Events in History Relating to Politics
January 25, 41
After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate.
January 20, 1265
In Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting held by Simon de Beaufort in the Palace of Westminster, now also known colloquially as the "Houses of Parliament".
November 27, 1295
The first elected representatives from Lancashire are called to Westminster by King Edward I to attend what later became known as "The Model Parliament".
November 1, 1348
The anti-royalist Union of Valencia attacks the Jews of Murviedro on the pretext that they are serfs of the King of Valencia and thus "royalists".
October 4, 1511
Formation of the Holy League of Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Papal States and the Republic of Venice against France.
September 25, 1555
The Peace of Augsburg is signed in Augsburg by Charles V and the princes of the Schmalkaldic League.
October 21, 1600
Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats the leaders of rival Japanese clans in the Battle of Sekigahara, which marks the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate, who in effect rule Japan until the mid-nineteenth century.
November 23, 1644
Areopagitica, a pamphlet decrying censorship, and written by John Milton is published.
October 14, 1656
Massachusetts enacts the first punitive legislation against the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). The marriage of church-and-state in Puritanism makes them regard the ritual-free Quakers as spiritually apostate and politically subversive.
January 20, 1667
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth cedes Kiev, Smolensk, and left-bank Ukraine to the Tsardom of Russia in the treaty of Andrusovo.
September 1, 1715
King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of 72 years—the longest of any major European monarch.
November 5, 1768
Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the purpose of which is to adjust the boundary line between Indian lands and white settlements set forth in the Proclamation of 1763 in the Thirteen Colonies.
October 26, 1774
The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
August 6, 1787
Sixty proof sheets of the Constitution of the United States are delivered to the Constitutional Convention.
January 2, 1788
Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
September 11, 1789
Alexander Hamilton is appointed as the first United States Secretary of the Treasury.
October 26, 1795
The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created.
November 2, 1795
The French Directory succeeds the French National Convention as the government of Revolutionary France.
September 19, 1796
George Washington's farewell address is printed across America as an open letter to the public.
November 17, 1800
The United States Congress holds its first session in Washington, D.C.
November 1, 1802
Delegates meet at Chillicothe, Ohio to form a state constitutional convention.
November 30, 1804
The Democratic-Republican-controlled United States Senate begins an impeachment trial against Federalist-partisan Supreme Court of the United States Justice Samuel Chase.
January 26, 1808
Rum Rebellion, the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia.
October 1, 1814
Opening of the Congress of Vienna, intended to redraw the Europe's political map after the defeat of Napoléon the previous spring.
November 1, 1814
Congress of Vienna opens to re-draw the European political map after the defeat of France, in the Napoleonic Wars.
October 19, 1822
In Parnaíba; Simplício Dias da Silva, João Cândido de Deus e Silva and Domingos Dias declare the independent state of Piauí.
October 4, 1824
Mexico adopts a new constitution and becomes a federal republic.
January 30, 1835
In the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States, Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson, but fails and is subdued by a crowd, including several congressmen.
October 22, 1836
Sam Houston is inaugurated as the first President of the Republic of Texas.
February 8, 1837
Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate.
November 5, 1838
The Federal Republic of Central America begins to disintegrate when Nicaragua separates from the federation.
October 13, 1845
A majority of voters in the Republic of Texas approve a proposed constitution, that if accepted by the U.S. Congress, will make Texas a U.S. state.
December 5, 1847
Jefferson Davis is elected to the US senate, his first political post.
January 3, 1848
Joseph Jenkins Roberts is sworn in as the first president of the independent African Republic of Liberia.
November 3, 1848
A greatly revised constitution, drafted by Johan Rudolf Thorbecke, severely limiting the powers of the Dutch monarchy, and strengthening the powers of the parliament and the ministers, is proclaimed. This constitution is still in effect today.
November 16, 1849
A Russian court sentences Fyodor Dostoevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group; his sentence is later commuted to hard labor.
October 23, 1850
the first National Women's Rights Convention is begun in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.
November 29, 1850
The treaty, Punctation of Olmütz, signed in Olomouc means diplomatic capitulation of Prussia to Austrian Empire, which took over the leadership of German Confederation.
January 6, 1853
President-elect of the United States Franklin Pierce and his family are involved in a train wreck near Andover, Massachusetts.
October 23, 1855
Kansas Free State forces set up a competing government under their Topeka, Kansas, constitution, which outlaws slavery in the United States territory.
February 23, 1861
President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after the thwarting of an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland.
October 29, 1863
Sixteen countries meeting in Geneva agree to form the International Red Cross.
October 18, 1867
United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day.
September 6, 1870
Louisa Ann Swain of Laramie, Wyoming becomes the first woman in the United States to cast a vote legally after 1807.
November 5, 1872
Women's suffrage: In defiance of the law, suffragist Susan B. Anthony votes for the first time, and is later fined $100.
September 1, 1873
Cetshwayo ascends to the throne as king of the Zulu nation following the death of his father Mpande.
November 25, 1874
The United States Greenback Party is established as a political party consisting primarily of farmers affected by the Panic of 1873.
January 16, 1883
The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is passed.
November 15, 1889
Brazil is declared a republic by Marechal Deodoro da Fonseca and Emperor Pedro II is deposed in a military coup.
April 14, 1890
The Pan-American Union is founded by the First International Conference of American States in Washington, D.C.
November 29, 1890
The Meiji Constitution goes into effect in Japan and the first Diet convenes.
November 8, 1892
The New Orleans general strike begins, uniting black and white American trade unionists in a successful four-day general strike action for the first time.
