События
September 10 – Switzerland joins the United Nations as the 190th member state after rejecting a place in 1986.October 23–25 – Chechen rebels take control of the Nord-Ost theatre in Moscow and hold the audience hostage. At least 170 people are killed following a Russian attempt to subdue the militantsNovember 28 – 2002 Mombasa attacks: Suicide bombers blow up an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, but their colleagues failed in their attempt to bring down an Arkia Israel Airlines charter flight with surface-to-air-missiles.February 15–16 – Antwerp diamond heist: An Italian gang steals loose diamonds, gold and jewellery valued at more than $100 million from a Belgian vault, one of the largest robberies in history.November 12 – A suicide bombing at an Italian military police headquarters in Nasiriyah, Iraq, kills 17 Italian military police officers and nine Iraqi civiliansAugust 13 – August 29 – The United States compete at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, and win 36 gold, 39 silver and 27 bronze medals.September 3 – Hurricane Frances makes landfall in Florida. After killing two people in the Bahamas, Hurricane Frances killed ten people in Florida, two in Georgia and one in South Carolina.December 6 – Terrorists attack the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing several people.January 7 – Crevalcore train crash in Italy: 17 dead and dozens injured.February 10 – North Korea announces that it possesses nuclear weapons as a protection against the hostility it says it perceives from the United States.July 7 – Four coordinated suicide bombings hit central London, killing 52 people and injuring over 700February 10 – February 26 – The United States compete at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy and win 9 gold, 9 silver, and 7 bronze medals.June 7 – Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and seven of his aides are killed in a U.S. air raid just north of the town of Baquba, Iraq.April 3 – French high speed passenger train, the TGV, reaches a top speed of 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph), breaking the record for the world's fastest conventional train.August 15 – An 8.0 earthquake strikes Peru, killing at least 519 people, injuring more than 1,300, and causing tsunami warnings in the Pacific Ocean.May 12 – An earthquake measuring 7.9 on the moment magnitude scale strikes Sichuan, China, killing an estimated 87,000 people.August 8–24 – The 2008 Summer Olympics take place in Beijing, China.December 18 – The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda finds Théoneste Bagosora and two other senior Rwandan army officers guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and sentences them to life imprisonment for their role in the Rwandan genocide.April 12 – Three Somali pirates are killed in a sniper operation authorized by President Obama, freeing Captain Philips and ending a multi-day standoff between the United States Navy and the pirates.January 15 – US Airways Flight 1549 loses power in both engines shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia, forcing the pilot to ditch the aircraft in the Hudson River. All 155 passengers and crew are rescued with no casualties, and the pilot is hailed as a hero.February 27 – An 8.8-magnitude earthquake occurs in Chile, triggering a tsunami over the Pacific and killing at least 525.The earthquake is one of the largest in recorded history.December 21 – The first total lunar eclipse to occur on the day of the Northern winter solstice and Southern summer solstice since 1638 takes place.March 17 – The United Nations Security Council votes 10–0 to create a no-fly zone over Libya in response to allegations of government aggression against civilians.May 22 – The 2011 Joplin tornado, an EF5 tornado, strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 and injuring 1,150.June 24 – Lonesome George, the last known individual of the Pinta Island tortoise subspecies, dies in Galápagos National Park, thus making the subspecies extinct.October 16 – Seven paintings worth $25 million are stolen from the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.January 16 – Boeing 787 aircraft are grounded worldwide over concerns about the safety of their lithium-ion batteries.December 16 – For an undisclosed price, Google acquires the robot-making company Boston Dynamics which had previously been contracted by the U.S. military.March 31 – The United Nations International Court of Justice rules that Japan's Antarctic whaling program is not scientific but commercial and forbids grants of further permits.April 16 – Korean ferry MV Sewol capsizes and sinks after an unmanageable cargo shift, killing 304 people, mostly high school students.January 15 – The Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the franc's value relative to the euro, causing turmoil in international financial markets.July 20 – Cuba and the United States reestablish full diplomatic relations, ending a 54-year stretch of hostility between the nations.September 28 – NASA announces that liquid water has been found on Mars.June 1 – The Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world's longest and deepest railway tunnel, is opened following two decades of construction work.August 5–21 – The 2016 Summer Olympics are held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the first time in a South American nation.May 12 – Computers around the world are hit by a large-scale ransomware cyberattack,which goes on to affect at least 150 countries.August 21 – A total solar eclipse (nicknamed "The Great American Eclipse") is visible within a band across the entire contiguous United States of America, passing from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts.January 31 – A total lunar eclipse takes place. The Moon appears as supermoon, with perigee being on January 30. It is also the first blue moon eclipse since 1983. It was also referred to as the super blue blood moon.March 4 – Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia are poisoned by the Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, Englan. UK counter-terrorism police investigate amid speculation the Kremlin was behind the incident.February 14 – A school shooting occurs at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people and injuring 17.March 15 – 50 people are killed and 50 others injured in terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is the deadliest mass shooting in modern New Zealand's history.March 21 – A major explosion at a chemical plant in Xiangshui, Jiangsu, China, kills at least 64 people and injures more than 600 others. Its powerful impact registered as an artificial earthquake.
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