
woman (26), set out
in a row boat on a 4,900-mile solo voyage to Polynesia, hoping to trace
Thor
Heyerdahl's epic 1947 Pacific crossing aboard the balsa raft Kon-Tiki.
(AP, 1/14/05)
2005
Jan 12, German police arrested 14
people during
raids of apartments and mosques in five states in a crackdown on an
Islamic
extremist organization suspected of aiding terrorists.
(AP, 1/12/05)
2005
Jan 12,
Indonesia demanded that all foreign troops providing disaster relief
leave the
country by Mar 31.
(SFC, 1/13/05, p.A1)
2005
Jan 12, Insurgents launched a
string of attacks in
the northern city of Mosul killing two Iraqi National Guardsmen and
wounding
two others in a car bombing. Sheik Mahmoud Finjan was shot to death as
he
headed home after evening prayers in a mosque at the town of Salman Pak
southeast
of Baghdad. Attackers also killed Finjan's son and four bodyguards.
Sunni Muslim
militants claimed responsibility.
(AP, 1/12/05)(AP, 1/14/05)
2005
Jan 12, Islamic militants detonated
a bomb near a
Jewish settlement in the southern Gaza Strip, killing an Israeli
civilian and
wounding three soldiers.
(AP, 1/12/05)
2005
Jan 12, Nigeria made public plans
to build a second
$6-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in the southwestern state
of Ondo.
(AFP, 1/13/05)
2005
Jan 12, A
US-sponsored study estimated that one million Russians were infected
with the
AIDS virus.
(WSJ, 1/13/05, p.A1)
2006
Jan 12, The US mint began
shipping a new Jefferson nickel.
(SFC, 1/13/06, p.C1)
2006
Jan 12, In Palm Springs, Ca.,
Richard Milanovich, chairman of the Agua Caliente Ban of Cahuilla
Indians,
apologized to other tribal leaders for the scandal tied to Washington
lobbyist
Jack Abramoff. He addressed tribal leaders on the 2nd day of a 3-day
conference
for casino-operating tribes. Abramoff and associates had collected some
$66
million from 6 American Indian tribes seeking influence in Washington.
(SFC, 1/13/06, p.B14)
2006
Jan
12, The United Farm Workers left the AFL-CIO
to join 5
other unions in a new confederation due to a rift over organizing
tactics.
(WSJ, 1/13/06, p.A1)
2006
Jan 12, The winning entry in New
Jersey’s slogan
contest was: "New Jersey: "Come See For Yourself."
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006
Jan 12, Houston became the largest
school district
in the country to adopt a merit pay plan for teachers that focuses on
students'
tests scores.
(AP, 1/13/06)
2006
Jan 12, Nikon announced that it
would no longer make most film cameras. A week later Minolta said it
was
quitting the camera business.
(Econ, 2/4/06,
p.75)
2006
Jan 12, Starbucks announced
plans to promote a new film, ramping up its ambition to move into the
entertainment business.
(WSJ, 1/12/06, p.A1)
2006
Jan 12, In Fort Lauderdale 4
youths went cruising to beat up some bums. Norris Gaynor (45), a
homeless man,
was beaten to death with baseball bats in one of 3 attacks. A
surveillance
camera captured the beating of Jacques Pierre in one of the non-lethal
attacks.
[see Jan 15]
(SFC, 9/5/08, p.A5)
2006
Jan
12, Australia and East Timor agreed to equally share revenue from the
Greater
Sunrise natural gas project in the Timor Sea.
(WSJ,
1/13/06, p.A8)
2006
Jan 12, In Bahrain an official
said Prince Faisal (15), the
sixth son of the king, Sheik Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, was killed in an
accident while driving a car.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006
Jan 12, The British, French and
German foreign
ministers said that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program had
reached
a "dead end" and the Islamic republic should be referred to the U.N.