November 7, 1893
Women in the U.S. state of Colorado are granted the right to vote.
November 12, 1893
The treaty of the Durand Line is signed between present day Pakistan and Afghanistan – the Durand Line has gained international recognition as an international border between the two nations.
November 24, 1898
The International Conference of Rome for the Social Defense Against Anarchists opens.
January 17, 1899
The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.
September 2, 1901
Vice President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair.
September 6, 1901
Anarchist Leon Czolgosz shoots and fatally wounds US President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.
September 14, 1901
President of the United States William McKinley dies after an assassination attempt on September 6, and is succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt.
December 3, 1901
US President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000-word speech to the House of Representatives asking the Congress to curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits".
October 21, 1902
In the United States, a five month strike by United Mine Workers ends.
November 3, 1903
With the encouragement of the United States, Panama proclaims itself independent from Colombia. US President Theodore Roosevelt had wanted the United States to build the Panama Canal, but was not willing to pay what Colombia asked.
November 17, 1903
The Russian Social Democratic Labor Party splits into two groups; the Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority") and Mensheviks (Russian for "minority").
November 18, 1903
The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the United States exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.
November 23, 1903
Colorado Governor James Peabody sends the state militia into the town of Cripple Creek to break up a miners' strike.
November 18, 1904
General Esteban Huertas steps down after the government of Panama fears he wants to stage a coup.
October 30, 1905
Czar Nicholas II of Russia grants Russia's first constitution, creating a legislative assembly.
November 3, 1905
Czar Nicholas II of Russia signs a document of amnesty for the political prisoners.
November 12, 1905
(November 12 and November 13) Norway holds a referendum in favor of monarchy over republic.
September 11, 1906
Mahatma Gandhi coins the term "Satyagraha" to characterize the Non-Violence movement in South Africa.
November 9, 1906
Theodore Roosevelt is the first sitting President of the United States to make an official trip outside the country. He did so to inspect progress on the Panama Canal.
November 20, 1910
Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero issues the Plan de San Luis Potosi, denouncing President Porfirio Díaz, calling for a revolution to overthrow the government of Mexico, effectively starting the Mexican Revolution.
November 6, 1913
Mohandas Gandhi is arrested while leading a march of Indian miners in South Africa.
January 28, 1915
An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard.
November 5, 1916
The Everett Massacre takes place in Everett, Washington as political differences lead to a shoot-out between the Industrial Workers of the World organizers and local police.
November 7, 1916
Jeannette Rankin is the first woman elected to the United States Congress.
November 13, 1916
Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes is expelled from the Labor Party over his support for conscription.
November 30, 1916
Costa Rica becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
October 25, 1917
Traditionally understood date of the October Revolution, involving the capture of the Winter Palace, Petrograd, Russia.
November 5, 1917
October Revolution: In Tallinn, Estonia, Communist leader Jaan Anwelt leads revolutionaries in overthrowing the Provisional Government (As Estonia and Russia are still using the Julian Calendar, subsequent period references show an October 23 date).
November 7, 1917
Russian Revolution: In Petrograd, Russia, Bolshevik leaders Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky lead revolutionaries in overthrowing the Provisional Government (As Russia was still using the Julian Calendar, subsequent period references show the date as October 25).
November 8, 1917
The People's Commissars give authority to Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin.
November 3, 1918
Austria-Hungary enters into an armistice with the Allies, and the Habsburg-ruled empire dissolves.
November 4, 1918
The German Revolution begins when 40,000 sailors take over the port in Kiel.
November 7, 1918
Kurt Eisner overthrows the Wittelsbach dynasty in the Kingdom of Bavaria.
December 1, 1918
Iceland becomes a sovereign state, yet remains a part of the Danish kingdom.
January 18, 1919
Ignacy Jan Paderewski becomes Prime Minister of the newly independent Poland.
October 28, 1919
The U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January.
January 1, 1920
The Belorussian Communist Organisation is founded as a separate party.
January 20, 1921
The first Constitution of Turkey is adopted, making fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty.
July 11, 1921
Former U.S. President William Howard Taft is sworn in as 10th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the only person to ever be both President and Chief Justice.
October 18, 1921
The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is formed as part of the RSFSR.
October 19, 1921
Portuguese Prime Minister António Granjo and other politicians are murdered in a Lisbon coup.
November 7, 1921
The Partito Nazionale Fascista (PNF), National Fascist Party, comes into existence.
November 21, 1922
Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator.
September 9, 1923
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, founds the Republican People's Party (CHP).
October 2, 1924
The Geneva Protocol is adopted as a means to strengthen the League of Nations.
November 4, 1924
Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming is elected as the first female governor in the United States.
September 1, 1928
Ahmet Zogu declares Albania to be a monarchy and proclaims himself king.
December 28, 1929
"Black Saturday" in Samoa: New Zealand colonial police kill 11 unarmed demonstrators, an event which leads the Mau movement to demand independence for Samoa.
September 6, 1930
Democratically elected Argentine president Hipólito Yrigoyen is deposed in a military coup.
November 3, 1930
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas becomes Head of the Provisional Government in Brazil after a bloodless coup on October 24.
December 29, 1930
Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the Two-Nation Theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.
April 5, 1932
Alcohol prohibition in Finland ends. Alcohol sales begin in Alko liquor stores.
November 8, 1932
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected the 32d President of the United States defeating Herbert Hoover.
September 8, 1935
US Senator from Louisiana, Huey Long, nicknamed "Kingfish", is fatally shot in the Louisiana capitol building.
