2016
United Nations Security Council adopts a landmark resolution demanding a halt to all Israeli settlement in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. Resolution 2334 was moved by New Zealand, Malaysia, Senegal and Venezuela and passed 14-0 with a US abstention.
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2012
The Seleka rebel coalition takes over Bambari, the third largest town in the Central African Republic.
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2003
A gas explosion occurred in Guoqiao, Kai, Chongqing, China.
A gas well belonging to PetroChina’s Southwest Oil in the Chuandongbei gas field exploded, releasing highly toxic hydrogen sulfide. This incident killed 233 people and injured at least 9,000.
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1997
Rom-com movie “As Good as It Gets” was released in theaters in the US.
It was written and directed by James L. Brooks and starred Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt.
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1994
Whitey Bulger, an organized crime boss, fled Boston after fearing arrest from the FBI.
He successfully hid from law enforcement for 16 years.
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1987
Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, who was serving a life sentence for the attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford, escaped from Alderson Prison.
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1986
The first aircraft flew around the world without stopping or refueling.
The experimental airplane “Voyager” was piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager on a non-stop flight around the world – a journey that took nine days.
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1986
The Rutan Voyager became the first plane to fly around the world without stopping for fuel.
Piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, Voyager took off from Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, California, on December 14. The two pilots initially intended to fly in 3-hour shifts, but due to limitations in space, one of the pilots flew for three consecutive days at one point. When Voyager finally landed again, it had just 1.5% of the fuel it started with.
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1972
A 6.25 magnitude earthquake destroyed central Managua, Nicaragua, killing about 10,000 people.
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1972
Plane crash survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 were rescued.
Sixteen plane crash survivors were rescued after being stranded in the Andes for seventy days. Although 33 of the 45 onboard survived the crash, injuries and severe weather conditions killed many more. Survivors had to resort to cannibalism in order to stay alive.
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1968
After eleven months of imprisonment, 83 men from the US Navy were released by North Korea.
On January 23, 1968, the USS Pueblo, a spy ship, was captured along with its crew by the North Korean armed forces. While the US Navy claimed that the Pueblo was outside of North Korea’s waters, North Korea claimed otherwise. The captives were only released after the US signed a statement that they were indeed within North Korea’s territory and that they would never do it again.
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1954
Dr. Joseph E. Murray performed the first human kidney transplant at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
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1948
Cinderella, the first full-length ballet by Frederick Ashton with music by Sergei Prokofiev, was first presented at Covent Garden, London, by Sadler’s Wells Ballet.
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1888
Vincent van Gogh cut his left ear off with a razor after an argument with fellow painter Paul Gauguin.
He sent it to a prostitute for safekeeping.
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1815
The novel Emma by Jane Austen was first published.
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583 AD
Yohl Ik’nal ascended to the throne of Palenque, making her the first queen regnant in Maya history.
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