Security Council for possible sanctions.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006
Jan 12, China’s government
released a white paper outlining its African policy.
(Econ, 1/21/06,
p.44)
2006
Jan 12, Chinese Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing gave
four million US dollars to Dakar within hours of his arrival in
Senegal, the
latest west African country to have recently ditched Taiwan in favor of
mighty
Beijing.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006
Jan
12, In Ecuador police
used tear gas to disperse about 2,000 demonstrators after they burned
an
American flag in front of the government palace to protest a free trade
pact with
the United States.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006
Jan 12, EU governments refused to
ascribe
market-economy status to 13 Chinese shoemakers, opening the way for
duties to
be imposed on their imports to Europe.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006
Jan 12, A German court convicted
Amin Lokman
Mohamed (33), an Iraqi man, of aiding a terror group in his home
country and
sentenced him to seven years in prison.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006
Jan 12, In Lucknow, India, police
said 4 men, who were arrested last week on charges of spreading
homosexuality,
were running a secret Internet club for homosexuals. Homosexuality is
illegal
in India. Activists called for their release.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006
Jan 12, Italy's Air One said it
will buy 30 Airbus
A320s under a $1.8 billion deal for delivery by 2008 and plans to
exercise an
option to buy 10 more planes this year.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006
Jan 12, In Kenya gunmen shot and
killed, Joan Wells Root
(69), a well-known British environmentalist and wildlife filmmaker, at
her home
in the central Rift Valley.
(AFP, 1/13/06)
2006
Jan 12, Hundreds of protesters
stormed the
headquarters of Mongolia's biggest political party (MPRP), one day
after it
pulled out of the country's 15-month-old ruling coalition.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006
Jan 12, A Palestinian militant blew
himself up and
two other Palestinians were killed in a gunbattle with Israeli troops
during an
arrest raid in the West Bank town of Jenin.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006
Jan
12, Thousands of Muslim
pilgrims rushing to complete a symbolic stoning ritual during the hajj
tripped
over luggage, causing a crush in which 363 people were killed.
(AP, 1/12/07)
2006
Jan 12, Spanish police detained
Omar Nakcha (23), a
Moroccan whom they suspect of being the leader of two extremist groups
recruiting volunteers to fight in Iraq.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006
Jan
12, In Sri Lanka at
least 9 sailors died when a bus they were traveling on was blown up by
a mine.
(Econ, 1/14/06,
p.47)
2006
Jan 12, UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan said he
wants the US and European countries to help form a tough mobile force
that
would stop the bloodshed, rape and plunder in Sudan's Darfur region.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006
Jan 12, Mehmet Ali Agca (48), the
man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981,
was released from prison after serving more than 25 years in Italy and
Turkey
for the plot against the pontiff and the slaying of a Turkish
journalist.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006
Jan 12, Turkey’s government said 2
more Turks
tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in preliminary
tests,
bringing the total number of human infections to 18.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2007
Jan
12, Pres. Bush signed a bill into law that made it a crime to lie to
obtain
telephone records of private citizens, a procedure known as pretexting,
following a 2006 case at Hewlett-Packard.
(SFC, 1/13/07, p.C1)
2007
Jan 12, Durham County, N.C., District Attorney Mike
Nifong asked to be removed from the Duke lacrosse rape investigation.
State
prosecutors later exonerated three suspects.
(AP,
1/12/08)
2007
Jan
12, Francisco Javier
Dominguez-Rivera (22) of Puebla, Mexico, was killed in a confrontation
with the
unidentified agent north of the US-Mexico border in Arizona between
Bisbee and
Douglas. On Jan 16 the Mexican government sent a diplomatic note to the
United
States protesting the fatal shooting.
(AP, 1/16/07)
2007
Jan
12, In California the Fresno-based Westlands Water District purchased
3,000
acres on the McCloud River for $35 million. They planned to sell the
land to
the federal government if officials and lawmakers decide to raise the
nearby
Shasta Dam.