November 8, 1935
A dozen labor leaders come together to announce the creation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), an organization charged with advancing industrial unionism.
November 9, 1935
The Congress of Industrial Organizations is founded in Atlantic City, New Jersey by eight trade unions belonging to the American Federation of Labor.
November 15, 1935
Manuel L. Quezon is inaugurated as the second president of the Philippines.
November 1, 1937
Stalinists executed by shooting Pastor Paul Hamberg and seven members of Azerbaijan's Lutheran community (including three women).
September 21, 1939
Romanian Prime Minister Armand Calinescu is assassinated by ultranationalist members of the Iron Guard.
September 16, 1940
Sam Rayburn is elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He is widely regarded as the most effective Speaker of the House in American history.
November 5, 1940
Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected to a third term as President of the United States.
October 9, 1941
A coup in Panama declares Ricardo Adolfo de la Guardia Arango the new president.
October 15, 1944
The Arrow Cross Party (very similar to Hitler's NSDAP (Nazi party)) takes over the power in Hungary.
November 7, 1944
Franklin D. Roosevelt elected for a record fourth term as President of the United States of America
January 17, 1945
Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg disappears in Hungary while in Soviet custody.
October 18, 1945
A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, staged a coup d'état against then president Isaías Medina Angarita, who is overthrown by the end of the day.
October 21, 1945
Women's suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in France for the first time.
September 2, 1946
Interim Government of India is formed with Jawaharlal Nehru as Vice President.
October 5, 1947
The first televised White House address is given by U.S. President Harry S. Truman.
October 20, 1947
The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of Hollywood, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years.
October 24, 1947
Walt Disney testifies to the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he believes to be communists.
October 26, 1947
The Maharaja of Kashmir agrees to allow his kingdom to join India.
November 17, 1947
The U.S. Screen Actors Guild implements an anti-Communist loyalty oath.
November 29, 1947
The United Nations General Assembly votes to partition Palestine (The Partition Plan).
January 21, 1948
The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec. The day is marked annually as Quebec Flag Day.
September 13, 1948
Margaret Chase Smith is elected senator, and becomes the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate.
September 18, 1948
Margaret Chase Smith of Maine becomes the first woman elected to the US Senate without completing another senator's term when she defeats Democratic opponent Adrian Scolten.
September 18, 1948
Ralph Bunche is confirmed as acting United Nations mediator for Palestine and Israel.
November 15, 1948
Louis Stephen St. Laurent succeeds William Lyon Mackenzie King as Prime Minister of Canada. King had the longest combined time (3 terms, 22 years in total) as Premier in Commonwealth of Nations history.
January 2, 1949
Luis Muñoz Marín becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.
November 26, 1949
The Indian Constituent Assembly adopts India's constitution presented by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
January 26, 1950
The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India.
November 1, 1950
Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate US President Harry S. Truman at Blair House.
November 13, 1950
General Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, President of Venezuela, is assassinated in Caracas.
November 19, 1950
US General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes supreme commander of NATO-Europe
January 24, 1952
Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada.
October 20, 1952
Governor Evelyn Baring declared a state of emergency in Kenya and began arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising, including Jomo Kenyatta, the future first President of Kenya.
November 20, 1952
Slánský trials – a series of Stalinist and anti-Semitic show trials in Czechoslovakia.
January 3, 1953
Frances Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress.
November 2, 1953
The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan names the country The Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
October 28, 1954
The modern Kingdom of the Netherlands is re-founded as a federal monarchy.
October 26, 1955
After the last Allied troops have left the country and following the provisions of the Austrian Independence Treaty, Austria declares permanent neutrality.
October 29, 1956
Tangier Protocol is signed: The international city Tangier is reintegrated into Morocco.
November 4, 1956
Soviet troops enter Hungary to end the Hungarian revolution that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country.
November 13, 1956
The United States Supreme Court declares Alabama and Montgomery, Alabama laws requiring segregated buses illegal, thus ending the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
October 10, 1957
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he was refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.
October 29, 1957
Israel's prime minister David Ben Gurion and five of his ministers are injured when a hand grenade is tossed into Israel's parliament, the Knesset.
October 7, 1958
President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza, with the support of General Ayub Khan and the army, suspends the 1956 constitution, imposes martial law, and cancels the elections scheduled for January 1959.
October 27, 1958
Iskander Mirza, the first President of Pakistan, is deposed in a bloodless coup d'état by General Ayub Khan, who had been appointed the enforcer of martial law by Mirza 20 days earlier.
November 25, 1958
French Sudan gains autonomy as a self-governing member of the French Community.
November 28, 1958
Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community.
September 25, 1959
Solomon Bandaranaike, prime minister of Sri Lanka is mortally wounded by a Buddhist monk, Talduwe Somarama, and dies the next day.
October 12, 1959
At the national congress of APRA in Peru a group of leftist radicals are expelled from the party. They will later form APRA Rebelde.
November 23, 1959
General Charles de Gaulle, President of France, declares in a speech in Strasbourg his vision for a "Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals."
January 20, 1960
Hendrik Verwoerd announces a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic.
September 5, 1960
The poet Léopold Sédar Senghor is elected as the first President of Senegal.
September 22, 1960
The Sudanese Republic is renamed Mali after the withdrawal of Senegal from the Mali Federation.
October 19, 1960
The United States government places an embargo on Communist Cuba.
November 1, 1960
While campaigning for President of the United States, John F. Kennedy announces his idea of the Peace Corps.
