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Plymouth Albion R.F.C.

Plymouth Albion R.F.C.

Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club are a Rugby Union club who play in Plymouth, Devon. The club was founded around 1915 from Plymouth RFC and Devonport Albion RFC.

Plymouth RFC

Formed 1875, during its existence it played at Home Park (the current home of Plymouth Argyle).

Devonport Albion RFC

Albion was formed in 1876 from apprentices at Devonport Dockyard and originally played at Devonport Park. After moving to Bladderly in 1887 they then moved to Home Park in 1893. In 1895 Albion moved to the Rectory (the current home of Devonport Services RFC).

Current club

The current club continued at the Rectory until an enforced move in 1957 to Beacon Park. In 2003, they moved from the run-down Beacon Park ground to the considerably more modern Brickfields ground in Devonport. Brickfields also serves as an athletics stadium. Albion were a major force in English Rugby in the 1920s having five internationals on their books at one time. Around this time they attracted a crowd of 18,000 to a midweek game against Oxford University which established a record crowd for a club match in England which was not exceeded until the 1980s. Albion's traditional strip and club colours are white, cherry and green. They were promoted to National Division One in 2002, and finished third in the 2003/04 season. Observers say it was Plymouth's best position nationally since the 1920s. On their way to promotion, the team went on a two season unbeaten streak of over 50 games, starting when the club was in Division Three South and ending after their promotion to National Division One.

External links

- [http://www.plymouthalbion.com/ Plymouth Albion official site] Category:Plymouth Category:Sport in Devon Category:English rugby union teams

Rugby union

Rugby union is a team sport that was developed from the rules used to play football at Rugby School in England. Two teams, each of 15 players have the task of outscoring the opposing team. Players clutch a prolate spheroid ball in their hands or arms, and may pass it backwards or laterally across the pitch, or kick it in any direction. The opposing players attempt to halt the ball-carrier by tackling him or her with their arms and bodies. When tackled, the ball carrier must release the ball, at which time a contest for possession of the ball commences (either a ruck or a maul). The game is closely related to rugby league. The main points of difference are the number of players per side (league has 13, union 15), the number of tackles allowed before a change of posession (league is limited to six, union has no limit), and league's use of the play the ball rule. The International Rugby Board (IRB), founded in 1886, governs the sport and also publishes the game's [http://www.irb.com/Laws/Laws/home.htm laws].

Method of play

As noted above, rugby union differs from association football in that the hands can be employed to move the ball. However, a player can only pass the ball backwards or laterally (i.e. not forward) to another player, or kick it. This means that the majority of progress made by an attacking team occurs through a leap frog cycle of passing the ball, running to make ground, being tackled and repeating this process. Each of these cycles (greatly simplified) is called a phase of play. The aim of rugby is to score more points than the opposition. Teams score in several ways:

Scoring

- Touching the ball down, in a controlled fashion, with downward pressure from any point on the body from the waist to the neck on or over the opponents' goal line, including the base of the posts, which is considered to be part of the goal line (a try, worth 5 points). A penalty try can be awarded if, following an incident of foul play, in the judgment of the referee a try would have been scored had the foul not occurred. The try got its name because originally the touching down of the ball only gave you a "try" at scoring by successfully kicking for post, which were the only points scored if the kick was good.
- After scoring a try, the scoring team attempts a conversion: a player takes a kick at goal in line with where the touch-down occurred. Scoring the goal earns 2 points.
- Kicking the ball above the crossbar and between the uprights of a large 'H'-shaped set of posts. This may either occur from a penalty kick or kicked from the hand during play. In the latter case, the ball must strike the ground before being kicked (a drop goal). Both types of goal score 3 points.

Set-pieces

Various set-pieces occur in play, principally:

Restart kicks

At the start of each half, one side kicks off. One side, determined following the toss of a coin, takes a drop kick from the middle of the centre line to start the first half. The ball must travel at least 10 metres into the opposition half. The other team kicks off the second half. The kicking side frequently kicks the ball high and aims to drop it just over the 10 metre minimum, which is marked by a dashed line across the pitch. This tactic gives their players time to chase the lobbed ball and hope to catch it before the defenders can do so. Alternatively the kick may be a long kick deep into opposition territory, sacrificing the chance to regain possession for territorial gain. Similarly, there is also a 22 metre drop-out. This is awarded if the attacking side is responsible for sending the ball into the in-goal area, but instead of their player grounding the ball and scoring a try it is first grounded by a defender. If the ball is kicked into the in-goal area by the attackers and instead of being grounded there by either side it continues, under its own momentum, through the in-goal area and crosses the dead-ball line, then the defenders have the option of choosing either a 22 drop out or a scrum at the place where the attackers kicked the ball. The 22 metre drop out is taken at any point along (or behind) the 22 metre line. Note: in rugby union, unlike association football (soccer), the lines bordering the field of play are themselves regarded as out of play. Thus, a player standing on but not over the touch line is regarded to be "in touch".

Tackle

A player may tackle an opposing player who has the ball by holding him while bringing him to ground. If a ball carrier is held by an opposition player but still has forward momentum he may continue to slide over the goal-line and score a try. One knee touching the ground, or the ball touching the ground, is sufficient for a ball carrier to be deemed to be grounded. A tackled player must release the ball, and the tackler must release him and move away, allowing the ball to become available, or for a ruck to form. If the ball-carrier is held but is not on the ground, then it is not a tackle and a maul may form. Players will often deliberately go to ground rather than allow a maul to form, to take advantage of the rules governing rucks. Once a player has gone to the ground and at least two others players, one from each side, are rucking (usually by locking shoulders and pushing each other, in an attempt to secure positioning), and the ball is on the ground, a ruck is formed. No player can advance past the back foot of the members of their team unless they are joining the ruck from behind the back foot. If a player does so and interferes with the play, for example by touching the ball, the result would be an offside call. The ball is recovered from a ruck when a player coming from his own side of the ruck from an onside position is able to heel the ball to a player behind the ruck who can then either make a run or pass the ball from the base of the ruck. A ball may not be handled in the ruck. In a maul, the team not in possession is allowed to actively compete for the ball by trying to wrestle it from the carrier. Therefore, it is easier to retain possession of the ball in a ruck (in which the opposition cannot touch the ball) than in a maul, and a ruck will often allow a team to recover the ball quickly and move it on so as to launch another attack before the defenders have had time to re-organise. There are a number of laws governing how to tackle, the most notable of which are that the tackler cannot tackle above the shoulder (the neck and head are out of bounds), and the tackler has to attempt to wrap his arms around the player being tackled to complete the tackle. It is illegal to trip a player using feet or legs, but hands may be used (this being referred to as a tap-tackle or ankle-tap).

Ruck

A ruck is a contest for possession. Once a tackle has grounded a player, he must release the ball and try to move out of the way, as must the tackler. The first player(s) arriving from either side may pick up the ball; however as soon as two players, one from each side, bind together — usually by locking shoulders as they face each other — with the ball at their feet they have formed a ruck, as more players arrive they may join the ruck, but must do so from the last foot (also known as the "gate") of their own side. In a ruck no player may use his hands to win the ball, instead each side attempts to push the other side back, and players use their feet to hook the ball backwards towards their own side — an action known as "rucking the ball" where it will be picked up by the scrum-half or half-back who waits behind the ruck. Players in a ruck may not deliberately go to ground themselves. If the ball becomes trapped in a ruck, the referee awards a scrum to the side going forward. Most infringements occur in rucks. Players may seek to slow down the speed of the recycling of the opposition's ball or speed up their own by using their hands illegally, or by lying over the ball, or going to ground deliberately. Such infringements result in penalties. If the attacking team loses possession by legal means, either because of the attacking player dropping the ball or a defending player stealing it, then the ball is said to have been "turned over". After a turn over play carries on as before, except that the attacker/defender roles of the two teams are switched.

Maul

A maul is formed if the ball carrier is held up after a tackle and one player from each side binds onto him and tries either to rip the ball away or push him forwards. Once a maul has formed other players may join in but, as in a ruck, they must do so from the "gate" on their own side. If the maul stops moving forward, then the referee awards a scrum to the side not in possession when the maul began. The tactic of the rolling maul occurs when mauls are set up, and the ball is passed backwards through the players hands to one at the rear, who rolls off the side to create a new maul. This tactic can be extremely effective in gaining ground and takes great skill and technique to both do properly and to try to prevent. It's a tactic most commonly used when the attacking side is inside their opponents' 22. It is illegal, on safety grounds, to pull down a maul, so that players fall to the ground. Referees are aware that many sides will try to stop a maul by deliberately collapsing it and will watch carefully for this illegal tactic.

Scrum

: Referees generally call scrums for knock-ons, where a player drops the ball forwards, or for other accidental infringements. If a penalty is awarded for a more serious offence, the team to which it is awarded may elect to have a scrum rather than take a penalty kick. This is usually called for if the attacking team is close to the opposition's goal-line, and want to wrap up all of the defending forwards in one place to give the backs more space — or if they believe they can force the scrum over the goal-line and score a "pushover" try.

Line-out

: try When the ball goes into touch the referee calls a line-out. The forwards of each team line up a metre apart between 5m and 15m from the touchline. If the ball went out from a penalty, the side who gained the penalty throws the ball in, if not the other team does so. Both sides compete for the ball, and some players may lift their teammates.

Team positions

A rugby union team consists of 15 players, eight forwards numbered 1 to 8, and seven backs, numbered 9 to 15. Depending upon the competition, there may be up to seven replacements. The main role of the forwards is to gain and retain possession of the ball. They take part in set pieces of the scrum and the line-out. Generally, forwards are larger than the backs, which makes them stronger but slower. Forwards also have a role in taking the ball forwards, but generally do so by driving into the opposing forwards. The role of the backs is to move the game forward by running or kicking the ball. The scrum-half will gain possesion of the ball from the forwards and usually feed it to the fly half (no.10) who then controls how the attacking team will proceed. The backline will tend to score its tries by focussing on the tactical placement of players, creating holes in the opposition defence line. A successful backline will cause the opposition to commit too many players at strategic points allowing for space to open up for the faster, outside backs (wingers and fullback). The following diagram locates the various positions in the 15-man team. All members of the starting 15 wear jerseys numbered from 1 to 15 and keyed to their positions (though alternatives exist); see rugby union positions and rugby union numbering schemes for more information. The first eight players, known as forwards or the pack, play in the scrum. The remaining seven players play as the backs. A referee controls the match, usually assisted by two touch judges.

The rugby union nations

The major rugby union playing nations are those classified as "Tier 1" by the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB). The Tier 1 nations are:
- The three which play in the southern hemisphere Tri Nations Series:
- Australia
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- The European nations which play in the northern hemisphere Six Nations Championship:
- England
- France
- Ireland
- Italy
- Scotland
- Wales
- One nation that is not currently involved in any regular multinational competition:
- Argentina The British and Irish Lions tour once every four years and select from the best players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The most recent tour was a 2005 tour of New Zealand; the next will be a 2009 tour of South Africa. The minor nations include those nations, apart from the Tier 1 countries, which have qualified for the Rugby Union World Cup. The IRB classifies the following seven nations as "Tier 2":
- Canada
- Fiji
- Japan
- Romania
- Samoa
- Tonga
- United States Other nations classified as "Tier 3" by the IRB that have qualified for a World Cup include Georgia, Namibia, Portugal, Spain, and Uruguay. For further details see the List of international rugby union teams. Rugby union is the national sport of New Zealand, Wales, and Pacific countries such as Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa. The International Rugby Board has 96 Unions and 5 regional Associations. The rugby-playing world often sees a distinction between the Northern hemisphere and the Southern hemisphere teams. After decades of domination by New Zealand, South Africa, and more recently Australia, England under Clive Woodward succeeded in turning the rugby world upside down by regularly beating the three Southern Hemisphere giants culminating in 2003 when they beat Australia in the final of the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup. New Zealand and France also reached the semifinals.

Teams

International teams

The major international teams (represented on the IRB) are:
- Argentina (nicknamed Los Pumas)
- Australia (nicknamed The Wallabies)
- England logo is the English rose
- France (nicknamed Les Bleus also Les Coqs or Les Tricolores)
- Ireland logo is a four-leaf clover
- Italy (nicknamed The Azzurri)
- Japan - the Cherry Blossoms
- New Zealand (nicknamed The All Blacks)
- Scotland logo is a Scottish thistle
- South Africa (nicknamed The Springboks)
- Wales logo is the Prince of Wales crown complete with the ostrich feathers See also:
- List of international rugby union teams

Tournaments

Major tournaments

Rugby Union World Cup

- Men's and women's versions of the Rugby World Cup take place every four years. England won this most recently on Saturday 22 November, 2003, with Jonny Wilkinson scoring a last minute drop-goal to win the match 20-17 in extra time (normally a game is 80 minutes, in extra time it goes to 100 minutes), beating Australia in a closely contested match. Previous winners have all been participants in the Tri-Nations competition, with South Africa and New Zealand winning one World Cup apiece and Australia winning two World Cups. The next world cup will be held in France in 2007, with New Zealand hosting the tournament in 2011.

Six Nations Rugby Tournament

The first steps towards the modern day Six Nations tournament took place in 1871 when England lost by one goal to Scotland at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. In the 1880s, both Wales and Ireland joined and the Home International Championships emerged. France joined the tournament in the 1900s and in 1910 the term Five Nations first appeared. However, the Home Nations (England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland) excluded France in 1931 amid a run of poor results, allegations of professionalism (rugby union was officially amateur until 1995) and concerns over on-field violence. France then rejoined in 1939-1940, though World War II halted proceedings for a further eight years. France has played in all the tournaments since WWII, the first one of which was played in 1947. In 2000, Italy also joined the tournament, leading to the modern-day Six Nations competition that takes place annually.
- If a team wins all five of their games they achieve a "Grand Slam".
- If one of the Home Nations beats the other three, this is called the "Triple Crown".
- The Calcutta Cup is contested in the annual Six Nations match between England and Scotland.
- The team finishes bottom is said to have won the "Wooden Spoon". Wales won the Grand Slam, the Triple Crown, and the Six Nations championship in 2005 and Italy was left with the Wooden Spoon.