(SSFC, 1/28/07, p.A1)
2007
Jan 12, Jennifer Strange (28) of
Rancho Cordova, Ca., died after guzzling a large quantity of water as
part of a
Sacramento KDND-FM radio show contest. In 2009 Entercom Sacramento LLC
was
found negligent and ordered to pay nearly $16.6 million to the family
of
Jennifer Strange.
(SFC,
1/18/07, p.A1)(SFC, 10/30/09, p.A8)
2007
Jan
12, In Missouri 2
missing boys were found at the suburban St. Louis home of Michael
Devlin (41). William Ownby (13) had been missing for 5 days; Shawn
Hornbeck
(15) had been missing since Oct 2002. In October Devlin was sentenced to
multiple life terms for kidnapping and sexual assault.
(SFC, 1/13/07, p.A5)(SFC, 10/9/07, p.A6)(AP,
1/12/08)
2007
Jan
12, Larry Stewart (58),
known as “Secret Santa” for the millions he passed out with no
strings attached to people in need, died at St. Lukes Hospital in
Kansas City,
Missouri of esophageal cancer. Stewart, from the Kansas City suburb of
Lee's Summit, made his millions in cable television and long-distance
telephone
service.
(www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243578,00.html)
2007
Jan 12, A suicide bomber rammed his
explosives-filled car into a two-vehicle convoy carrying foreigners
south of
Kabul, wounding at least one Afghan civilian.
(AP, 1/12/07)
2007
Jan 12, Fakhruddin Ahmed, a former
Bangladesh
central bank governor, was sworn in as head of the country's new
interim
government.
(AFP, 1/12/07)
2007
Jan
12, Bolivia’s President Evo
Morales proposed a new law to allow recall votes against elected
officials, a
move that would give protesters demanding the resignation of an
opposition-aligned state governor a way to remove him from office.
(AP, 1/13/07)
2007
Jan 12, In Sao Paulo, Brazil, a
hole being excavated for a new subway
station collapsed, opening a huge crater that swallowed cars and dump
trucks. A
missing minibus was feared under the dirt.
(AP, 1/13/07)
2007
Jan 12, Severe gales and heavy
rains powered by an
Atlantic storm left at least one person dead and eight missing, sunk
two
fishing trawlers and disrupted travel across Britain and Ireland.
(AP, 1/12/07)
2007
Jan
12, Canada unveiled
plans to spend more than $368 million over the next five years to
protect its
border from terrorist, economic and environmental threats.
(AP, 1/13/07)
2007
Jan 12, State media said China
will have 30 million
more men of marriageable age than women in less than 15 years as a
gender
imbalance resulting in part from the country's tough one-child policy
becomes
more pronounced. In
northern China
an underground gas explosion struck the Niuxinhui Coal Mine in the
province of
Shanxi killing 13 people with 9 injured. Police in southern China
arrested 10
farmers in Botang in the impoverished region of Guangxi embroiled in a
dispute
with a paper mill over pollution they say is killing their crops and
fouling
their water sources.
(AP, 1/12/07)(AP,
1/13/07)(AP,
1/26/07)
2007
Jan 12, China and Russia blocked
the Security
Council from demanding an end to political repression and human rights
violations in military-ruled Myanmar, rejecting a resolution proposed
by the
United States. South Africa sided with China and Russia.
(AP, 1/13/07)(Econ, 1/27/07, p.47)
2007
Jan 12, East Timor and France
signed non-aggression
treaties with ASEAN member countries on the sidelines of the annual
ASEAN
summit in the Philippine resort city of Cebu. Both countries looked to
strengthen ties with a bloc representing
a sixth of the world's people.
(AP, 1/13/07)
2007
Jan 12, French authorities freed
Mikhail Prokhorov, a
Russian billionaire, following four days of questioning in connection
with an
investigation into a suspected prostitution ring at the swank Alpine
ski resort
of Courchevel.