November 8, 1960
John Fitzgerald Kennedy is elected the 35th President of the United States defeating Richard M. Nixon.
November 9, 1960
Robert McNamara is named president of Ford Motor Co., the first non-Ford to serve in that post. A month later, he quit to join the newly-elected John F. Kennedy administration.
January 17, 1961
President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the "military-industrial complex".
October 1, 1961
East and West Cameroon merge as Federal Republic of Cameroon.
January 1, 1962
Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.
September 24, 1962
United States court of appeals orders the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith.
September 25, 1962
The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria is formally proclaimed. Ferhat Abbas is elected President of the provisional government.
September 30, 1962
James Meredith enters the University of Mississippi, defying segregation.
October 25, 1962
Cuban missile crisis: Adlai Stevenson shows photos at the UN proving Soviet missiles are installed in Cuba
November 21, 1962
The Chinese People's Liberation Army declares a unilateral cease-fire in the Sino-Indian War.
November 30, 1962
The United Nations General Assembly elects U Thant of Burma as its 3rd UN Secretary-General.
September 15, 1963
The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing: Four children killed at an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, United States
November 2, 1963
South Vietnamese President Ngô Ðình Diệm is assassinated following a military coup.
November 25, 1963
President John F. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
December 31, 1963
The Central African Federation officially collapses and splits into Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
January 1, 1964
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.
October 27, 1964
Ronald Reagan delivers a speech on behalf of Republican candidate for president, Barry Goldwater. The speech launched his political career and came to be known as "A Time for Choosing".
November 2, 1964
King Saud of Saudi Arabia is deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother King Faisal.
November 3, 1964
Washington D.C. residents are able to vote in a presidential election for the first time.
December 12, 1964
Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta becomes the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
January 1, 1965
The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan is founded in Kabul.
September 7, 1965
China announces that it will reinforce its troops in the Indian border.
November 2, 1965
Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker, sets himself on fire in front of the river entrance to the Pentagon to protest the use of napalm in the Vietnam war.
November 6, 1965
Cuba and the United States formally agree to begin an airlift for Cubans who want to go to the United States. By 1971, 250,000 Cubans made use of this program.
November 11, 1965
In Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe), the white-minority government of Ian Smith unilaterally declares independence.
November 24, 1965
Joseph Désiré Mobutu seizes power in the Congo and becomes President; he rules the country (which he renames Zaire in 1971) for over 30 years, until being overthrown by rebels in 1997.
December 25, 1965
The Yemeni Nasserite Unionist People's Organisation is founded in Taiz
January 12, 1966
Lyndon B. Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there is ended.
January 15, 1966
The government of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in Nigeria is overthrown in a military coup d’état.
November 2, 1966
The Cuban Adjustment Act enters force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the United States.
November 7, 1967
Carl B. Stokes is elected as Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, becoming the first African American mayor of a major American city.
November 22, 1967
UN Security Council Resolution 242 is adopted by the UN Security Council, establishing a set of the principles aimed at guiding negotiations for an Arab-Israeli peace settlement.
November 30, 1967
The Pakistan Peoples Party is founded by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who becomes its first Chairman later as the Head of state and Head of government after the 1971 Civil War.
December 19, 1967
Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt is officially presumed dead.
November 5, 1968
United States presidential election, 1968: Republican Richard Nixon wins the American presidency, in what turned out to be a decades-long realignment election.
September 1, 1969
A revolution in Libya brings Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi to power, which is later transferred to the People's Committees.
October 19, 1969
The first Prime Minister of Tunisia in twelve years, Bahi Ladgham, is appointed by President Habib Bourguiba.
November 21, 1969
U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato agree in Washington, D.C. on the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. is to retain its rights to bases on the island, but these are to be nuclear-free.
September 16, 1970
King Hussein of Jordan declares military rule following the hijacking of four civilian airliners by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). This results in the formation of the Black September Palestinian paramilitary unit.
November 18, 1970
U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million USD in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government.
November 25, 1970
In Japan, author Yukio Mishima and one compatriot commit ritualistic suicide after an unsuccessful coup attempt.
April 10, 1971
In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, the People's Republic of China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a weeklong visit.
September 28, 1971
UK passes the Misuse of Drugs Act banning the medicinal use of cannabis.
November 30, 1971
Iran seizes the Greater and Lesser Tunbs from the United Arab Emirates.
December 6, 1971
Pakistan severs diplomatic relations with India following New Delhi's recognition of Bangladesh.
September 21, 1972
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos signs Proclamation No. 1081 placing the entire country under martial law.
September 23, 1972
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos announces over television and radio the implementation of martial law and signs General Order No. 1 ordering the arrest of opposition leaders, media censorship, banning travel to other countries except for diplomatic missions, abolishing the Philippine Congress, establishing dictatorial government, take-over or sequestering of public and private corporations and suspension of classes for one week.
December 2, 1972
Gough Whitlam becomes the first Labor Prime Minister of Australia for 23 years.
January 17, 1973
Ferdinand Marcos becomes "President for Life" of the Philippines.
October 14, 1973
Thailand's University Students, over 100,000 people, protested for a democratic government; 77 are killed and 857 injured by the soldiers. HM the King and his mother broadcasted live on television to ask both sides to stop.
October 16, 1973
Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
October 17, 1973
OPEC starts an oil embargo against a number of western countries, considered to have helped Israel in its war against Syria.
October 19, 1973
President Richard Nixon rejects an Appeals Court demand to turn over the Watergate tapes.
October 23, 1973
The Watergate Scandal: US President Richard M. Nixon agrees to turn over subpoenaed audio tapes of his Oval Office conversations about the scandal.