Tri Nations Series

The Tri Nations Series is an annual international rugby union series held between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The series is played on a home and away basis with the three nations playing each other twice. However, starting in 2006, there will be a new system in which each nation will play the others three times. Since the inception of the Tri Nations in 1996, the games played between Australia and New Zealand also determine the winner of the Bledisloe Cup each year. The Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate, scheduled every two years between Australia and South Africa, may in the future also be contested annually within the Tri Nations.

Other tournaments

- Super 14 — teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa
- National Provincial Championship (NPC) — New Zealand provincial tournament
- Ranfurly Shield — New Zealand provincial challenge trophy
- Currie Cup — South African provincial tournament
- English Rugby Union competitions — includes Guinness Premiership and National Division 1.
- Powergen Cup — English and Welsh clubs knock-out tournament
- Celtic League — provincial/regional teams from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
- Ligue Nationale de Rugby — French clubs
- Super 10 (Italian premiership) — Italian clubs
- Heineken Cup — European club, provincial and regional teams
- European Challenge Cup and European Shield — European club, provincial and regional teams knock-out tournament
- Top League - Japanese club teams
- Colonial Cup — Fiji club competition
- Churchill Cup — Canada, England, and the United States, with one invited team. From 2006, the tournament is to expand to include 3 invited teams.
- In this competition, England does not send its full national side, instead sending its "senior A" team. The invited teams are likewise to be senior A-caliber teams from among the European and Southern hemisphere powers.
- European Nations Cup — national teams from second tier countries
- Pacific Tri-Nations — Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa
- Pan-American Championship — Uruguay, Canada, United States and Argentina
- Super Powers Cup — Canada, Japan, Russia and United States
- Rugby World Cup Sevens — Sponsored by the IRB, and held every four years, this is the highest prize in the Sevens version of the game.
- World Sevens Series — Annual IRB-sponsored series of tournaments for national Sevens teams.
- Ulster Schools Cup — Annual Schools competition
- Craven Week — Annual South Africa schools competition
- Rosslyn Park Sevens — Biggest Sevens competition in England
- Bingham Cup — Held every two years, this is the largest international gay rugby tournament and honors 9/11 hero, Mark Bingham
- see also: Rugby union at the Olympic Games

International trophies

- Antim Cup — Georgia and Romania
- Bledisloe Cup — Australia and New Zealand
- Calcutta Cup — England and Scotland
- Cook Cup — Australia and England
- Freedom Cup — New Zealand and South Africa
- Gallaher Cup — France and New Zealand
- Hopetoun Cup — Australia and Scotland
- Lansdowne Cup — Australia and Ireland
- Mandela Challenge Plate — Australia and South Africa
- Millennium Trophy — England and Ireland
- Puma Trophy — Argentina and Australia
- Trophée des Bicentenaires — Australia and France

History

Main article: history of rugby union The legendary story about the origin of Rugby football, whereby a young man named William Webb Ellis "took the ball in his arms (ie caught the ball) and ran" while playing football at Rugby School is almost certainly a complete fiction. Sports historians have dismissed the story as unlikely since an official investigation by the Old Rugbeian Society in 1895. However, the trophy for the Rugby Union World Cup bears the name of "Webb Ellis" in his honour, and a plaque at the school 'commemorates' the 'achievement'. Playing football has a long tradition in England and football games had probably taken place at Rugby School for two hundred years before three boys published the first set of written rules in 1845. Until the formation of the Football Association (FA) in October 1863 each football team would agree on a set of rules with opponents before a match. Teams which competed against each other regularly would tend to agree to play a similar style of football. Rugby football has a claim to the world's first "football club", formed at Guy's Hospital Football Club, London in 1843, by Rugby School old boys. A number of other clubs formed to play games based on the Rugby School rules. Dublin University Football Club is the oldest world's oldest surviving football club having been formed in 1854 and currently playing rugby in the All Ireland League Division One. Blackheath Rugby Club was founded in 1858 ad is probably England's oldest club was a founding member of the Football Association. But when it became clear that the FA would not agree to rules which allowed 'hacking' and 'hacking over' (fundamental parts of the rugby game), Blackheath withdrew from the FA just over a month after the initial meeting. Other rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA. For the next few years rugby clubs continued to agree rules before the start of each game as they had always done, but on January 26, 1871, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) formed, leading to the standardisation of the rules for all clubs in England that played a variety of the Rugby School laws. Soon most countries with a sizable rugby community had formed their own national unions. In 1886, the International Rugby Board (IRB) become the world governing and law-making body for rugby. The RFU recognised it as such in 1890. The introduction of Rugby Football Union into New Zealand was by Charles John Monro, son of Sir David Monro, who was then speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. The younger Monro had been sent to Christ's College, East Finchley in north London, England. That school had adopted rugby rules and Monro became an enthusiatic convert. He brought the game back to his native Nelson, and arranged the first rugby match between Nelson College and Nelson Football Club on May 14, 1870 In North America, rugby developed into American football and into Canadian football. The 1890s saw a clash of cultures within the game, between working men's rugby clubs of northern England and the southern clubs of gentleman, a dispute revolving around the nature of professionalism within the game. On August 29, 1895 22 clubs split from the RFU and met at the George Hotel in Huddersfield to form the Northern Rugby Football Union, commonly called the Northern Union. NRFU rules gradually diverged from those of rugby union, although the name rugby league did not become official until the Northern Rugby League formed in 1901. The name Rugby Football League dates from 1922. A similar schism open up in Australia and other rugby playing nations. Initially rugby league in Australia operated under the same rules as rugby union. But after a tour by a professional New Zealand team in 1907 of Australia and Great Britain; and an Australian Rugby League tour of Great Britain the next year; rugby league teams in the southern hemisphere adopted rugby league rules. For clarity and convenience it became necessary to differentiate the two codes of rugby. The code played by those teams who remained in national organisations which were members of the IRB became known as "rugby union". The code played by those teams which played "open" rugby and allowed professionals became known as "rugby league". Although the IRB claimed to be enforcing the amateur status of rugby union, many referred to the situation as "shamateurism". On August 26, 1995 the IRB declared rugby union an "open" game and removed all restrictions on payments or benefits to those connected with the game. ". The move from amateurism to professionalism has been one of great success and has undoubtedly increased the quality of rugby being played. However, professionalism has meant a huge increase in the gap between the top nations and the second tier. Alongside the success stories there have been some famous rugby clubs which have not coped well with the new era.

External links

- [http://www.rugbytactics.com RugbyTactics.com] Free coaching resource, rugby guide and forums.
- [http://www.heavensgame.com Heavensgame rugby news] (no popups)
- [http://www.planet-rugby.com Planet Rugby] for news, etc. WARNING: popups
- [http://www.itsrugby.com?lang=gb Itsrugby.com from for results, statistics etc. (in English and in French)]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/default.stm BBC site] (no popups!)
- [http://www.uidaho.edu/clubs/womens_rugby/RugbyRoot/rugby/FAQ/positions.html List of player positions in languages other than English]
- [http://wesclark.com/rrr/rugby_phrase_guide.html Guide to rugby union phrases]
- [http://www.sarugby.com rugby news Southern Hemisphere]
- [http://www.rugbydata.com International Rugby Union Statistics] Stats on more than 5000 games.
- [http://www.easports.com/games/rugby2005/home.jsp EA Sports Rugby 2005 official site] new rugby union game
- [http://www.irb.com International Rugby Board] ja:ラグビー・フットボール ko:럭비

Devon

Devon is a large county in South West England, bordering on Cornwall to the west, Dorset and Somerset to the east. The name Devonshire was once common but is now rarely used, although it does feature in some names and titles (such as the Duke of Devonshire), and is still to be seen on signposts in the county.

History

:Main article: History of Devon. Devon was one of the first areas of England settled following the end of the last ice age. Dartmoor is thought to have been settled by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer peoples from about 6000 BC. The name "Devon" derives from the name given by the Romans to the Celtic people who inhabited the south western peninsula of Britain at the time of the Roman invasion c. 50AD , known as the Dumnonii, thought to mean 'Deep Valley Dwellers'. The Romans held the area under Military Occupation for approx 25 years. Later the area became a frontier between Brythonic Dumnonia and Saxon Wessex, and some historians claim that this resulted in the effective conquest of Devon by Wessex by 715 and its formal annexation around 805. However, this is a matter of controversy. Later William of Malmesbury claimed "that the Britons and Saxons inhabited Exeter aequo jure" ("as equals") in 927. By the ninth century, however, the major threat to Saxon control of Devon came not from the native British but from Viking raiders, and sporadic incursions continued until the Norman Conquest. A few Norse placenames remain as a result, for example Lundy Island, though the Vikings' most lasting legacy is probably the move of the cathedral from Crediton to Exeter. Devon has also featured in most of the civil conflicts in England since the Norman conquest, including the Wars of the Roses and Perkin Warbeck's rising in 1497, the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549 and the English Civil War. Perhaps most notably, the arrival of William of Orange to launch the Glorious Revolution of 1688, took place at Torquay. Devon has produced tin, copper and other metals from ancient times. Devon's tin miners enjoyed a substantial degree of independence through Devon's stannary parliament, which dates back to the twelfth century. The last recorded sitting was in 1748, and it is believed they then adjourned to a pub in Tavistock. Devon is also known for its mariners, such as Sir Francis Drake, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Richard Grenville and Sir Walter Raleigh, and as the childhood home of psychology pioneer Raymond Cattell.

Economy

Like its neighbouring county to the west, Cornwall, Devon is relatively disadvantaged economically compared to other parts of southern England, due to the decline of many traditional industries such as fishing, mining and farming. Consequently, most of Devon has qualified for the European Community Objective 2 status. The epidemic of Foot and Mouth (Hoof and Mouth) disease in 2001 harmed much of the farming community severely and had knock-on effects on the rest of the county. The attractive lifestyle of the area is drawing in many new industries which are not heavily dependent upon geographical location; Dartmoor, for instance, has recently seen a significant rise in the percentage of its inhabitants involved in the financial services sector. Devon is one of the rural counties, with the advantages and problems characteristic of these.

Flag

Dartmoor] Devon has its own (unofficial) flag which has been dedicated to Saint Petroc, a local saint with numerous dedications throughout Devon and neighbouring counties. The flag was adopted in 2003 after a competition run by BBC Devon [http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/community_life/features/devon_flag.shtml]. The winning design was created by website contributor Ryan Sealey, and won 49% of the votes cast. However the creation of the flag has caused some controversy. The cross design is reminscent of both England's St George's Cross and neighbouring Cornwall's Saint Piran's Flag (which also uses black and white). The colours of the flag are those popularly identified with Devon, e.g. - the colours of the Rugby Union team, and the Green and White flag flown by the first Viscount Exmouth at the Bombardment of Algiers (now on view at the Teign Valley Museum).

Geology, landscape and ecology

:Main article: Geology of Devon. The Dartmoor National Park lies wholly in Devon, and the Exmoor National Park lies in both Devon and Somerset. In addition Devon is the only county in England to have two completely separate coastlines. Both the North and South coasts offer dramatic views: much of both coastlines is named as Heritage Coast, and the South West Coast Path runs along the entire length of the both. The inland of the county has attractive rolling rural scenery and villages with thatched Cob cottages. All these features make Devon a popular holiday destination for many Britons. The variety of scenery and habitats means that there is an exceptional range of wildlife (see Dartmoor wildlife). A popular challenge among birders is to find over 100 species in the county in a day. The landscape of the south coast consists of rolling hills dotted with small towns, such as Dartmouth, Salcombe, Totnes etc. The towns of Torquay and Paignton are the principal seaside resorts on the south coast. The north of the county is very rural with few major towns except Barnstaple, Great Torrington, Bideford and Ilfracombe.

Politics and administration

The administrative centre of Devon is the city of Exeter. The city of Plymouth, the largest city in Devon, and the conurbation of Torbay (including the towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham) are now unitary authorities separate from Devon for the purposes of local government. Nearly half of the holdings of the Duchy of Cornwall are in Devon.

Cities, towns and villages

This is a list of the main towns and cities in Devon, for a complete list of settlements see list of places in Devon. :See also: List of civil parishes in Devon

Places of interest

- Buckfast Abbey
- Castles in Devon
- Dartmoor
- Exmoor
- Heritage railways:
- Bideford & Instow Railway
- Dartmoor Railway
- Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway
- Plym Valley Railway
- South Devon Railway
- Jurassic Coast (a World Heritage Site)
- Lundy Island
- Lynmouth

Rivers

See also: :Category:Rivers in Devon
- River Avon
- River Axe
- River Dart
- River Erme
- River Exe
- River Otter
- River Tamar (the border between Devon and Cornwall)
- River Tavy
- River Taw
- River Teign
- River Torridge

Devon as a descriptor

- The cream tea, involving scones, jam and clotted cream, is a local speciality and may well have originated in Devon (neighbouring counties also claim it); in other countries such as New Zealand it is known as a Devonshire tea.
- Devon is the name of a variety of ham, which (presumably) comes from Devon. In New South Wales, Australia, Devon is a name for luncheon meat (processed ham). The name changes in different states of Australia (eg 'Fritz' in South Australia, 'Polony' in Western Australia) but all describe the same type of meat.
- The Devon Rex cat breed originated here.
- Devon and South Devon are breeds of cattle that originated in the county.
- The Devonian is a period in the geologic timescale.