(AP, 1/12/07)
2007
Jan 12, The US Embassy in Athens
came under fire
from a rocket that exploded inside the modern glass-front building but
caused
no casualties in an attack police suspect was the work of Greek
leftists.
(AP, 1/12/07)
2007
Jan
12, An American man
dubbed by local media the "butcher of New York" was sentenced to 38
years in prison for killing and dismembering his Honduran wife. Andrew
Gole
(49) of Long Island, NY, confessed to strangling and cutting up his
wife,
Martha Isabel Moncada (28) with an electric saw in May 2003.
(AP, 1/14/07)
2007
Jan 12, In Iraq at least 19
people were reported killed or dead including 10 bullet-riddled bodies
found in
Baghdad and Khudr Younis al-Obaidi, an Iraqi journalist killed in a
drive-by
shooting in Mosul.
(SFC,
1/13/07, p.A9)
2007
Jan 12, In Nigeria 9 South Korean
pipeline workers and a
Nigerian kidnapped in southern Nigeria were released with the help of a
youth
group.
(AP, 1/12/07)
2007
Jan
12, Roman Abramovich, Russian oil magnate, was reported to have ordered
a new
yacht called the Eclipse. It was under
construction in Germany and was expected to measure over 525
feet,
making it the largest privately owned yacht in the world.
(WSJ,
1/12/07, p.W1)
2007
Jan 12, Russia reportedly agreed to
slash the duty
on oil exports to Belarus by 70% and Belarus will share with Moscow a
substantial amount of profits from the refined oil products it sells to
Europe.
(AP, 1/12/07)
2007
Jan 12, A government official said Somalia's
warlords have agreed to disarm and join a new national army. Violence
in the
capital brought home the challenge of restoring order in this fractious
and
heavily armed country.
(AP, 1/12/07)
2007
Jan 12, In the tea growing region
of central Sri
Lanka at least 18 people were killed in landslides. The National
Disaster
Management Center said at least three people were killed and another
61,000
made homeless in south and central Sri Lanka in flash floods caused by
heavy
monsoon rains.
(AP, 1/12/07)(AP,
1/14/07)
2007
Jan 12, A Darfur rebel group denied
that it agreed
to a cease-fire with the Sudanese government during a meeting this week
with
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
(AP, 1/12/07)
2007
Jan 12, Ugandan rebels pulled out
of peace talks
with the government, dealing a blow to already faltering negotiations
aimed at
ending one of Africa's most brutal conflicts.
(AP, 1/12/07)
2008
Jan
12,
(Econ,
1/19/08,
p.89)
2008
Jan
12, In Half Moon Bay, Ca., the annual Maverick surfing contest was won
by Greg
Long (24), or
(SSFC,
1/13/08,
p.A1)
2008 Jan 12, In southern Afghanistan Dutch troops killed two of their own men during a nighttime battle in Uruzgan province, and separately two allied Afghan soldiers they mistook for enemies. About 1,650 Dutch troops were deployed in Uruzgan as part of the NATO mission there. 14 Dutch troops have died since their mission began last year.
(AP,
1/13/08)
2008
Jan
12, Greenpeace said its protest ship located
(AP,
1/12/08)
2008 Jan 12, At Argentina's main airport frustrated passengers smashed ticket counters and threw objects at airline staff after the country's flagship airline canceled international flights for a 2nd day due to delays caused by a baggage handlers strike and a walkout by ticket counter workers.
(Reuters,
1/12/08)
2008
Jan
12, In
(AP,
1/12/08)
2008 Jan 12, China’s state media reported that accidents in China's coal mines killed 3,786 people In 2007, a toll that is a marked improvement from previous years, but still leaves China's mines the world's deadliest.