October 23, 1973
A United Nations sanctioned cease-fire officially ends the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Syria.
November 1, 1973
The Indian state of Mysore is renamed as Karnataka to represent all the regions within Karunadu .
November 2, 1973
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India forms a 'United Front' in the state of Tripura.
November 7, 1973
The U.S. Congress overrides President Richard M. Nixon's veto of the War Powers Resolution, which limits presidential power to wage war without congressional approval.
November 27, 1973
The Twenty-fifth Amendment: The United States Senate votes 92 to 3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States (on December 6, the House confirmed him 387 to 35).
February 28, 1974
After seven years, the United States and Egypt re-establish diplomatic relations.
August 9, 1974
As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, becomes president.
November 17, 1974
Aliança Operário-Camponesa (Worker-Peasant Alliance) founded in Portugal, as a front of PCP(m-l).
November 22, 1974
The United Nations General Assembly grants the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.
October 1, 1975
The Seychelles gain internal self-government. The Ellice Islands split from Gilbert Islands and take the name Tuvalu.
November 6, 1975
Green March begins: 300,000 unarmed Moroccans converge on the southern city of Tarfaya and wait for a signal from King Hassan II of Morocco to cross into Western Sahara.
November 10, 1975
United Nations Resolution 3379: United Nations General Assembly approves a resolution equating Zionism with racism (the resolution is repealed in December 1991 with Resolution 4686).
November 11, 1975
Australian constitutional crisis of 1975: Australian Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismisses the government of Gough Whitlam and commissions Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister, and announces a general election to be held in early December.
January 12, 1976
The UN Security Council votes 11-1 to allow the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate (without voting rights).
January 15, 1976
Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.
October 11, 1976
George Washington's appointment, posthumously, to the grade of General of the Armies of the United States by congressional joint resolution Public Law 94-479 is approved by President Gerald R. Ford.
November 15, 1976
René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois take power to become the first Quebec government of the 20th century clearly in favour of independence.
November 19, 1976
Jaime Ornelas Camacho takes office as the first President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Portugal.
January 19, 1977
President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (a.k.a. "Tokyo Rose").
September 30, 1977
Philippine political prisoners, Eugenio Lopez, Jr. and Sergio Osmeña III successfully escapes from Fort Bonifacio Maximum Security Prison in the Philippines.
November 19, 1977
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement.
November 21, 1977
Minister of Internal Affairs Allan Highet announces that 'the national anthems of New Zealand shall be the traditional anthem "God Save the Queen" and the poem "God Defend New Zealand", written by Thomas Bracken, as set to music by John Joseph Woods, both being of equal status as national anthems appropriate to the occasion.
November 25, 1977
Former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. is found "guilty" by the Philippine Military Commission No. 2 and is sentenced to death by firing squad.
December 25, 1977
Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat.
September 20, 1979
A coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokasa I.
October 17, 1979
The Department of Education Organization Act is signed into law creating the US Department of Education and US Department of Health and Human Services. Both replace the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
October 21, 1979
Moshe Dayan resigns from the Israeli government because of strong disagreements with Prime Minister Menachem Begin over policy towards the Arabs.
October 26, 1979
Park Chung-hee, President of South Korea is assassinated by KCIA head Kim Jae-kyu. Choi Kyu-ha becomes the acting President; Kim is executed the following May.
November 12, 1979
Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, US President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all petroleum imports into the United States from Iran.
November 14, 1979
Iran hostage crisis: US President Jimmy Carter issues Executive order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States in response to the hostage crisis.
November 19, 1979
Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran.
November 21, 1979
The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan is attacked by a mob and set on fire, killing four. (see: Foreign relations of Pakistan)
September 17, 1980
After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
September 17, 1980
Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asunción, Paraguay.
September 25, 1980
The first congress of the Democratic Youth Organization of Afghanistan held in Kabul.
March 30, 1981
President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.
September 1, 1981
A coup d'état in the Central African Republic overthrows President David Dacko.
November 28, 1982
Representatives from 88 countries gather in Geneva to discuss world trade and ways to work toward aspects of free trade.
October 9, 1983
Rangoon bombing: attempted assassination of South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan during an official visit to Rangoon, Burma. Chun survives but the blast kills 17 of his entourage, including four cabinet ministers, and injures 17 others. Four Burmese officials also die in the blast.
October 19, 1983
Maurice Bishop, Prime Minister of Grenada, is overthrown and executed in a military coup d'état led by Bernard Coard.
October 30, 1983
The first democratic elections in Argentina after seven years of military rule are held.
November 7, 1983
1983 United States Senate bombing: a bomb explodes inside the U.S. Capitol Building.
November 15, 1983
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is founded. Recognised only by Turkey
December 5, 1983
ICIMOD is established and inaugurated with its headquarters in Kathmandu, Nepal, and legitimised through an Act of Parliament in Nepal in the same year.
December 10, 1983
Democracy is restored in Argentina with the assumption of President Raúl Alfonsín.
January 7, 1984
Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
January 10, 1984
The United States and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations after 117 years.
February 29, 1984
Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announces he will retire as soon as the Liberals can elect another leader.
October 12, 1984
Brighton hotel bombing: Margaret Thatcher survives an IRA bomb, which shredded her bathroom barely two minutes after she had left it.
October 28, 1985
Sandinista Daniel Ortega becomes president of Nicaragua and makes peace overtures to the United States; American policy continues to support the Contras in their revolt against the Nicaraguan government.