External links

- General information about Devon
- [http://www.devon24.co.uk Devon24] All the local Devon news, sport and leisure
- The BBC [http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/ Devon information page]
- Extensive general historical and geographical as well as genealogical information at the [http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/genuki/DEV/ UK and Ireland Genealogy website]
- [http://www.southwestcoastpath.com/ The South West Coast Path National Trail]
- [http://www.thereabouts.co.uk/devon/ Devon & thereabouts]
- [http://www.devon.gov.uk/ Devon County Council]
- [http://www.passagehousegroup.co.uk/places.asp Places of interest in Devon]
- [http://www.devon-self-catering.net/ A guide to self catering in Devon]
- Alternative Devon - [http://www.alternativedevon.co.uk/ Devon musicians and photography.]
- [http://www.holywells.com/ The Holy Wells of Devon]
- Tourist information:
- [http://www.discoverdevon.com Discover Devon - County Council tourist site]
- [http://www.beautiful-devon.co.uk Beautiful Devon]
- [http://www.devonaccommodation.com Devon Accommodation Guide]
- [http://www.devon24.co.uk/flatfiles/holidayguide/holidayguide.aspx East Devon Holiday Guide]Tourist Guide for the East Devon area, includes town guide, beach guide and epostcards!
- [http://www.northdevongazette.co.uk/northdevongazette/flatfiles/scene/scene.aspx North Devon Scene]Tourist Guide for the North Devon area
- Devon news and sport:
- [http://www.midweekherald.co.uk Midweek Herald] Local newspaper covering the Honiton, Axminster and Seaton areas of East Devon.
- [http://www.northdevongazette.co.uk North Devon Gazette] Free local newspaper covering the Barnstaple, Bideford, Ilfracombe and South Molton areas of North Devon.
- [http://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk Exmouth Journal] Local newspaper covering the Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton, Woodbury and Topsham areas of East Devon
- [http://www.exmouthherald.co.uk Exmouth Herald] Free local newspaper covering the Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton, Woodbury and Topsham areas of East Devon
- [http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk Sidmouth Herald] Local newspaper covering the Sidmouth and Ottery St Mary areas of East Devon
- [http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk This is Devon] The website of the Western Morning News, Mid Devon Gazette and North Devon Journal.
- [http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk Exeter Express and Echo] Local newspaper covering Exeter.
- [http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk Plymouth Evening Herald] Local newspaper covering Plymouth.
- [http://www.phototropic.co.uk/landscapeleaps/ Dartmoor Virtual Tour] Landscape Leaps: Dartmoor 360°. Interactive Virtual Tour of Dartmoor National Park, Devon, England.
ja:デヴォン州 simple:Devon

1875

1875 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). In the ISO 8601 calendar, 1875 is defined as the year the Convention du Mètre was originally signed, by way of a reference year.

Events

January - April

- January 12 - Kwang-su becomes emperor of China.
- February 27 - Newton Booth, 11th Governor of California resigns, having been elected Senator. Lieutenant Governor of California Romualdo Pacheco becomes acting Governor. He is later replaced by elected governor William Irwin.
- March 3 - The first performance of Bizet’s Carmen at the Opéra Comique, Paris
- March 3 - The first organized indoor game of ice hockey was played between two pick-up teams at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal.

May - August

- May 7 - SS Schiller wrecks on rocks off the Isles of Scilly.
- May 17 - Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby.
- May 20 - Convention du Mètre signed in Paris.
- August 25 - Captain Matthew Webb becomes the first person to swim the English Channel.

September - December

- September 1 - A murder conviction effectively forces the violent Irish anti-owner coal miners, the "Molly Maguires", to disband.
- November 9 - Indian Wars: In Washington, D.C., Indian Inspector E.C. Watkins issues a report stating that hundreds of Sioux and Cheyenne associated with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse are hostile to the United States (the Battle of the Little Bighorn was fought in Montana the next year).
- November 16 - Battle at Gundet - Abyssinean emperor Yohannes beats Egyptians
- December 4 - Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Cuba, then Spain.

Unknown date

- Wimbledon: Henry Cavendish Jones convinced the "All England Croquet Club" to replace a croquet court with a lawn tennis court.
- Treaty of Saint Petersburg is signed between Japan and Russia.
- Tong wars begin in San Francisco
- The Theosophical Society was founded in New York by Helena Blavatsky, H. S. Olcott, W. Q. Judge, and others.
- The Arya Samaj was founded in Mumbai by Swami Dayananda.

Births

January

- January 5 - James Stuart Blackton, American film producer (d. 1941)
- January 7 - Thomas J. Hicks, American runner (d. 1963)
- January 9 - Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American sculptor and socialite (d. 1942)
- January 11 - Reinhold Glière, Russian composer (d. 1956)
- January 14 - Albert Schweitzer, Alsatian physician, philosopher, and musician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1965)
- January 15 - Tom Burke, American runner (d. 1929)
- January 22 - D. W. Griffith, American film director (d. 1948)

February

- February 2 - Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist (d. 1962)
- February 21 - Jeanne Calment, Oldest person in recorded history (d. 1997)

March

- March 7 - Maurice Ravel, French composer (d. 1937)
- March 26 - Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea (d. 1965)
- March 30 - Jonathan Campbell, American film pioneer (d. 1942)

April

- April 1 - Edgar Wallace, English writer (d. 1932)
- April 2 - Walter Chrysler, American automobile pioneer (d. 1940)
- April 4 - Pierre Monteux, French conductor (d. 1964)
- April 5 - Mistinguett, French singer (d. 1956)
- April 8 - King Albert I of Belgium (d. 1934)
- April 15 - James J. Jeffries, American boxer (d. 1953)

May

- May 11 - Harriet Quimby, American pilot (d. 1912)
- May 12 - Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya, Indian philosopher (d. 1949)

June

- June 6 - Thomas Mann, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
- June 12 - Sam De Grasse, Canadian actor (d. 1953)
- June 24 - Diedrich Westermann, German linguist (d. 1956)
- June 28 - Henri Lebesgue, French mathematician (d. 1941)

July

- July 26 - Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist (d. 1961)
- July 26 - Antonio Machado, Spanish poet (d. 1939)

August

- August 15 - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, English composer (d. 1912)
- August 21 - Winnifred Eaton, Canadian author (d. 1954)
- August 27 - Katharine McCormick, American suffragist (d. 1967)

September

- September 1 - Edgar Rice Burroughs, American author (d. 1950)

October

- October 1 - Eugeen Van Mieghem, Belgian painter (d. 1930)
- October 12 - Aleister Crowley, British occultist (d. 1947)
- October 23 - Gilbert N. Lewis, American chemist (d. 1946)

December

- December 4 - Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet (d. 1926)
- December 5 - Arthur Currie, Canadian military leader (d. 1933)
- December 19 - Mileva Maric, Albert Einstein's first wife (d. 1948)
- December 25 - Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, Austrian Catholic cardinal (d. 1955)

Deaths

- January 23 - Charles Kingsley, English writer (b. 1819)
- February 22 - Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, French painter (b. 1796)
- February 22 - Sir Charles Lyell, British geologist (b. 1797)
- March 1 - Tristan Corbière, French poet (b. 1845)
- May 17 - John C. Breckinridge, Vice President of the United States (b. 1821)
- June 3 - Georges Bizet, French composer (b. 1836)
- June 4 - Eduard Mörike, German poet (b. 1804)
- June 25- Antoine-Louis Barye, French sculptor (b. 1796)
- July 30 - George Pickett, American Confederate General (b. 1825)
- July 31 - Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808)
- August 4 - Hans Christian Andersen, Danish writer (b. 1805)
- August 10 - Karl Andree, German geographer (b. 1808)
- August 17 - Wilhelm Bleek, German linguist (b. 1827)
- September 22 - Charles Bianconi, Italian-Irish entrepreneur (b. 1786)
- October 10 - Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Russian writer (b. 1817)
- October 12 - Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, French sculptor and painter (b. 1827)
- November 22 - Henry Wilson, Vice President of the United States (b. 1812)
- November 24 - William Backhouse Astor, Sr., American businessman (b. 1792) Category:1875 ko:1875년 ms:1875 simple:1875 th:พ.ศ. 2418

Home Park

:Home Park is also a neighborhood in Atlanta, GA, USA. Home Park is an Association Football stadium located in Plymouth, England, and is home to Plymouth Argyle, who currently play in the Football League Championship. More information on the stadium's history is to follow.

Notable games

Apart from the games of Plymouth Argyle, Homo Park has staged a number of notable games
- 1926 tramway strikers v police. That day, both before and after the match, there were violent clashes between strikers and their supporters, and police during the general strike.
- 1951 South West Counties v New Zealand in a rugby union tour match.
- 1966 The Football League beat the Irish Football League 12-0. The Football League team contained seven of the 1966 World Cup winning team.
- 1970 England under-23 v Bulgaria under-23.
- 1973 England under-23 v Portugal under-23.
- 1977 Manchester United v AS Saint-Étienne in the Cup Winners' Cup. Manchester United were ordered to play the second leg at least 300km from Old Trafford after crowd disturbances in the first leg.

How to get to the ground

The ground is located at the north of Central Park, approximately half a mile from the main Plymouth railway station, and about a mile from the coach station.

Arriving by train

By bus

Turn immediately right out of the station, and cross the main road by footbridge. Any bus bound for Milehouse will drop you within 100 yards of the ground.

Walking

Turn immediately right out of the station, and right again under the pedestrian footbridge and railway bridge. You will arrive at a roundabout: in front of you will be a pub, the Pennycomequick. From here you can either walk up Alma Road to the top and turn right at the Britannia pub (the long way) or you can cut across the park about 50 yards up Alma Road, heading right. You will come to a concreted path, follow it uphill and it will bring you past the council-run pitch and putt golf course to Home Park itself.

Arriving by road

Arriving from the east you will (probably) be on the A38 Devon Expressway. As you approach Plymouth, there is a major exit, the Marsh Mills roundabout. Do not take this exit unless you fancy wasting time driving through city-centre traffic. The next exit, the Leigham roundabout, is also sub-optimal. The third exit which will be signposted Plymouth Argyle F.C. as well as the A386 for Plymouth City Centre and Devonport is the one you want. Head in the direction of Plymouth city centre. (NB There are speed cameras along the length of this road and the police often have a mobile patrol laser-checking as well). The car-parks are well-signposted, however as Argyle have become progressively more successful, it has taken longer to leave these car-parks after the game...

Arriving by coach

Unless you are on a club coach explicitly bound for Home Park, you will be deposited at Breton Side Bus Station.

By bus

Any bus bound for Milehouse will drop you within 100 yards of the ground.

Walking

Exit the bus station through either of the staircases. If you are immediately outside the St Charles church (or what remains of it, as it was blown up during the Blitz), then turn left and follow the signs for the railway station, and follow instructions as per arriving by rail. If you find yourself outside the Post Office, just head for the St Charles church....

External links

- [http://www.greensonscreen.co.uk/stadium1.htm Pictures pre and post 2001 redevelopment] Category:Plymouth Argyle F.C. Category:Athletics stadia in the United Kingdom Category:Football venues in England

1876

1876 is a leap year starting on Saturday.

Events

January-March

- January 31 United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations.
- February 2 - The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
- February 14 - Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone.
- February 22 - Johns Hopkins University founded in Baltimore, Maryland.
- March 7 - Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for an invention he calls the telephone (patent # 174,464).
- March 10 - Alexander Graham Bell makes the first successful telephone call by saying "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you."

April-June

- April 16 - Bulgarian April uprising
- April 17 - Six Fenian prisoners escape from a penal colony in Fremantle, Australia with the aid of ship Catalpa.
- May 1 - Turks crush uprising of Bulgar Slavs
- May 11-May 12 - Berlin Memorandum - Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary propose an armistice between Turkey and its insurgents
- May 16 - British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli rejects Berlin Memorandum
- May 18 - Wyatt Earp starts work in Dodge City, Kansas, serving under Marshal Larry Deger
- May 30 - Abd-ul-Aziz, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire is deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murat V.
- June 4 - An express train called the Transcontinental Express arrives in San Francisco, California via the First Transcontinental Railroad only 83 hours and 39 minutes after having left New York City.
- June 17 - Indian Wars: Battle of the Rosebud - 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory.
- June 25 - Indian Wars: Battle of the Little Bighorn. Lieutenant colonel George Armstrong Custer of the US 7th Cavalry Regiment leads a unit of 300 men in battle against the allied forces of Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho, counting 5000 men under the leadership of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. The latter emerge victorious.

July-September

- July 1 - Serbia declares war on Turkey
- July 2 - Montenegro declares war on Turkey
- July 4 - United States Centennial See: [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/T825xB1xI5/ Centennial exposition described and illustrated], being a concise and graphic description of this grand enterprise commemorative of the first centennary of American independence. Publisher: Philadelphia, Hubbard bros, 1876.
- July 8 - Reichstadt Agreement between Russia and Austria-Hungary on partitioning the Balkan peninsula.
- August 1 - Colorado is admitted as the 38th U.S. state.
- August 8 - Thomas Edison receives a patent for his mimeograph.
- August 31 - Murat V, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid II.
- September 5 - Gladstone publishes Bulgarian Horrors pamphlet
- September 7 - In Northfield, Minnesota, Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang attempt to rob the town's bank but are surrounded by an angry mob and are nearly wiped out.