(AP,
1/12/08)
2008
Jan 12,
(AP,
1/12/08)
2008
Jan
12,
(AP,
1/12/08)(SFC,
1/14/08,
p.A19)
2008
Jan
12, A leading Kenyan human rights group said some of the
worst
violence in the country's deadly disputed presidential election was the
work of
militias paid and directed by politicians. Maina
Kiai, chairman of the state-funded human rights body, said that in
response to
attacks on Kikuyu, government politicians have recruited the Mungiki, a
Kikuyu
gang blamed for a string of beheadings carried out in
(AP,
1/12/08)(Reuters, 1/12/08)(WSJ, 1/14/08,
p.A1)
2008
Jan
12, A Macedonian Army helicopter returning from a
peacekeeping
mission in
(AP,
1/13/08)
2008
Jan
12, In
(AP,
1/12/08)
2008
Jan
12, In
(AP,
1/13/08)
2008
Jan
12, Gunmen smashed windows, burned buses and looted
computers
belonging to a private American school in
(AP,
1/12/08)
2008
Jan
12, Saudi authorities beheaded an Indonesian maid
convicted of
killing her employer. The Interior Ministry said the maid used a pillow
to
suffocate her employer Aisha Al Makhaled and then stole her jewelry in
the
southern
(AP,
1/12/08)
2008 Jan 12, South African national police chief Jackie Selebi was placed on extended leave, a day after prosecutors announced plans to charge him with corruption over his links to a murder suspect. Selebi resigned as president of Interpol and planned to fight corruption allegations.
(AP,
1/12/08)(WSJ, 1/14/08,
p.A1)
2008
Jan
12, Angel Gonzalez (82), one of
(AP,
1/14/08)
2008 Jan 12, Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party (KMT) won a landslide victory over the ruling DPP in legislative elections, dealing a humiliating blow to the government's hardline China policies two months before a presidential poll.
(Reuters,
1/12/08)
2008
Jan
12, In
(www.rnv.gov.ve/noticias/index.php?act=ST&f=31&t=58972)
2009 Jan 12, The US Senate said it will seat Roland Burris, the junior senator from Illinois.
(SFC, 1/12/09, p.A8)
2009 Jan 12, The US slapped sanctions on people and firms linked to Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan’s black market nuclear network.
(WSJ, 1/13/09, p.A1)
2009 Jan 12, Minnesota officials said lab tests had confirmed salmonella bacteria in a five pound container of King Nut brand peanut butter. King Nut of Solon, Ohio, had recalled the product on January 10. At least 6 people had been killed and over 470 sickened nationwide in 43 states.
(WSJ, 1/13/09, p.A2)(SFC, 1/20/09, p.A12)
2009 Jan 12, In El Reno, Oklahoma, a woman and her 4 children, aged 3-7, were found killed. Texas officials the next day arrested the mother’s boyfriend, Joshua Steven Durcho (25).
(SFC, 1/14/09, p.A3)
2009 Jan 12, Sofa retailer Land of Leather filed for bankruptcy protection, becoming the latest British retailer to succumb to a downturn in consumer spending amid the global economic slowdown.
(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 12, State media said China has shut down 91 websites for pornographic and other "vulgar" content, as well as a political blog portal, since announcing its latest bid to ensure Internet morality.
(Reuters, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 12, In China a Shanghai distributor of a popular brand of dog food said it had suspended sales of the product following reports that dogs who ate it had died from aflatoxin poisoning. This appeared to involve an imported product, Optima, a brand of dog food made by Nashville, Tennessee-based Doane Pet Care Co. It was not clear if the pet food sold in China was the US brand.
(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 12, War crimes prosecutors in The Hague accused former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba of using systematic rape to terrorize civilians suspected of supporting rebels during a bloody power struggle in neighboring Central African Republic.
(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 12, Cuba published new regulations encouraging classic car owners to apply for taxi licenses and set their own prices for the first time in nearly a decade as the communist government turns to the free market to improve its woeful transportation system.