October 29, 1985
Major General Samuel K. Doe is announced the winner of the first multi-party election in Liberia.
November 6, 1985
The Iran-Contra Affair: The American press reveals that U.S. President Ronald Reagan had authorized the shipment of arms to Iran.
November 13, 1985
Xavier Suarez is sworn in as Miami, Florida's first Cuban-born mayor.
November 21, 1985
United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for spying after being caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations. He is subsequently sentenced to life in prison.
October 31, 1986
The 5th congress of the Communist Party of Sweden is inaugurated. During the course of the congress the party name is changed to the Solidarity Party and the party ceases to be a communist party.
November 3, 1986
The Federated States of Micronesia gain independence from the United States of America.
November 4, 1986
Chief Justice Rose Bird and two colleagues are removed by the electorate from the Supreme Court of California for their opposition to capital punishment.
November 25, 1986
Iran Contra Affair: US Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
November 26, 1986
Iran-Contra scandal: U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces the members of what will become known as the Tower Commission.
September 15, 1987
United States Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze sign a treaty to establish centers to reduce the risk of nuclennar war.
November 7, 1987
In Tunisia, president Habib Bourguiba is overthrown and replaced by Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
September 18, 1988
End of pro-democracy uprisings in Myanmar after a bloody military coup by the State Law and Order Restoration Council. Thousands, mostly monks and civilians (primarily students) are killed by the Tatmadaw.
November 16, 1988
The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR declares that Estonia is "sovereign" but stopped short of declaring independence.
November 16, 1988
In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan elect populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister of Pakistan.
November 19, 1988
Serbian communist representative and future Serbian and Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic publicly declares that Serbia is under attack from Albanian separatism in Kosovo as well as internal treachery within Yugoslavia and a foreign conspiracy to destroy Serbia and Yugoslavia.
November 21, 1988
Canadian federal election, 1988 – Canadians re-elect the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney after an election campaign fought mainly over the issue of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement.
November 25, 1988
German politician Rita Süssmuth becomes president of the Bundestag.
December 2, 1988
Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state.
April 9, 1989
The April 9 tragedy in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR an anti-Soviet peaceful demonstration and hunger strikes, demanding restoration of Georgian independence is dispersed by the Soviet army, resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
September 15, 1989
The United States Congress recognizes Terry Anderson's continued captivity in Beirut.
November 4, 1989
The congress of the Solidarity Party is inaugurated in Sweden. The congress decides, contrary to the proposal of the central committee, not to disband the party.
November 7, 1989
Douglas Wilder wins the governor's seat in Virginia, becoming the first elected African American governor in the United States.
November 7, 1989
East German Prime Minister Willi Stoph, along with his entire cabinet, is forced to resign after huge anti-government protests.
November 20, 1989
Velvet Revolution: The number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.
December 13, 1989
The last issue of Gnistan (The Spark), the organ of the Solidaritetspartiet, is published in Sweden.
December 22, 1989
After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as president of Romania, ending Nicolae Ceauşescu's Communist dictatorship.
December 29, 1989
Václav Havel is elected president of Czechoslovakia. He becomes the first non-Communist to attain the post in more than four decades.
October 27, 1990
Supreme Soviet of Kirghiz SSR chooses Askar Akayev as republic's first president.
November 21, 1990
The Charter of Paris for a New Europe refocuses the efforts of the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europeon post-Cold War issues.
December 2, 1990
A coalition led by Chancellor Helmut Kohl wins the first free all-German elections since 1932.
January 20, 1991
Sudan's government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south.
May 15, 1991
Edith Cresson becomes France's first female prime minister.
September 2, 1991
The United States recognizes the independence of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
September 17, 1991
North Korea, South Korea, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.
October 4, 1991
The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty is opened for signature.
October 8, 1991
The Croatian Parliament cuts all remaining ties with Yugoslavia
October 12, 1991
Askar Akayev, previously chosen President of Kyrgyzstan by republic's Supreme Soviet, is confirmed president in an uncontested poll.
October 16, 1991
Jharkhand Chhatra Yuva Morcha is founded at a conference in Ranchi, India.
December 16, 1991
United Nations General Assembly: UN General Assembly Resolution 4686 revokes UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 after Israel makes revocation of resolution 3379 a condition of its participation in the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991.
January 26, 1992
Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
October 23, 1992
Emperor Akihito becomes the first Emperor of Japan to stand on Chinese soil.
October 25, 1992
Lithuania holds a referendum on its first post-Soviet constitution.
November 27, 1992
For the second time in a year, military forces try to overthrow president Carlos Andres Perez in Venezuela.
November 27, 1992
Two Venezuelan F-16s take part in the November Venezuelan Coup Attempt on the side of the loyalists.
December 29, 1992
Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.
January 1, 1993
A single market within the European Community is introduced.
January 7, 1993
The Fourth Republic of Ghana is inaugurated with Jerry Rawlings as President.
September 13, 1993
Public unveiling of the Oslo Accords, an Israeli-Palestinian agreement initiated by Norway.
September 13, 1993
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shakes hands with PLO chairman Yasser Arafat at the White House after signing an accord granting limited Palestinian autonomy.
September 21, 1993
Russian President Boris Yeltsin suspends parliament and scraps the then-functioning constitution, thus triggering the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993.
November 12, 1993
Decree of President of Kazakhstan "About introducing national currency of Republic of Kazakhstan" is issued.
November 20, 1993
Savings and loan crisis: The United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of California senator Alan Cranston for his "dealings" with savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating.
November 30, 1993
U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (the Brady Bill) into law.