October-December

- October 4 - Texas A&M University, the state’s first public institution of higher education, opened on October 4, 1876 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas.
- November 2 - Atlantic giant squid 6.1 meters long washes ashore in Thimble Tickle Bay in Canada
- November 21 - Porfirio Diaz arrives in Mexico City and takes power
- November 7 - U.S. presidential election is held. After long and heated disputes, Rutherford Birchard Hayes would be declared the winner over Samuel Jones Tilden.
- November 7 - Green Clay Smith ran as presidential candidate of Prohibition Party.
- November 7 - Samuel Fenton Cary ran as vice-presidential candidate of Greenback Party.
- November 23 - Corrupt Tammany Hall leader William Marcy Tweed (better known as Boss Tweed) is delivered to authorities in New York City after being captured in Spain.
- November 25 - Indian Wars: In retaliation for the dramatic American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops under General Ranald Mackenzie sack Chief Dull Knife's sleeping Cheyenne village at the headwaters of the Powder River (the soldiers destroyed all of the villager's winter food and clothing and then slashed their ponies' throats).
- November 29 - Porfirio Díaz becomes President of Mexico.
- December 5 - Fire in theater in Brooklyn, New York City, kills more than 300
- December 23 - Conference of Constantinople about Ottoman treatment of its ethnic minorities begins
- December 29 - The Ashtabula River Railroad bridge disaster, 64 injured, 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.

Unknown dates

- Spandau Prison finished
- Paraguay makes peace with Argentina
- Invention of the four-stroke cycle internal combustion engine by Nikolaus Otto
- United States of America Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia
- After the Young Turks rebellion deposes sultan Abd al-Aziz. He is succeeded by Murad V who, after being declared insane, gives way to Abd al-Hamid I.
- Samurai are banned from carrying swords in Japan.
- Harvard Lampoon founded.
- Heinz Ketchup introduced.

Births

January-March

- January 5 - Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1967)
- January 11 - Elmer Flick, baseball player (d. 1971)
- January 12 - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (d. 1948)
- January 12 - Jack London, American author (d. 1916)
- January 20 - Józef Hofmann, Polish pianist (d. 1967)
- January 23 - Otto Diels, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1954)
- January 29 - Havergal Brian, British composer (d. 1972)
- February 19 - Constantin Brancusi, Romanian sculptor (d. 1957)
- March 1 - Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian International Olympic Committee president (d. 1942)
- March 2 - Pope Pius XII, (d. 1958)
- March 4 - Léon-Paul Fargue, French poet (d. 1947)
- March 11 - Carl Ruggles, British composer (d. 1971)
- March 21 - John Tewksbury, American athlete (d. 1968)

April-September

- April 4 - Maurice de Vlaminck, lyricist (d. 1958)
- April 22 - Robert Bárány, Nobel Prize winner in medicine
- June 5 - Tony Jackson, jazz musician (d. 1920)
- July 12 - Max Jacob, French poet (d. 1944)
- July 19 - Joseph Fielding Smith, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1972)
- August 7 - Mata Hari, exotic dancer and spy
- September 6 - John James Richard Macleod, Scottish-born physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1935)
- September 15 - Bruno Walter, German conductor (d. 1962)
- September 16 - Marvin Hart, boxer (d. 1931)
- September 18 - James Scullin, ninth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1953)
- September 26 - Edith Abbott, social worker, educator, and author (d. 1957)

October-December

- October 13 - Rube Waddell, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1914)
- November 7 - Charlie Townsend, English cricketer (d. 1958)
- November 7 - Culbert Olson, Governor of California (d. 1962)
- November 17 - August Sander, German photographer (d. 1964)
- November 23 - Manuel de Falla, Spanish composer (d. 1946)
- November 24 - Walter Burley Griffin, American architect (d. 1937)
- December 9 - Berton Churchill, Canadian actor (d. 1940)
- December 12 - Alvin Kraenzlein, American athlete (d. 1928)
- December 21 - Jack Lang, Australian politician (d. 1975)
- December 25 - Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan (d. 1948)
- December 25 - Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
- December 29 - Pablo Casals, Catalan cellist (d. 1973)
- Alfred Stock, German chemist (d. 1946)

Deaths

- January 14 - Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, French painter, total gaylord (b. 1780)
- February 18 - Charlotte Cushman, American stage actress (b. 1816)
- May 26 - František Palacký, Czech historian and politician (b. 1798)
- June 21 - Antonio López de Santa Anna, President of Mexico (b. 1794)
- June 25 - George Armstrong Custer, U.S. officer (killed in battle) (b. 1839)
- August 2 - Wild Bill Hickok, American gunfighter and entertainer (b. 1837)
- October 1 - James Lick, American land baron (b. 1796)
- Abd al-Aziz, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1830) 1876 was also the year that football club Port Vale FC were formed Category:1876 ko:1876년 ms:1876 simple:1876 th:พ.ศ. 2419

Devonport Dockyard

There are two major naval bases named Devonport Dockyard:
- Devonport, New Zealand - the main naval base of the Royal New Zealand Navy.
- Devonport, UK - one of two main naval bases serving the Royal Navy.

1887

1887 is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar).

Events

January

- January 6 - `Abd-allah II of Harar opens the Battle of Chelenqo with an attack on the camp of the Shewan army of Negus Menelik II early in the morning; prepared for the assault, the Negus orders a counter-attack which routs the enemy, resulting with the capture of Harar a few days later.
- January 20 - The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
- January 21 - The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is formed
- January 21 - Brisbane receives a daily rainfall of 465 millimetres - a record for any Australian capital city.
- January 26 - Battle of Dogali: Abyssinian troops defeat Italians
- January 28 - In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, USA, the largest snowflakes on record are reported. They are 15 inches (38cm) wide and 8 inches (20cm) thick.

February

- February 2 - In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.
- February 5 - The Giuseppe Verdi opera Otello premieres at La Scala
- February 23 - The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000.
- February 26 - At the SCG, George Lohmann becomes the first bowler to take eight wickets in a Test innings.

March

- March 3 - Anne Sullivan begins teaching Helen Keller
- March 4 - Gottlieb Daimler unveils his first automobile
- March 13 - Chester Greenwood patents earmuffs
- March 19 - Henry Cogswell College established by Henry D. Cogswell.

April

- April 4 - Argonia, Kansas elects Susanna M. Salter as the first female mayor in the United States.
- April 20 - George Bouton wins the worlds first motor racing contest: he is the only participant

May

- May 3 - Earthquake in Sonora, Mexico
- May 9 - Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show opens in London.

June

- June 8 - Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his punch card calculator.
- June 18 - The Reinsurance Treaty is closed between Germany and Russia.
- June 21 - Britain celebrates a Golden Jubilee, marking the 50th year of Queen Victoria's reign. [http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page929.asp]
- June 23 - The Rocky Mountains Park Act becomes law in Canada, creating that nation's first national park, Banff National Park. [http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/cseh-twih/archives2_E.asp?id=25]
- June 28 - Minot, North Dakota is incorporated as a city.

July

- July 26 - L. L. Zamenhof publishes "Dr. Esperanto's International Language".
- July 27 - Giuseppe Peano marries Carola Crosio

October

- October 1 - British Empire takes over Baluchistan

November

- November 10 - Louis Linga, sentenced to be hanged for his alleged role in the Haymarket Riot bomb, kills himself by dynamite
- In London, police and left-wing demonstrators clash. One dead. One of the participants is George Bernard Shaw.
- November 11 - August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, Louis Lingg, Michael Schwab, and Samuel Fielden hanged for inciting riot and murder in the Haymarket Riot of May 4, 1886.

December

- December 25 - Glenfiddich single malt Scotch whisky first ran from the stills of Glenfiddich Distillery. The whisky is still produced today by William Grant & Sons.

Unknown dates

- L. L. Zamenhof completes the creation of the initial version of Esperanto
- U.S. National Institutes of Health founded
- Teachers College, later part of Columbia University, is founded
- Thomas Stevens is 1st man to bicycle around the world
- Michelson-Morley experiment is performed
- Gramophone patented by Emile Berliner
- The New Gate is built in Jerusalem
- Comptometer patented by Dorr Eugene Felt
- The first All-Ireland Hurling and Football Finals are held
- Suez Canal is declared neutral
- Japan annexes Iwo Jima
- Zululand becomes a British colony
- Yellow river floods in China - 900,000 dead
- British nurses association organized
- Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn founded
- Spandau Prison in Berlin finished
- Portugal abolishes death penalty for murder
- Heinrich Hertz discovers electromagnetism
- US congress passes the Interstate Commerce Act

Births

January

- January 1 - Wilhelm Canaris, head of German military intelligence in World War II (d. 1945)
- January 3 - August Macke, German painter (d. 1914)
- January 19 - Alexander Woollcott, American intellectual (d. 1943)
- January 21 - Maude Davis, Oldest Person in the World (d. 2002)
- January 28 - Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-born pianist and conductor (d. 1982)

February

- February 1 - Charles Nordhoff, English-born author (d. 1947)
- February 2 - Pat Sullivan, Australian director and producer of animated films (d. 1933)
- February 3 - Georg Trakl, Austrian poet (d. 1914)
- February 6 - Josef Frings, Archbishop of Cologne (d. 1978)
- February 10 - John Franklin Enders, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1985)
- February 11 - Ernst Hanfstängl, German-born pianist and U.S. politician (d. 1975)
- February 11 - John van Melle Dutch-born writer (d. 1953)
- February 17 - Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer (d. 1947)
- February 18 - Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek poet (d. 1957)
- February 20 - Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada (d. 1967)
- February 26 - Grover Cleveland Alexander, baseball player (d. 1950)

March

- March 3 - Rupert Brooke, English poet (d. 1915)
- March 5 - Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer (d. 1959)
- March 9 - Phil Mead, English cricketer (d. 1958)
- March 14 - Sylvia Beach, American publisher in Paris (d. 1952)
- March 22 - Chico Marx, American comedian and actor (d. 1961)
- March 23 - Juan Gris, Spanish-born painter and graphic artist (d. 1927)
- March 23 - Prince Felix Yussupov, Russian assassin of Rasputin (d. 1967)
- March 24 - Fatty Arbuckle, American actor (d. 1933)

April-May

- April 10 - Bernardo Houssay, Argentine physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- May 2 - Eddie Collins, baseball player (d. 1951)
- May 5 - Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1972)
- May 11 - Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian-born pianist (d. 1951)
- May 26 - Paul Lukas, Hungarian-born actor (d. 1971)
- May 28 - Jim Thorpe, American athlete (d. 1953)
- May 31 - Saint-John Perse, French diplomat and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)

June

- June 2 - Orrick Johns, American poet and playwright (d. 1946)
- June 22 - Julian Huxley, British biologist (d. 1975)
- June 25 - George Abbott, American playwright (d. 1995)

July

- July 7 - Marc Chagall, Russian-born painter (d. 1985)
- July 16 - Shoeless Joe Jackson, baseball player (d. 1951)
- July 18 - Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian politician and traitor (d. 1945)
- July 22 - Gustav Hertz, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
- July 28 - Marcel Duchamp, French-born artist (d. 1968)
- July 29 - Sigmund Romberg, Hungarian-born composer (d. 1951)

August

- August 12 - Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
- August 13 - Julius Freed, American inventor and banker (d. 1952)
- August 15 - Edna Ferber, American novelist (d. 1968)
- August 17 - Emperor Karl I of Austria (d. 1922)
- August 17 - Marcus Garvey, American publisher, entrepreneur, and black nationalist (d. 1940)
- August 20 - Jules Laforgue, French poet (b. 1860)
- August 24 - Harry Hooper, baseball player (d. 1974)

September

- September 1 - Blaise Cendrars, Swiss writer (d. 1961)
- September 3 - Frank Christian, jazz musician (d. 1973)
- September 13 - Lavoslav Ružička, Croatian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
- September 16 - Nadia Boulanger, French composer and composition teacher (d. 1979)
- September 28 - Avery Brundage, American sports official

October

- October 1 - Violet Jessop, RMS Titanic survivor (d. 1971)
- October 5 - René Cassin, French judge, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1976)
- October 6 - Le Corbusier, Swiss architect (d. 1965)
- October 8 - Huntley Gordon, Canadian-born actor (d. 1956)
- October 22 - John Reed, American journalist (d. 1920)
- October 28 - Marcel Duchamp, French artist (d. 1968)
- October 31 - Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese Nationalist (d. 1975)

November

- November 6 - Walter Johnson, baseball player (d. 1946)
- November 10 - Arnold Zweig, German writer (d. 1968)
- November 17 - Bernard Montgomery, World War II British commander (d. 1976)
- November 19 - James B. Sumner, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)

December

- December 12 - Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer (d. 1974)
- December 22 - Srinivasa Aaiyangar Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (d. 1920)

Month/day unknown

- Joseph H. Choate, Jr., American politician and philanthropist (d. 1968)
- Pauline Sabin, American activist for repeal of prohibition in U.S. (d. 1955)

Deaths

- February 27 - Alexander Borodin, Russian composer (b. 1833)
- March 8 - Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman and reformer (b. 1813)
- May 14 - Lysander Spooner, American philosopher and abolitionist (b. 1808)
- July 17 - Dorothea Dix, American social activist (b. 1802)
- July 25 - John Taylor, American religious leader (b. 1808)
- August 8 - Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and soldier (b. 1808)
- August 20 - Jules Laforgue, French poet (b. 1860)
- October 17 - Gustav Kirchhoff, German physicist (b. 1824)
- November 2 - Jenny Lind, Swedish soprano (b. 1820)
- November 8 - Doc Holliday, American gambler and gunfighter (b. 1851)
- November 19 - Emma Lazarus, American poet (b. 1859)
- December 5 - Eliza Roxcy Snow, American poet (b. 1804) Category:1887 ko:1887년 ms:1887 simple:1887 th:พ.ศ. 2430

Devonport Services RFC

Devonport Services Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Plymouth. Their first recorded game was in 1904 against Plymouth, the final score was 2-2. At that time they were named United Services Devonport. The team originally, was for military officers only. Very few games were won. In 1912 however, other ranks were allowed to play, and results improved dramatically. The nick name The Sporting Blues, was given to them by a sports writer from the South Wales Echo newspaper, after they had played a Swansea team. Many internationals have played for the club. Home games are played on the Rectory Field, previously home of Plymouth Albion; Albion play at the Brickfields, across King's Road. Players from all the British Armed Forces, are elligible to play for the club.