(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 12, In Dubai Kabir Mulchandani, chairman of the Dynasty Zarooni development company, was arrested on charges of fraud and embezzlement. He was accused of defrauding investors of more than $100 million. He has been under investigation in India for the past 10 years by the excise department, directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI), enforcement directorate (ED), and income tax authority.
(WSJ, 1/24/09, p.C3)(http://tinyurl.com/amevml)
2009 Jan 12, Fiji authorities rushed to deliver clean drinking water and other supplies to thousands of villagers who fled flooding from tropical storms. The storms left 11 people dead.
(AP, 1/12/09)(SSFC, 1/25/09, p.E2)
2009 Jan 12, French teachers hurled shoes and other objects at police to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy's high school reforms, prompting police to respond with tear gas.
(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 12, Germany’s coalition government approved a $67 million spending package to mitigate recession effects.
(Econ, 1/17/09, p.52)
2009
Jan
12, In Greece 3 gunmen had grabbed Periklis Panagopoulos (74), founder
of one
of Greece's largest ferry operators,
and his
driver in the southern Athens suburb of Vouliagmeni.
Panagopoulos
was released unharmed on Jan 20 following a large ransom payment.
(AP, 1/20/09)
2009 Jan 12, In Haiti Police Commissioner Philippe Jean Raymond of Port-de-Paix was poisoned after several million dollars of cash seized from the uncle of a prominent drug smuggler went missing.
(Econ,
2/14/09, p.46)(http://tinyurl.com/dz7gcq)
2009 Jan 12, In Iraq a series of bombs targeted Iraqi security forces in Baghdad. At least 10 people died as Vice President-elect Joe Biden arriving in Baghdad following trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 12, Israeli warplanes pounded the homes of Hamas leaders and ground troops edged closer to the Gaza Strip's densely populated urban center, as Israel weighed a decision to escalate its devastating offensive. Militants managed to fire off at least four rockets. Gaza officials said the offensive has killed some 870 Palestinians.
(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 12, Alitalia's board accepted Air France-KLM's offer to buy 25 percent of the company and become its international partner.
(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 12, Kazakh PM Karim Masimov told his ministers to start personal blogs to get them closer to the people of the former Soviet state.
(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 12, Mozambique authorities said torrential rains have killed 19 people in the past few days and that worse flooding may lie ahead.
(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 12, In Nigeria Susanne Wenger (93), Austrian-born sculptress, died. She had been initiated as a Yoruba traditional priestess and was responsible for towering works of art in one of Nigeria's two World Heritage sites.
(AFP, 1/13/09)
2009 Jan 12, In Pakistan the bodies of two men killed by Taliban militants for allegedly spying for the US were found in the North Waziristan tribal region to the south of Mohmand. The two were abducted a week ago as they attempted to flee with their families. Trucks and other vehicles blocked the main Quetta-Chaman highway, forcing about 100 trucks carrying NATO supplies to park.
(AP,
1/12/09)
2009 Jan 12, Russia's state-run monopoly Gazprom announced it will resume shipping natural gas to Europe, where tens of thousands of homes and buildings have been left without heat in freezing weather.
(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 12, In Somalia Islamist insurgents fired mortar rounds at the presidential palace in Mogadishu. At least 13 people were killed in 2 attacks. The United States circulated a draft resolution calling for a UN peacekeeping force to be deployed in Somalia to replace a small African Union force, but leaving the Security Council to make a final decision by June 1.
(AP, 1/13/09)(SFC, 1/12/09, p.A3)
2009 Jan 12, In Sri Lanka heavy fighting was reported around guerrilla-controlled Mullaittivu district, with troops seizing a rebel administration base, a training camp and a bunker line.
(AFP, 1/13/09)
2009 Jan 12, Taiwan's parliament voted through a controversial bill lifting a decades-old ban on casinos, despite protests that gambling could lead to a damaging decline in public morality.
(AP, 1/12/09)