December 5, 1993
The mayor of Wien (Vienna), Helmut Zilk, is wounded by a letter bomb.
October 14, 1994
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
October 21, 1994
North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea and the United States sign an agreement that requires North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program and agree to inspections.
November 13, 1994
In a referendum voters in Sweden decide to join the European Union.
November 28, 1994
Voters in Norway reject European Union membership (see Norwegian EU referendum, 1994).
January 1, 1995
The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe becomes the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
January 31, 1995
President Bill Clinton authorizes a $20 billion loan to Mexico to stabilize its economy.
October 21, 1995
Dayton Agreement The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
November 2, 1995
Former South African defence minister General Magnus Malan and 10 other former senior military officers are arrested and charged with murdering 13 black people in 1987, (all the accused are later acquitted).
November 5, 1995
André Dallaire attempts to assassinate Prime Minister Jean Chrétien of Canada. He is thwarted when the Prime Minister's wife locks the door.
November 14, 1995
A budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress forces the federal government to temporarily close national parks and museums and to run most government offices with skeleton staffs.
November 21, 1995
The Dayton Peace Agreement is initialed at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, ending three and a half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The agreement is formally ratified in Paris, on December 14 that same year.
January 24, 1996
Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigns amid charges that he spied for Moscow.
January 29, 1996
President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear weapons testing.
September 24, 1996
U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty at the United Nations.
October 2, 1996
The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
November 3, 1996
Death of Abdullah Çatlı, leader of the Turkish ultra-nationalist organisation Grey Wolves in the Susurluk car-crash, which leads to the resignation of the Turkish Interior Minister, Mehmet Ağar (a leader of the True Path Party, DYP).
November 5, 1996
President of Pakistan Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari dismisses the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and dissolves the National Assembly of Pakistan.
January 1, 1997
Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan is appointed Secretary General of the United Nations.
October 25, 1997
After a brief civil war which has driven President Pascal Lissouba out of Brazzaville, Denis Sassou-Nguesso proclaims himself the President of the Republic of the Congo.
November 3, 1997
the United States of America imposes economic sanctions against Sudan in response to its human rights abuses of its own citizens and its material and political assistance to Islamic extremist groups across the Middle East and Eastern Africa.
December 3, 1997
In Ottawa, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign a treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines. The United States, People's Republic of China, and Russia do not sign the treaty, however.
January 1, 1998
Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.
September 11, 1998
Independent counsel Kenneth Starr sends a report to the U.S. Congress accusing President Bill Clinton of 11 possible impeachable offenses.
October 1, 1998
Vladimir Putin became a permanent member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
November 12, 1998
Vice President of the United States Al Gore signs the Kyoto Protocol.
November 23, 1998
Agreement between Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his rival, prince Norodom Ranariddh.
January 3, 1999
Israel detains, and later expels, 14 members of Concerned Christians.
October 12, 1999
Pervez Musharraf takes power in Pakistan from Nawaz Sharif through a bloodless coup.
October 26, 1999
Britain's House of Lords votes to end the right of hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament.
November 19, 1999
In Istanbul, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ends a two-day summit by calling for a political settlement in Chechnya and adopting a Charter for European Security.
November 27, 1999
The left-wing Labour Party takes control of the New Zealand government with leader Helen Clark becoming the first elected female Prime Minister in New Zealand's history.
May 4, 2000
Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London.
September 11, 2000
Activists protest against the World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne, Australia.
October 5, 2000
Mass demonstrations in Belgrade lead to resignation of Serbian strongman Slobodan Milošević. These demonstrations are often called the Bulldozer Revolution.
October 26, 2000
Laurent Gbagbo takes over as president of Côte d'Ivoire following a popular uprising against President Robert Guéï. Bret Hart retires.
November 7, 2000
Hillary Rodham Clinton is elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first former First Lady to win public office in the United States, although actually she still was the First Lady.
November 7, 2000
Controversial US presidential election that is later resolved in the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court Case.
November 13, 2000
Philippine House Speaker Manuel B. Villar, Jr. passes the articles of impeachment against Philippine President Joseph Estrada.
November 16, 2000
Bill Clinton becomes the first U.S. President to visit Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War.
January 16, 2001
Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards.
June 7, 2001
Tony Blair's Labour Party wins another landslide victory in the General Election.
January 1, 2002
The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially comes into force.
February 22, 2002
Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.
November 4, 2002
Chinese authorities arrest cyber-dissident He Depu for signing pro-democracy letter to the 16th Communist Party Congress.
November 14, 2002
The United States House of Representatives votes not to create an independent commission to investigate the September 11 attacks.
November 15, 2002
Hu Jintao becomes general secretary of the Communist Party of China.
November 21, 2002
NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.
December 17, 2002
Second Congo War: The Congolese parties of the Inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord which makes provision for transitional governance and legislative and presidential elections within two years.
September 10, 2003
Anna Lindh, the foreign minister of Sweden, is fatally stabbed while shopping, and dies the following day.
September 11, 2003
Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh dies after being assaulted and fatally wounded on September 10.
September 20, 2003
A referendum is held in Latvia to decide the country's accession to the European Union.
October 7, 2003
Gray Davis is recalled as Governor of California, three years before the official end of his office term. Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected Governor.
November 18, 2003
The congress of the Communist Party of Indian Union (Marxist-Leninist) decides to merge the party into Kanu Sanyal's CPI(ML).
November 23, 2003
Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns following weeks of mass protests over flawed elections.
December 14, 2003
President of Pakistan Pervez Musharaf narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.