External links

- [http://www.rfu.com/clubs/index.cfm/fuseaction/home.home/grou_select/1069.htm RFU club website]
- [http://www.dsrfc-youth.org.uk/ Youth team site] Category:English rugby union teams

Devonport, Devon

Devonport, in Devon, was formerly called Plymouth Dock. It is now a district of Plymouth, although it was at one time the more important settlement. Devonport was originally one of the "Three Towns" (along with Plymouth and East Stonehouse) which were merged in 1914 to form what would later become, in 1928, the City of Plymouth. Devonport has its own town centre, a railway station, a swimming pool, a park and a sports ground, Brickfields, which is now home to Plymouth Albion, the city's Rugby Union football club. Plymouth College of Further Education is located there. The Torpoint Ferry service across the Hamoaze (River Tamar) operates from Devonport. Category:Plymouth Category:Ports and harbours of England Category:Royal Navy

Athletics

:This article refers to the British English definition of Athletics that is limited in scope to sporting events that in American English are known as "Track and Field". Thus, Track and Field redirects here. If you are looking for the American English definition of the word "athletics", which is used to categorise all sports, please see the article entitled Sport. Athletics, also known as track and field or track and field athletics, is a collection of sport events. The word is derived from the Greek word "athlos" meaning "contest". It is a collection of sport events, which can roughly be divided into running, throwing, and jumping.

History

Athletics was the original sport at the first Olympics back in 776 BC where the only event held was the stadium-length foot race or "stade". The earliest recorded win was at these games in the stade race. There were several other "Games" held throughout Europe in later eras:
- The Pythian Games (founded 527 BC) held in Delphi every four years
- The Nemean Games (founded 516 BC) held in Argolid every two years
- The Isthmian (founded 523 BC) held on the Isthmus of Corinth every two years (one year being that which followed the Olympics)
- The Roman Games — a direct imitation of the Greek Olympics, however was a much more popularized spectacle, with most competitors likely to have been professional athletes (the Greek Olympics was more a common-man's fare). Many themes of the Roman Circus (chariot races, gladiatorial combats and wild animal displays) were incorporated into the Roman Games asides from athletic sports. Other peoples enjoyed athletic contests, such as the Celts, Teutons and Goths who succeeded the Romans. However these were often related to training to war, and were not very well organized. In the Middle Ages the sons of noblemen would be trained in running, leaping and wrestling, in addition to riding, jousting and arms-training. Contests between rivals and friends may have been common on both official and unofficial grounds. Many athletic sports have found favour in Europe throughout the ages. However, at least in Britain, they fell out favour between the 13th and 16th centuries due to government restrictions on sports aiming to reduce the practice of archery. After this ban was lifted in the 17th century sports began to flourish once more, but it was not until the 19th century that organization began to appear. This included the incorporation of regular sports and exercise into school regimes. The Royal Military College, Sandhurst has claimed to be the first to adopt this in 1812 and 1825 but without any supporting evidence. The earliest recorded meeting was organised at Shrewsbury, Shropshire in 1840 by the Royal Shrewsbury School Hunt. There are details of the meeting in a series of letters written 60 years later by CT Robinson who was a pupil there from 1838 to 1841. Modern athletic events are usually organized around a 400 metre running track, on which most of the running events take place. Field events (jumping and throwing) often take place in the field in the centre of the running track. Many athletic events have an ancient origin and were already conducted in competitive form by the ancient Greeks. Athletics was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been part of the program ever since, providing the backbone of the Olympics. Women were not allowed to participate in track and field events in the Olympics until 1928. An international governing body, the IAAF was founded in 1912. The IAAF established separate outdoor World Championships in 1983. The AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) was the governing body in the United States until it collapsed under pressure from advancing professionalism in the late 1970s. A new governing body called The Athletics Congress (TAC) was formed, it was later renamed USA Track and Field (USATF or USA T&F). An additional, less structured organization, the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) also exists in the USA to promote road racing. Both organizations allow athletes to receive money for racing putting an end to the "shamateurism" that existed before.

Indoor track and field

There are two seasons for track and field. There is an indoor season, run during the winter and an outdoor season, run during the summer. Most indoor tracks are 200 meters, however, less frequently, there are smaller and larger tracks that measure from between 180 to 300 meters. The indoor track consists of four to six lanes instead of the eight to ten on an outdoor track. Often an indoor track will have banked turns to compensate for the tight bends. In an indoor track meet athletes contest the same events as an outdoor meet with the exception of the 100 m and 110 m/100 m hurdles (replaced by the 60 m sprint and 60 m hurdles at all levels), and the 10,000 m run and 3,000 m steeplechase. Indoor meets also have the addition of a 3,000 m run , normally instead of the 5000m(at both the collegiate and elite level). In the field events, indoor meetings only feature the high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump and shot put. The longer throws of javelin, hammer and discus are reserved for outdoor meetings, as there is normally not enough space in an indoor stadium to house these events. Other events unique to indoor meets (especially in the United States) are the 300m, 600m, 1000m and 35 lb. weight throw. For multi-event athletes there is the Pentathlon for women (consisting of 60m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800m) and heptathlon for men (consisting of 60m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1000m).

Outdoor track and field

The outdoor track and field season begins in the spring and may last through the summer. Usually the tracks are 400 meters, however, some old tracks are still measured in yards, so they measure 440 yards. The track consists of 6-10 lanes and for the bigger collegiate tracks, a steeplechase lane with a water pit. This can be inside or outside the track, making for a tighter turn or a wider turn. Often schools will place a field in the middle of the track, usually football/soccer/lacrosse, due to their size and shape. Recently these fields have been made out of astro turf or field turf instead of grass. Field events consist of the high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump and shot put. They also consist of the javelin, hammer and discus throws; however, often these are outside of the stadium because they take up a large amount of space.

Events

There are other variations besides the ones listed below but races of unusual length (e.g. 300 m) are run much less often. With the exception of the mile run, races based on imperial distances are rarely run on the track anymore since most tracks have been converted from a quarter mile (402.3 m) to 400 meters. Men and women do not compete against each other. Women generally run the same distances as men although hurdles and steeplechase barriers are lower and the weights of the shot, discus, javelin and hammer are less.
- Track events - running events conducted on a 400 meter track.
- Sprints: events up to and including 400 m. Common events are 60 m (indoors only), 100 m, 200 m and 400 m.
- Middle distance: events from 800 m to 3000 m, especially 800 m, 1500 m, mile and 3000 m.
- steeplechase - a race (usually 3000 m) in which runners must negotiate barriers and water jumps.
- Long distance: runs over 5000 m. Common events are 5000 m and 10000 m.
- Hurdling: 110 m high hurdles (100 m for women) and 400 m intermediate hurdles (300 m in high school).
- Relays: 4 x 100 m, 4 x 400 m, 4 x 200 m, 4 x 800 m, etc. Some events, such as medley relays, are rarely run except at large relay carnivals.
- Road running: conducted on open roads, but often finishing on the track. Common events are half-marathon and marathon.
- Race walking: usually conducted on open roads. Common events are 10 km, 20 km and 50 km.
- Field events
- Throwing events
- Shot put
- Hammer throw
- Javelin throw
- Discus throw
- Jumping events
- High jump
- Long jump
- Pole vault
- Triple jump
- Standing high jump
- Standing long jump
- Standing pole vault
- Standing triple jump
- Composite events
- Pentathlon
- Heptathlon
- Decathlon

World records

Men

Note : Two record distances are given for the men's javelin event ; this is because in the 1980s, the men's event was throwing at distances which caused many "flat landings" and judges at the event were having trouble discerning the exact point at which the javelin had landed and whether the throw was legal. In 1985, the specs of the javelin were changed by moving the centre of gravity forward by 4 cm.

Women

Note: As with the men's event, the specification of the women's javelin has been changed. On April 1, 1999 the IAAF moved the centre of gravity forward by 3 cm in order to ensure a greater number of legal throws and to allow for more accurate distance measurement. The two tables above are mainly Outdoor world records. Indoor world records are available at [http://www.athletix.org/Statistics/ndwr.html Athletix.org].

External links

- [http://www.iaaf.org/ IAAF International Association of Athletics Federations] - Official site
- [http://www.usatf.org/ USA Track & Field] - Official site
- [http://www.athletix.org/ World Record progression in athletics]
- [http://www.algonet.se/~pela2/ Track and Field all-time performances]
- Category:Olympic sports ko:육상 경기 ja:陸上競技 simple:Athletics th:กรีฑา

1920s

Sometimes referred to as the "Jazz Age" or primarily in North America and in Australia as the "Roaring Twenties" . In Europe it is sometimes refered to as the Golden Twenties. See 1920s Berlin. ----

Events and trends

Since the closing of the 20th Century, the 1920s has drawn close associations with the 1990s, especially in the United States. This due to the fact both decades were considered very economically prosperous times, and a prosperity which lasted throughout almost the entire decade following a tremendous event at the closing of the previous decade (World War I and Spanish flu in the late 1910s, and the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s). In Australia, this decade was known as the Roaring Twenties. Despite the comparisons, however, there were a number of differences. First of all, Germany, like many other European countries, had to face a severe economic downturn in the opening years of the decade, due to the enormous debt caused by the war as well as the one-sided Treaty of Versailles. Such a crisis would culminate with a devaluation of the Mark in 1923, eventually leading to economic prosperity during the remainder of the period. Second, the decade was characterized by the rise of radical political movements, especially in regions that were once part of empires. Communism began attracting large numbers of followers following the success of the October Revolution and the Bolsheviks' determination to win the subsequent Russian Civil War. The Bolsheviks would eventually adopt semi-capitalist policies-- New Economic Policy-- from 1921 to 1928. The 1920s also experienced the rise of the far-right in Europe and elsewhere, starting with Italy, and were perceived by some in the Western world as an antidote to Communism. The Stock Market collapsed during October 1929 (see Black Tuesday) and drew a line under prosperous 1920s.

Technology

- John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as "Tommy gun"
- John Logie Baird invents the first working mechanical television system (1925)
- Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean (20 May-21 May 1927)
- Penicillin is discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming (1928)
- Philo T. Farnsworth invents the modern electronic CRT television
- Insulin is discovered by Frederick Banting during the winter of 1921-1922

Science

- Great advances in quantum mechanics
- Wave mechanics and the Schrödinger equation
- Werner Heisenberg formulates the uncertainty principle
- Paul Dirac's unification of quantum mechanics with special relativity
- Prediction and discovery of the expanding universe

War, peace and politics

- Rise of communism after World War I
- The Red Scare in the United States (1920-1921)
- In the United States, peak of the Ku Klux Klan (about five million members)
- In the United States, KKK auxiliaries established.
- Irish Civil War
- The Irish Free State gains independence from the United Kingdom in 1922
- Marie C. Brehm becomes temperance movement leader.
- Turkish War of Independence
- Moderation League of New York worked for repeal of prohibition.
- Polish-Soviet war
- First Labour Government of Ramsay MacDonald formed in the United Kingdom
- Kellogg-Briand Pact to end war
- Prohibition leaders were at the height of their power.

Economics

- Economic boom ended by "Black Tuesday" (October 29, 1929); the stock market crashes, leading to the Great Depression

Culture, religion

- Prohibition — legal attempt to end consumption of alcohol in Canada, the USA, and Finland
- Youth culture of The Lost Generation; flappers, the Charleston, and bobbed hair
- "The Jazz Age" — jazz and jazz-influenced dance music widely popular
- Women's suffrage movement continues to make gains as women obtain full voting rights in the United States in 1920, in Denmark in 1921, and in England in 1928; and women begin to enter the workplace in larger numbers
- In the US, gangsters and the rise of organized crime, often associated with bootleg liquor, in defiance of Prohibition.
- Rum rows are established to import bootleg alcoholic beverages into U.S.
- First commercial radio station in the U.S. goes onair in Pittsburgh, in 1920, and radio quickly becomes a popular entertainment medium
- Methodist Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals defends alcohol prohibition in U.S.
- Start of motion pictures with sound tracks in 1927
- Beginning of surrealist movement
- Beginning of the Art Deco movement
- Fads such as dance marathons, mah-jongg, crossword puzzles and pole-sitting are popular
- The height of the clip joint
- The Harlem Renaissance
- The Scopes Monkey Trial (1925) which questioned evolution, creationism, and the right to teach
- Bishop James Cannon, Jr. becomes a U.S. temperance movement leader.
- The Group of Seven (artists)
- Repeal organizations organized to fight national prohibition in U.S.
- Minister Daisy Douglas Barr heads Women's Ku Klux Klan (WKKK).

People

World leaders

- Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (Canada)
- President Sun Yat-sen (Republic of China)
- President Chiang Kai-shek (Republic of China)
- President Paul von Hindenburg (Germany)
- King Victor Emmanuel III (Italy)
- Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (Italy)
- President W.T. Cosgrave (Irish Free State)
- President Mustafa Kemal(Attaturk) (Turkey)
- Emperor Hirohito (Japan)
- Pope Pius XI
- Vladimir Lenin (Soviet Union)
- Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)
- King George V (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister David Lloyd George (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald (United Kingdom)
- President Woodrow Wilson (United States)
- President Warren G. Harding (United States)
- President Calvin Coolidge (United States)
- President Herbert Hoover (United States)
- Prime Minister Jason Bailey (Canada)
- Peebodie Mike Hawk (Guatamala)

Entertainers

- Charlie Chaplin
- George Gershwin
- Duke Ellington
- Fletcher Henderson
- Al Jolson
- Jelly Roll Morton
- Cole Porter
- Bessie Smith
- Rudy Vallee
- Paul Whiteman
- Louis Armstrong
- Eddie Cantor
- Helen Kane
- Buster Keaton

Sports figures

- Alex James (Arsenal & Scotland footballer)
- Babe Ruth (American baseball player)
- Bill Tilden (American tennis player)
- Bobby Jones (American golfer)
- Gordon Coventry (Australian Rules Football player)
- Herbert Sutcliffe (Yorkshire & England cricketer)
- Jack Dempsey (American boxer)
- Jack Hobbs (Surrey & England cricketer)
- Red Grange (American football player)
- Warwick Armstrong (Australian cricket captain)
- Wilfred Rhodes (Yorkshire & England cricketer)
- Helen Wills Moody (American tennis player)

External links

- [http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/keys/games/game_0_1920s/ Quiz: Life in the Roaring Twenties] Category:1920s ko:1920년대 ja:1920年代 simple:1920s

1980s

The 1980s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1980 and 1989. The decade was one of frantic change. It was also an era of political and economic decentralisation, especially in countries with mixed and command economies. Political events and trends of the 1980s culminated in the toppling of military governments and authoritarian regimes, including every communist Warsaw Pact state in Eastern Europe, bringing to a close the decades-long Cold War. The 1980s also saw very rapid developments in numerous sectors of technology which have defined the modern consumer world, particularly electronics like Personal Computers, gaming systems, the arrival of the first commercially available hand held mobile phones (the first being the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X in 1983) and various audio technologies such as the compact disc, which are still prominent well into the 2000s. The population of the world increased more dramatically in the 1980s than any other decade in human history, adding nearly one billion new people in the course of the decade. This is an important fact as such astronomical growth of the human race is unlikely to ever be repeated in the future due to current population trends, which are consistently showing a decline in birth rates across the globe. Children born in the 1980s are likely to have an extremely prominent position in world business and government affairs from the 2020s all the way through to the 2050s due to their immense population and potential voting powers.

Criticism/Backlash

Coined the "me decade," this decade has been somewhat derided since as early as 1989 for its perceived greediness among Yuppies, certain clothes/music/hairstyles which seem outlandish by modern standards, and of course the discovery of the AIDS virus in the early part of the decade, unlike the 1990s which have had a very positive receiving into the 21st Century despite criticism for the 90s' "slacker" image.

Technology

21st Century] 21st Century]
- Bulletin board system popularity.
- Popularization of personal computers, Walkmans, VHS videocassette recorders, and cassette players .
- Introduction of the IBM PC in 1981.
- Home video games become enormously popular, most notably Atari until the market crashes in 1983; the rise of Nintendo brings about full recovery.
- The first Space Shuttle mission, STS-1, launched in 1981.
- Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986.
- The Soviet Union launches the space station Mir in 1986.
- Apple Macintosh, first commercially successful GUI, is released in 1984.
- Accident at Chernobyl nuclear reactor, April 1986.
- Framework (office suite) launched
- Internet actively used by geeks in late 1980s
- First commercial hand-held mobile phone - Motorola DynaTAC 8000X 1983.

Science

- Discovery of the W and Z bosons at CERN.
- Development of the scanning tunneling microscope by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer.
- English computer programmer Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web at CERN, Switzerland.

War, peace and politics

Switzerland]
- Cold War peaks; fall of the Iron Curtain.
- Jimmy Carter announces a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow; Eastern Bloc countries boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
- Solidarity movement in Poland launched in 1981. It eventually topples the country's Communist regime.
- Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi tackles with a growing Sikh insurgency and the Khalistan Movement. She orders Operation Blue Star on the holy Golden Temple. She is assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.
- Ronald Reagan proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative, derided as "Star Wars." Deploys Pershing missiles in Western Europe to counter the Soviet SS-20, to some protests.
- Soviet fighters down Korean Air Flight 007 in 1983, leading to a high point in international tensions.
- Three Soviet Premiers die in rapid succession: Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, and Konstantin Chernenko.
- Gorbachev introduces Glasnost and Perestroika in the Soviet Union.
- Fall of the Berlin Wall in East Germany in 1989, preparing the way to German reunification.
- Velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia.
- Revolution in Romania, execution of Ceauşescu.
- Margaret Thatcher and Thatcherism dominate British politics.
- The "Reagan Revolution", beginning with the election of 1980, introduces so-called neoconservatives to Washington.
- In 1981, François Mitterrand becomes France's President, the most politically successful Socialist in French history.
- Helmut Kohl is elected in West Germany in 1982, leading to the defeat of the anti-deployment movement; he becomes the longest serving Chancellor so far.
- Falklands War; Argentina invades the Falkland islands in 1982 but defeated by the United Kingdom.
- Israel invades Lebanon in 1982, . A suicide bomber kills 241 U.S. marines stationed there as peacekeepers.
- Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988 causes the deaths of at least hundreds of thousands.
- Over 120,000 flee Cuba in 1980 during the Mariel Boatlift, during which Fidel Castro released many criminals into American harbors.
- P.W. Botha suppresses anti-apartheid activists; international boycotts of South Africa continue.
- King Juan Carlos of Spain prevents a military coup in 1980. Spain joined NATO in 1982; it joined the European Union with Portugal in 1986.
- In 1989 students protest on Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China and are eventually suppressed.
- Large protests in the Philippines topples the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship; military rule ends after protests in Argentina and South Korea.
- Augusto Pinochet forms a new constitution, holds a referendum on rule and loses. Democracy is restored.
- The Soviet Union ends its disastrous military campaign in Afghanistan.
- Former United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim is exposed as a former Nazi
- Vietnam continues its military occupation of Cambodia.
- In Europe, rise of alleged neo-fascist parties (Le Pen in France, Schönhuber/Republikaner in Germany, Haider in Austria), parallel to a rise of Green parties.
- Political correctness becomes a concern in mainstream politics.
- Ronald Reagan decides to invade Grenada in 1984 and depose the nascent hard-line communist government.
- The Reagan administration bombs Libya in 1986 in response to alleged Libyan support for attacks on U.S. servicemen in Europe.
- Under George H. W. Bush, the U.S. invades Panama in 1989 to overthrow Manuel Noriega.
- The Reagan Doctrine implements support for anti-communist or anti-Soviet insurgencies most notably in Nicaragua, Angola, Cambodia, and Afghanistan. This leads to continued civil war, the deposition of several regimes, some democratization, but also the Iran-Contra scandal.
- The United States launches a covert war against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua and is condemned by the World Court for mining Nicaragua's harbour, an authority and judgment the U.S. administration did not recognize.
- President Tito of Yugoslavia dies.
- Release of Americans held hostage in Iran.
- Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini issues a fatwa urging the killing of Salman Rushdie.
- Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland, UK.
- In 1985, A radical PLO offshoot called Palestine Liberation Front hijacks the Achille Lauro and shoots the wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer, throwing him overboard.
- Terror groups Abu Nidal and Hezbollah rise to prominence in Western attention.
- Dark years for Malta and its politics. Violence is culminated by the murder of Raymond Caruana and blocking entry to Nationalist supporters into the southern village of Zejtun.
- The Rainbow Warrior is sunk by French secret service agents.

Economics

secret service 1987 through 19 January 1988)]]
- Reaganomics, Thatcherism and Rogernomics.
- In the United States the longest bull market in history begins in 1983; Dow Jones Industrial Average passes 2000 point milestone January 8, 1987.
- OPEC controls slip; petroleum prices collapse below $10 per barrel by mid-1986, devastating oil-producing nations such as Mexico.
- U.S. Midwest Farm Crisis 1981–1985.
- East Asian Tigers' share of world trade rises significantly.
- U.S. balance of trade falls into chronic deficit; populists criticize trade relations with Japan.
- Stockmarkets across the world crash on Black Monday, October 19, 1987. The New York Stock Exchange suffers its largest one-day stock market drop.
- Late 1980s recession

Trends and Fashions

- The video game console begins to outstrip the arcade game.
- The Rubik's cube, Cabbage Patch Kids, "Baby on Board" signs, and Trivial Pursuit fads capture the interest of the American public.fad]
- Nerds are popular subject.
- Alcohol education expands.
- Hair becomes big and poofy, or otherwise eccentric. Examples include the Mullet and the Flock of Seagulls cuts.
- Power Dressing was a major fashion statement of the decade, characterised by the use of increasingly large shoulder pads - the origins of this trend are often attributed to the American television series "Dynasty" and, specifically to one of its stars - the British actress Joan Collins.
- Pop stars of the era such as Duran Duran and television shows like Miami Vice brought the trend to the male fashion world, often accompanied by "designer stubble" and blonde highlights.
- Women's Liberation movement increases women's role in the workplace, and establishes new precedents for US women. As a carry-over from the 1970s, more and more women take to calling themselves "Ms." versus "Mrs." or "Miss"
- No-Fault divorce laws pave the way for increased divorce rate, as depicted in the movie, Irreconcilable Differences. No-Fault divorce catapults record numbers of women and children into the throes of poverty. The increase in single parent homes and, perhaps more significantly, homes in which both parents work leads to the phenomenon of Latch-key children, where children come home to an empty house and watch a lot of television.
- Neo-prohibitionism grows in popularity.
- Ninja and martial arts mania sweeps North America due to the popularity of Kung Fu Theater and Ninja Movies. Many instructional books are published and sold by many authors claiming to be experts. This is also often blamed as the beginning of the McDojo trend.

Music

- Music videos (and MTV) begin to have an effect on record industry in the United States. Pop artists Michael Jackson and Madonna are pioneers; groups such as Duran Duran benefit.
- New Wave music, a form of synthesized pop-rock, popular throughout decade, esp in early 80s.
- House music - a new development in dance music mid-way through the decade, growing out of the post-disco scene early in the decade, later developing into acid house - a harder form of dance often associated with the developing late 1980s drug culture.
- Hair metal popular in late 80s
- Popular artists include Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, Duran Duran, Madonna, U2, and a-ha.
- Massive sales for Ethiopian famine relief records by Band Aid ("Do They Know It's Christmas?") and USA for Africa ("We Are the World"), followed by Live Aid famine relief concert in London and Philadelphia. Other artists push for nuclear disarmament.
- The Hip hop scene evolves to become a powerful musical force, bringing with it several dance styles. Hip hop also brings artists like Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow and N.W.A.to the forefront; hip hop's spread outside of New York City, especially to Los Angeles, accelerates and then takes off beyond America's shores.

Television

- Television networks are challenged by cable television. In the U.S., Cheers and The Cosby Show top ratings and the Fox network is launched. CNN becomes the first 24-hour news channel.
- He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, the first animated children's television program built exclusively around a toyline, starts a new trend of increasing the connection between children's programming and toy advertising, alarming many parents and watchdog organizations; an explosive number of toy tie-in cartoons follow.
- Animation in North America begins a dramatic comeback in production values and mainstream popular appeal both in feature films and on television.
- Soap operas gain popularity among high-schoolers and college students in the United States, thanks in part to the supercoupling of Luke and Laura on the most popular soap of the day, General Hospital.
- MTV breaks out influencing pop culture.

Film

- Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial opens in 1982 and shatters records for box office gross receipts.
- Ridley Scott's Blade Runner opens in 1982.
- Teen flicks and horror movies reach a high
- Movie sequels very common

Others

- The AIDS epidemic is identified and named.
- Assassination of John Lennon and Olof Palme, attempts on Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II.
- Violent crime and drug trafficking soar to record levels in most large American cities.
- Research increases on alcohol and weight.
- Assymmetrical and bizarre hairstyles from about 1980 to 1993.
- Remove Intoxicated Drivers grows rapidly.

People

World Leaders

- Chancellor Bruno Kreisky (Austria)
- Chancellor Fred Sinowatz (Austria)
- Chancellor Franz Vranitzky (Austria)
- Prime Minister Bob Hawke (Australia)
- Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser (Australia)
- President João Figueiredo (Brazil)
- President José Sarney (Brazil)
- Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (Canada)
- Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (Canada)
- General Augusto Pinochet (Chile)
- Deng Xiaoping (People's Republic of China)
- President Chiang Ching-kuo (Republic of China on Taiwan)
- Prime Minister Poul Schlüter (Denmark)
- Erich Honecker (East Germany)
- President Anwar Sadat (Egypt)
- President Hosni Mubarak (Egypt)
- President Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua)
- President Mengistu Haile Mariam (Ethiopia)
- President Urho Kekkonen (Finland)
- President Mauno Koivisto (Finland)
- President François Mitterrand (France)
- Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou (Greece)
- Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (India)
- Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (India)
- Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (Iran)
- President Saddam Hussein (Iraq)
- President Patrick Hillery (Ireland)
- Taoiseach Charles Haughey (Ireland)
- Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald (Ireland)
- Prime Minister Menachem Begin (Israel)
- Prime Minister Shimon Peres (Israel)
- Emperor Hirohito (Japan)
- Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone (Japan)
- Emir Jabir al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah (Kuwait)
- President Muammar al-Qaddafi (Libya)
- Pope John Paul II
- Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (Malaysia)
- Prime Minister Dom Mintoff (Malta)
- Prime Minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici (Malta)
- Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami (Malta)
- Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (Malaysia)
- President Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (Mexico)
- President Samora Machel (Mozambique)
- Prime Minister Robert Muldoon (New Zealand)
- Prime Minister David Lange (New Zealand)
- Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer (New Zealand)
- Queen Juliana (Netherlands)
- General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (Pakistan)
- General Manuel Noriega (Panama)
- President Ferdinand Marcos (Philippines)
- President Corazon Aquino (Philippines)
- President Wojciech Jaruzelski (Poland)
- President Nicolae Ceauşescu (Romania)
- Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore)
- President and Prime Minister P.W. Botha (South Africa)
- President Chun Doo-hwan (South Korea)
- Premier Leonid Brezhnev (Soviet Union)
- General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev (Soviet Union)
- King Juan Carlos (Spain)
- Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa of Sri Lanka
- Prime Minister Olof Palme (Sweden)
- Queen Elizabeth II (United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Realms)
- Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (United Kingdom)
- President George H.W. Bush (United States)
- President Jimmy Carter (United States)
- President Ronald Reagan (United States)
- Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (West Germany)
- Chancellor Helmut Kohl (West Germany)
- President Josip Broz Tito (Yugoslavia)
- President Mobutu Sese Seko (Zaire)
- President Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe)