February 27, 2004
Former BPMC general secretary Ordrick Samuel launches a new party in Barbuda, Barbudans for a Better Barbuda.
April 8, 2004
U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice testifies before the 9/11 Commission.
September 21, 2004
The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War and the Maoist Communist Centre of India merge to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist).
October 19, 2004
Myanmar prime minister Khin Nyunt is ousted and placed under house arrest by the SPDC on charges of corruption.
October 25, 2004
Fidel Castro, Cuba's President, announces that transactions using the American Dollar will be banned by November 8.
October 29, 2004
In Rome, European heads of state sign the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution.
November 11, 2004
Yasser Arafat is confirmed dead by the Palestine Liberation Organization, of unidentified causes. Mahmoud Abbas is elected chairman of the PLO minutes later.
November 21, 2004
The second round of the Ukrainian presidential election is held, giving rise to massive protests and controversy over the election's integrity.
November 22, 2004
The Orange Revolution begins in Ukraine, resulting from the presidential elections.
January 9, 2005
Elections are held to replace Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He is succeeded by Rawhi Fattouh.
February 26, 2005
Hosni Mubarak the president of Egypt orders the constitution changed to allow multi-candidate presidential elections before September 2005 by asking Egyptian parliament to amend Article 76.
August 3, 2005
President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya of Mauritania is overthrown in a military coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia.
September 12, 2005
The red-green coalition, led by Jens Stoltenberg, wins the Norwegian parliamentary election, taking 87 of 169 seats in the parliament.
September 30, 2005
The Parliament of Catalonia passes with 120 plus votes and 15 against, the Project of New Catalan Statute of Autonomy, proclaiming in its article 1, "Catalonia is a nation".
October 19, 2005
Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity.
November 1, 2005
First part of the Gomery Report, which discusses allegations of political money manipulation by members of the Liberal Party of Canada, is released in Canada.
November 6, 2005
The military junta of Myanmar begins moving its government ministries from Yangon to Pyinmana.
November 23, 2005
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, elected president of Liberia, is the first woman to lead an African country.
November 27, 2005
President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, in power since 1967 and the longest-serving head of state in the world, is re-elected to his third consecutive seven-year term.
December 15, 2005
Argentina's president Néstor Kirchner announces the early repayment of its external debt to the IMF.
January 22, 2006
Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country's first indigenous president.
February 24, 2006
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declares Proclamation 1017 placing the country in a state of emergency in attempt to subdue a possible military coup.
March 25, 2006
Protesters demanding a new election in Belarus following the rigged Belarusian presidential election, 2006 clash with riot police. Opposition leader Aleksander Kozulin is among several protesters arrested.
September 18, 2006
Right wing protesters riot the building of the Hungarian Television in Budapest, Hungary, one day after an audio tape is made public, in which Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány admitted he and his party lied during the 2006 general elections.
September 19, 2006
The Thai military stages a coup in Bangkok. The Constitution is revoked and martial law is declared.
November 10, 2006
Sri Lankan Tamil Parliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj is assassinated in Colombo.
November 12, 2006
The region South Ossetia holds a referendum on independence from Georgia.
November 21, 2006
Anti-Syrian Lebanese Minister and MP Pierre Gemayel is assassinated in suburban Beirut.
December 11, 2006
The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Nations such as Israel and the United States express concern.
February 19, 2007
Three Salvadoran deputies to the Central American Parliament and their driver are murdered in Guatemala.
March 7, 2007
British House of Commons votes to make the upper chamber, the House of Lords, 100% elected.
April 14, 2007
At least 200,000 demonstrators in Ankara, Turkey protest against the possible candidacy of incumbent Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
September 10, 2007
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan after seven years in exile, following a military coup in October 1999.
September 12, 2007
Shinzo Abe announces his intention to resign as Prime Minister of Japan.
September 12, 2007
Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada is convicted of the crime of plunder.
September 18, 2007
Pervez Musharraf announces that he will step down as army chief and restore civilian rule to Pakistan, but only after he is re-elected president.
September 18, 2007
Buddhist monks join anti-government protesters in Myanmar, starting what some called the Saffron Revolution.
October 2, 2007
President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea walks across the Military Demarcation Line into North Korea on his way to the second Inter-Korean Summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
October 28, 2007
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is elected the first woman President of Argentina.
November 3, 2007
Pervez Musharraf declares emergency rule across Pakistan. He suspends the Constitution, imposes a State of Emergency, and fires the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
November 25, 2007
The first European Parliament election and a referendum on changing the voting system (called by the President and declared invalid because of insufficient turnout) are held in Romania.
December 21, 2007
The Schengen Agreement area increases to include 9 European Union member states; Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia on land and sea borders.
December 27, 2007
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated by a suicide bomber.
March 17, 2008
New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer resigns after a scandal involving a high-end prostitute. David Paterson becomes New York State governor.
August 18, 2008
President Of Pakistan Pervez Musharaf resigned due to pressure from opposition.
September 21, 2008
President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa resigns from office, effective September 25.
September 21, 2008
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel formally resigns from office, effective as soon as his successor Tzipi Livni has successfully assembled a new government.
November 4, 2008
Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be elected President of the United States.
December 2, 2008
Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat resigns after the 2008 Thailand political crisis.
January 20, 2009
Barack Obama, inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becomes the United States' first African-American president.
April 7, 2009
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering killings and kidnappings by security forces.
April 12, 2009
President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine makes a courtesy phone call to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, restarting the Palestinian-Israeli dialogue.
|
|
|
|