Entertainers

- AC/DC
- Brat Pack
- David Brooks
- Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Glory)
- The Cars
- Phoebe Cates (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Gremlins)
- Tom Cruise (Top Gun, Rain Man, Risky Business, The Color of Money)
- Bo Derek
- Matt Dillon
- Dalida
- Emilio Estevez (The Breakfast Club, The Outsiders, Young Guns)
- Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones series, Star Wars series, Blade Runner, Witness)
- Jodie Foster
- Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future series, Teen Wolf)
- Mel Gibson (Lethal Weapon series, Mad Max series)
- Debbie Harry (Blondie)
- Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee)
- John Hughes
- Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders)
- Michael Jackson (Thriller)
- Elton John
- Michael Keaton (Batman, Mr. Mom, Night Shift)
- Annie Lennox (Eurythmics)
- George Lucas (Indiana Jones series, Star Wars series, Captain Eo)
- Madonna (Material Girl)
- George Michael (Wham!)
- Motley Crue
- Eddie Murphy (Saturday Night Live, Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places)
- Jack Nicholson (Terms of Endearment, The Shining, Batman, Prizzi's Honor, Ironweed, Reds)
- Queen (band)
- Sean Penn
- Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface, Dangerous Liaisons)
- Prince (Purple Rain, Sign O' the Times)
- Meg Ryan
- Charlie Sheen
- Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator, Predator, Conan the Barbarian)
- Sylvester Stallone (Rambo: First Blood)
- Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing)
- The Cure
- U2 (War, The Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum)
- Van Halen
- Sigourney Weaver

Sports figures

- Alexis Arguello (Nicaraguan boxer)
- Marco van Basten (Dutchsoccer player)
- Wilfred Benitez (Puerto Rican boxer)
- Larry Bird (U.S. basketball player)
- Allan Border (Australian cricket captain/batsman)
- Ian Botham (Somerset & England cricket all-rounder)
- Mike Brearley (Middlesex & England cricket captain/batsman)
- George Brett (U.S. baseball player)
- Julio Cesar Chavez (Mexican boxer)
- Roberto Duran (Panamanian boxer)
- Paulo Roberto Falcão (Brazilian soccer player)
- Ric Flair (U.S. wrestler)
- Mike Gatting (Middlesex & England cricket captain/batsman)
- Sunil Gavaskar (India cricket opening batsman)
- Wilfredo Gómez (Puerto Rican boxer)
- Gordon Greenidge (West Indies cricket opening batsman)
- Wayne Gretzky (Canadian ice hockey player)
- Florence Griffith Joyner (U.S. track and field athlete)
- Richard Hadlee (New Zealand cricket fast bowler)
- Marvin Hagler (U.S. boxer)
- Alan Hansen (Liverpool & Scotland footballer))
- Thomas Hearns (U.S. boxer)
- Hulk Hogan (U.S. wrestler)
- Larry Holmes (U.S. boxer)
- Bo Jackson (U.S. American football and baseball player)
- Imran Khan (Pakistani cricket player)
- Jahangir Khan (Pakistani squash player)
- Earvin "Magic" Johnson (U.S. basketball player)
- Michael Jordan (U.S. basketball player)
- Jarmila Kratochvílová (Czech track and field athlete)
- Greg LeMond (U.S. cyclist)
- Sugar Ray Leonard (U.S. boxer)
- Carl Lewis (U.S. track and field athlete)
- Wally Lewis (Australian Rugby League player

2002

2002 (MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. It was designated the:
- International Year of Ecotourism and Mountains
- Year of the Outback in Australia
- National Science Year in the United Kingdom
- Autism Awareness Year in the United Kingdom See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.

Overview of the year

In contrast to 2000 and 2001, which retained elements of the late 1990s, 2002 shifted into a new cultural decade. With the declining popularity of late 1990s and early 2000s acts like 'N Sync and The Backstreet Boys after band break-ups, rap acts like 50 Cent and Eminem rose in popularity. Pop-Punk acts like Good Charlotte and New Found Glory also appealed to adolescents. 2002 also marked the begining of the controversial Iraq War, which many say, along with 9/11, was the true generation definer of the 2000s.

Events

January

- January 1 - The Republic of China officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei.
- January 1 - The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially enters in to force.
- January 5 - Charles Bishop, a 15 year-old student pilot, crashes a light aircraft into a Tampa, Florida building, evoking fear of a copycat 9/11 terrorist attack.
- January 9 - The United States Department of Justice announces it is going to pursue a criminal investigation of Enron.
- January 10 - Enrique Bolaños began his five-year term as President of the Republic of Nicaragua.
- January 13 - President George W. Bush faints after choking on a pretzel.
- January 14 - The case of Adelaide Abankwah comes into trial in New York
- January 16 - A student shoots 6 people at the Appalachian School of Law, killing three.
- January 16 - John Ashcroft announces that American Taliban member John Walker Lindh would be tried in the United States.
- January 16 - The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida, and the Taliban.
- January 17 - Eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
- January 18 - A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying anhydrous ammonia derails outside of Minot, North Dakota, killing one.
- January 22 - AOL Time Warner brings a federal suit against Microsoft seeking damages. The suit alleges that the market for AOL's Netscape Navigator Internet browser was harmed when Microsoft started to give away a competing browser.
- January 22 - Kmart Corp becomes the largest retailer in American history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
- January 22 - Clyde Hood sentenced for 14 years in prison for Omega Trust fraud
- January 24 - Terrorist suspect John Walker Lindh's hearing begins.
- January 27 - Several explosions at a military dump in Lagos, Nigeria kill more than 1,000.

February

- February 2 - Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands marries Máxima, Princess of Orange in Amsterdam.
- February 3 - Costa Rica: elections for President and Congress
- February 8-February 24 - 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah
- February 12 - The trial of former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević begins at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague
- February 12 - Nuclear waste: US Secretary of Energy makes the decision that Yucca Mountain is suitable to be the United States' nuclear repository.
- February 13 - Queen Elizabeth II gives former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani an honorary knighthood.
- February 16 - Rachel Thaler, aged 16, blown up at a pizzena in an Israeli shopping mall following a suicide bombing attack on a crowd of teenagers.
- February 19 - NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of using its thermal emission imaging system.
- February 20 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370
- February 20 - In most of the world, at 20:02 (8:02 PM) local time, date (written as day/month), time, and year are all 2002, making each of them alone, any two together, and the combination of all three, all palindromes.
- February 22 - Norwegian-facilitated ceasefire begins in Sri Lanka
- February 23 - FARC kidnaps Ingrid Betancourt in Colombia when she campaigns for presidency
- February 27 - Ethnic conflict in India: 59 Hindu pilgrims die aboard a train burned by a Muslim mob in Godhra, India, sparking a series of riots, leaving hundreds dead
- February 28 - The ex-currencies of all euro members officialy (at EU-level) cease to be legal tender.

March

- March 1 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: In eastern Afghanistan, Operation Anaconda begins.
- March 1 - 28 people die in continuing violence in Ahmedabad. Police shoot and kill five while attempting to control rioters.
- March 1 - The Envisat environmental satellite successfully reaches an orbit 800km above the Earth on its 11th launch, carrying the heaviest payload to date at 8500kg.
- March 1 - Space Shuttle Columbia flies Hubble Space Telescope service mission (STS-109).
- March 1 - Peseta discontinued as official currency of Spain and is replaced with the euro (€)
- March 3 - São Tomé and Príncipe: elections for the legislature
- March 6 - France agrees to return the remains of Saartje Baartman to South Africa
- March 10 - Colombia: elections for the legislature; Togo: elections for the Parliament
- March 11 - BBC 6 Music, the first new BBC music radio station in decades, is launched
- March 12 - In Texas, Andrea Yates is found guilty of drowning her five children on June 20, 2001. She is later sentenced to life in prison
- March 17 - Portugal: elections for the Parliament
- March 19 - US Attack on Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda ends (started on March 1) after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters with 11 allied troop fatalities
- March 21 - In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh along with three other suspects are charged with murder for their part in the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl
- March 27 - Netanya suicide attack: A suicide bomber kills 28 people in Netanya, Israel
- March 31 - Ukraine: elections for the Parliament

April

April
- April 2 - Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, when militants take shelter there. A siege ensues.
- April 9- Funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother takes place in Westminster Abbey, London.
- April 15 - An Air China Boeing 767-200 crashes into a hillside during heavy rain and fog near Pusan, South Korea, killing 128
- April 15 - The Alameda Corridor transportation project in Los Angeles, California opens to rail traffic, ceasing operations of through freight trains on the 120-year-old BNSF Harbor Subdivision.
- April 17 - Four Canadian infantrymen are killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire from two U.S. F-16s.
- April 18 - New order of insects, Mantophasmatodea, announced.
- April 25 - South African Mark Shuttleworth blasts off from the Baikonur cosmodrome; he had paid £15 million for the trip.
- April 26 - Robert Steinhauser opens fire on his former teachers and other students in Erfurt, Germany and then kills himself: 16 dead.
- April 27 - Three people killed in Laughlin, Nevada River Run Riot.
- April 30 - Pakistan: Pakistani voters approve a referendum granting a five-year term for Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf.

May

May]
- May 4 - In Germany, BV Borussia Dortmund wins the Bundesliga title after a 2-1 victory over SV Werder Bremen.
- May 6 - In the Netherlands, politician Pim Fortuyn is killed by Volkert van der Graaf.
- May 7 - Gay Canadian teenager Marc Hall is granted a court injunction ordering that he be allowed to attend his high school prom with his boyfriend.
- May 9 - The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agreed to have 13 suspected militants among them deported to several different countries. The standoff started April 2.
- May 9 - In Kaspiysk, Russia, a remote-control bomb explodes during a holiday parade, killing 43 and injuring at least 130.
- May 10 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for selling American secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
- May 12 - Former President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro becoming the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.
- May 15 - The Netherlands: elections for the Lower House.
- May 16 - Star Wars: Attack of the Clones is released in theaters.
- May 20 - Restoration of East Timor independence
- May 21 - US State Department releases report citing seven State-Sponsors of Terrorism;Iran,Iraq,Cuba,Libya,North Korea,Sudan,andSyria.
- May 22 - In Washington, DC, Chandra Levy's remains are found in Rock Creek Park.
- May 22 - American civil rights movement: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of four girls.
- May 23 - Irish Football Captain, Roy Keane, Is sent home from the Training Camp in Saipan, by Manager Mick McCarthy after an Argument over Training arrangements. This cause a huge Media sensation in Ireland and Britain. Many people were split over two sides and some called it the Second Irish Civil War.
- May 23 - First Eurovision Song Contest in a former Soviet country: Estonia
- May 25 - The Boston Celtics come back from twenty-six points down to defeat the New Jersey Nets in Game 3 of the National Basketball Association's Eastern Conference Finals.
- May 25 - China Airlines Flight 611 broke up near the Penghu Islands at Taiwan Strait, killing all 225 people on board.
- May 26 - The Mars Odyssey finds signs of huge water ice deposits on the planet Mars.
- May 28 - Washington DC's medical examiner declares that Chandra Levy's death was the result of homicide.
- May 31 through June 30 - 17th Football World Cup in South Korea and Japan

June

June over London in a fly past for Queen Elizabeth II on her Golden Jubilee]]
- June 1 - The Los Angeles Lakers def the Sacramento Kings 112-106, to win Game 7 of the National Basketball Association's 2002 Western Conference Finals.
- June 3 - The "Party in the Palace" takes place at Buckingham Palace, London for Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee celebrations.
- June 4 - Quaoar is discovered.
- June 4 - Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh ride in the gold state coach from Buckingham Palace to St Paul's Cathedral for a special service marking the Queen's 50 years on the throne. In New York, the Empire State Building is lit in purple for her honour.
- June 5 - Elizabeth Smart is kidnapped from her Salt Lake City, Utah home.
- June 5 - Mozilla 1.0, the first 'official' version, is released.
- June 6 - The United States House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee announces it is probing Martha Stewart's ImClone stock sales.
- June 8 - Serena Williams defeats her sister Venus Williams in straight sets to win the 2002 French Open.
- June 10 - Annular solar eclipse.
- June 11 - Antonio Meucci was recognised as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.
- June 12 - The Los Angeles Lakers def the New Jersey Nets 4 games to 0 to win the 2002 NBA Finals.
- June 13 - The Detroit Red Wings def the Carolina Hurricanes 4 games to 1 in the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals.
- June 14 - In Karachi, Pakistan, a car bomb in front of the U.S. consulate kills twelve Pakistanis and injures fifty.
- June 18 - Arizona experiences its worst forest fire, burning 462,606 acres (1,872 km²) near the Mogollon Rim.
- June 30 - Brazil defeats Germany 2-0 to win the Football World Cup 2002.

July

- July 1 - Russian passenger jet and a cargo plane collide over the town of Uberlingen in Southern Germany - 72 dead
- July 1 - Wendy J. Hamilton became president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
- July 5 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq once again rejects new U.N. weapons inspections proposals
- July 10 - At a Sotheby's auction, Peter Paul Rubens' painting "The Massacre of the Innocents" is sold for £49.5million (US$76.2 million) to Lord Thomson
- July 13 - A lighting strike sets off the Sour Biscuit Fire in Oregon and northern California, which is left to burn 499,570 acres (2,022 km²) when finally contained on September 5.
- July 14 - During Bastille Day celebrations, Jacques Chirac escapes an assassination attempt unscathed.
- July 15 - So-called "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh pleads guilty to supplying aid to the enemy and for the possession of explosives during the commission of a felony. Lindh agrees to serve 10 years in prison for each of the charges
- July 19 - K-19: The Widowmaker starring Harrison Ford is released.
- July 21 - Telecommunications giant WorldCom files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the largest such filing in United States history
- July 27 - Helen Clark leader of the Labour Party is historically re-elected in a landslide victory over the Right Wing in the New Zealand general election of 2002.
- July 27 - A Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashes at an air show in Ukraine killing 78 and injuring more than 100 others, the largest air show disaster in history.

August

- August 27 - Simon & Schuster sues Michael Pelligrino and Artist Management Group because Pelligrino had written a book claiming to be a son of late Mafioso Carlo Gambino

September

- September 2 - The opening of the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development, successor of the 1972 Conference on the Human Environment, 1983 World Commission on Environment and Development, and the 1992 Conference on Environment and Development.
- September 3 - Consolidated Freightways files for bankruptcy
- September 5 - A car bomb kills at least 30 people in Afghanistan, and an apparent assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai fails the same day.
- September 5 - The Sour Biscuit Fire in Oregon and northern California, which burned 499,570 acres (2,022 km²), is finally contained.
- September 8 - Typhoon Sinlaku causes huge waves on the Qiantangjiang River in Sheijang Province, China
- September 11 - The World Summit on Sustainable Development comes to a close.
- September 12 - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. President George W. Bush, addresses the U.N. and challenges its members to confront the "grave and gathering danger" of Iraq or stand aside as the United States and likeminded nations act.
- September 15 - The Swedish parliamentary election leaves Prime Minister Göran Persson and the Social Democrats in power.
- September 22 - The German federal election leaves Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, his Social Democrats and the Greens in power

October

- October 2 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The U.S. Congress passes a joint resolution which explicitly authorizes the President to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate.
- October 7 - Discovery of Quaoar is announced.
- October 11 - Lone bomber explodes a home-made bomb in the Myyrmanni shopping mall north of Helsinki, Finland - casualties include himself. See Myyrmanni bombing.
- October 12 - Bali bombing: Terrorists detonate massive bombs in two nightclubs in Kuta, Bali, killing 202 and injuring over 300.
- October 16 - Iraq disarmament crisis: George W. Bush signs the Iraq war resolution.
- October 24 - The Beltway snipers are arrested.
- October 25 - U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, his family and staff, are killed by a plane accident at Eveleth, Minnesota.
- October 27 - The Anaheim Angels defeat the San Francisco Giants in Game 7 of the 2002 World Series.

November

November.
- November 5 - U.S. Elections: The Republican Party maintains control of the House of Representatives and regains control of the Senate.
- November 7 - Iran bans advertising of US products.
- November 8 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UN Security Council Resolution 1441 – The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves a resolution on Iraq, forcing Saddam Hussein to disarm or face "serious consequences".
- November 9 - In Los Angeles, California, television and film actor Merlin Santana is shot to death while sitting in the passenger seat of a friend's car parked on the 3800 block of Victoria Avenue.
- November 13 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq agrees to the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 1441.
- November 13 - The oil tanker Prestige sinks off the Galician coast and causes a huge oil spill.
- November 14 - Argentina defaults on a US$805 million World Bank payment
- November 15 - Hu Jintao becomes general secretary of the Communist Party of China.
- November 16 - A Campaign Against Climate Change march takes place in London from Lincoln's Inn Fields, past Esso offices to the United States Embassy.
- November 18 - Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.
- November 21 - NATO Summit in Prague - Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia invited to become NATO members.
- November 22 - In Nigeria, more than 100 people are killed at an attack aimed at the contestants of the Miss World contest.
- November 25 - US President George W. Bush signs the Homeland Security Act into law, establishing the Department of Homeland Security in the largest US government reorganization since the creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 (the Senate passed the bill 90-9 on November 19).

December

- December 4 - Total solar eclipse
- December 7 - Iraq disarmament crisis: As required by the recently passed U.N. resolution, Iraq files a 12,000 page weapons declaration with the U.N. Security Council. Although it is supposed to be a complete declaration, it is seen as incomplete by the Security Council and weapons inspectors.
- December 10 - High Court of Australia hands down its judgement in the Internet defamation dispute in the case of Gutnick v Dow Jones.
- December 18 - Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was released into theaters.
- December 24 - Laci Peterson of Modesto, California is reported missing.
- December 27 - Suicide truck-bomb attack destroys headquarters of Chechnya's Moscow-backed government, killing 72 people.
- December 29 – Communist New People's Army blows up a bust of Ferdinand Marcos in Benguet, Philippines.

Unknown Date

- Naruto (anime) is created by Studio Perriot.
- American Prohibition Foundation incorported.

Births

- August 2 - Kara Hoffman, American actress
- August 2 - Shelby Hoffman, American actress
- December 6 - Sophia Rosalinda Bratt, daughter of Benjamin Bratt and Talisa Soto

Deaths

For more deaths see: Deaths in 2002

January

- January 3 - Freddy Heineken, Dutch-born beer magnate (b. 1923)
- January 8 - Alexander Prochorow, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
- January 8 - Dave Thomas, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1932)
- January 12 - Stanley Unwin, South African comedian (b. 1911)
- January 12 - Cyrus Vance, United States Secretary of State (b. 1917)
- January 13 - Ted Demme, American film and television director (b. 1963)
- January 16 - Michael Bilandic, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1923)
- January 16 - Bobo Olson, American boxer (b. 1928)
- January 16 - Ron Taylor, American actor (b. 1952)
- January 17 - Camilo José Cela, Spanish writer (b. 1916)
- January 22 - Peggy Lee, American singer and actress (b. 1920)
- January 23 - Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist (b. 1930)
- January 23 - Robert Nozick, American philosopher (b. 1938)
- January 28 - Dick "Night Train" Lane, American football player (b. 1928)
- January 28 - Astrid Lindgren, Swedish children's book author (b. 1907)
- January 29 - Harold Russell, Canadian-born actor (b. 1914)

February

- February 6 - Max Perutz, Austrian-born molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1914)
- February 8 - Joachim Hoffmann, German historian (b. 1930)
- February 9 - Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom (b. 1930)
- February 14 - Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer (b. 1922)
- February 15 - Howard K. Smith, American television journalist (b. 1914)
- February 15 - Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (b. 1963)
- February 16 - Walter Winterbottom, English football manager (b. 1913)
- February 19 - Virginia Hamilton, American writer
- February 21 - John Thaw, British actor (b. 1942)
- February 22 - Chuck Jones, American animator (b. 1912)
- February 22 - Jonas Savimbi, Angolan rebel leader (b. 1934)
- February 24 - Leo Ornstein, American composer and pianist (b. 1912)
- February 26 - Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
- February 27 - Spike Milligan, British comedian, writer, and poet (b. 1918)
- February 27 - Mary Stuart, American actress (b. 1926)
- February 28 - Helmut Zacharias, German violinist (b. 1920)

March

- March 11 - James Tobin, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
- March 14 - Cherry Wilder, New Zealand author (b. 1930)
- March 24 - César Milstein, Argentine scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1927)
- March 25 - Kenneth Wolstenholme, British football commentator (b. 1920)
- March 27 - Milton Berle, American comedian and actor (b. 1908)
- March 27 - Dudley Moore, British pianist, comedian, and actor (b. 1935)
- March 27 - Billy Wilder, Austrian-born film screenwriter and director (b. 1906)
- March 30 - Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, queen of George VI of the United Kingdom (b. 1900)
- March 31 - Barry Took, British comedian and writer (b. 1928)

April

- April 5 - Layne Staley, American singer (Alice in Chains) (b. 1967)
- April 8 - Maria Felix, Mexican actress (b. 1914)
- April 9 - Leopold Vietoris, Austrian mathematician (b. 1891)
- April 15 - Byron White, American athlete and Supreme Court Justice (b. 1917)
- April 16 - Franz Krienbühl, Swiss speed skater (b. 1929)
- April 16 - Robert Urich, American actor (cancer) (b. 1946)
- April 18 - Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer (b. 1914)
- April 18 - Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and wrestler (b. 1938)
- April 25 - Indra Devi, yoga teacher (b. 1899)
- April 25 - Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, American rapper (TLC) (b. 1971)
- April 27 - George Alec Effinger, American author (b. 1947)
- April 27 - Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, Swiss industrialist and art collector (b. 1921)
- April 28 - Ruth Handler, American toy manufacturer (b. 1916)
- April 28 - Alexander Lebed, Russian general and politician (b. 1950)

May

- May 5 - Hugo Bánzer Suarez, President of Bolivia (b. 1926)
- May 6 - Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (assassi

2004

2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. It was designated the:
- International Year of Rice (by the United Nations)
- International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO)
- 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization)
- Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in 2004 for a description of the state of the world in this year. See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.
Events

January

- January 1 - Pervez Musharraf gets a vote of confidence from an electoral college consisting of Parliament and the provincial assemblies, confirming him as President of Pakistan until 2007.
- January 3 - Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, killing all 148 aboard.
- January 4 - Mikhail Saakashvili wins the presidential elections in Georgia.
- January 4 -NASA's MER-A (Spirit) lands on Mars.
- January 8 - Queen Elizabeth II christens the RMS Queen Mary 2 cruise liner, currently the largest ocean liner in the world.
- January 13 - An Uzbekistan Airways plane crashes in Uzbekistan's capital of Tashkent, killing 37.
- January 22 - The European Union bans the import of poultry from Thailand, as bird flu spreads throughout Southeast Asia.
- January 24 - NASA's MER-B (Opportunity) lands on Mars.
- January 27 - The British government narrowly wins a House of Commons vote on the proposed introduction of tuition top-up fees in British universities.
- January 28 - The findings of the Hutton Inquiry are published in London. The British Government is found not to have falsified information in the "sexed up dossier". The report criticises the BBC's role in the death of David Kelly, a weapons expert on Iraq.
- January 28 - At a hearing of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, it is revealed that the September 11, 2001, terrorists used Mace (a brand of tear gas) or pepper spray in overpowering the flight crew of American Airlines Flight 11.
February

- February 1 - A hajj stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills 251 pilgrims.
- February 3 - The CIA admits that there was no imminent threat from weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
- February 6 - A suicide bomber kills 41 people on a metro car in Moscow.
- February 7 - Several leaders of Abnaa el-Balad arrested in Israel.
- February 10 - At least 50 people killed in a car bomb attack on a police recruitment centre south of Baghdad.
- February 10 - The French National Assembly votes to pass a law banning religious items and clothing from schools.
- February 12 - Same sex marriage in the United States: The City and County of San Francisco begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as an act of civil disobedience.
- February 13 - Scientists in South Korea announce the cloning of 30 human embryos.
- February 14 - Riots break out between New South Wales Police and Aboriginal residents of Redfern, a suburb of Sydney, Australia.
- February 18 - A train carrying a convoy of petrol, fertiliser, and sulfur derails and explodes in Iran, killing 320 people.
- February 20 - Conservatives win a majority in the Iranian parliament election.
- February 24 - 6.5 Richter scale earthquake in Northern Morocco hits in the Rif mountains near the city of Al Hoceima - over 400 dead. Ait Kamara is destroyed. 517 dead.
- February 25- Ash Wednesday. Also, the religious docudrama, The Passion of the Christ was released.
- February 26 - The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya, ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years.
- February 26 - Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- February 29 - 2004 Haiti rebellion: Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as president of Haiti. The chief justice of the Haitian Supreme Court, Boniface Alexandre, is sworn in as interim president.
- February 29 - The film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King directed by Peter Jackson wins 11 Academy Awards in every category it was nominated.
March

- March 2 - John Kerry effectively clinches the 2004 U.S. Democratic Party presidential nomination by winning nine out of 10 "Super Tuesday" primaries and caucuses.
- March 2 - NASA announces that the Mars rover MER-B (Opportunity), has confirmed that the area of Mars they landed in was once drenched in water.
- March 10 - Five British men released from detention at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay land at RAF Brize Norton. Four are immediately arrested for questioning.
- March 11 - Simultaneous explosions on rush hour trains in Madrid kill 190 people.
- March 12 - Following the terrorist attacks in Madrid on March 11, millions of protesters take to the streets of Spanish cities against terrorism.
- March 14 - Two suicide bombers kill eleven Israeli civilians in Ashdod, Israel.
- March 14 - The Spanish parliamentary elections of 2004 take place. The incumbent government led by José María Aznar is defeated by the Socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
- March 14 - Presidential elections in Russia are held. Vladimir Putin easily wins a second term.
- March 15 - A trio of astronomers announce they have discovered a large trans-Neptunian object, the largest object found in the solar system since Pluto was discovered in 1930. Initially designated 2003 VB₁₂, it was named 90377 Sedna in late September.
- March 15 - The new Spanish government announces that it will withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops in Iraq.
- March 17 - Organized violence breaks out over two days in Kosovo. Nineteen people are killed, 139 Serbian homes are burned, schools and businesses are vandalized, and over 30 orthodox monasteries and churches are burned and destroyed.
- March 19 - The UN launches a corruption investigation due to the scandal over its Iraqi Oil for Food program.
- March 20 - President Chen Shui-bian wins the Taiwanese presidential election by 0.2% of the vote. The day before, he and Vice President Annette Lu were 'shot'. Lien Chan refuses to concede and demands a recount. A controversial 'peace referendum' opposed by the People's Republic of China is invalidated.
- March 21 - The 2004 Malaysian general election takes place. The incumbent Barisan Nasional party wins 198 out of 219 seats in the Malaysian Parliament.
- March 21 - Tony Saca is elected President of El Salvador (inauguration June 1).
- March 22 - Palestinians protest in the streets after an Israeli helicopter gunship fires a missile at the entourage of Ahmed Yassin in Gaza City, killing Yassin and 7 others.
- March 25 - British Prime Minister Tony Blair visits Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, in return for the dismantling of Libya's WMD programme in December 2003 - the first time a major western leader has visited the nation in several decades.
- March 28 - In France, the government of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin suffers a stunning and unprecedented defeat in regional elections. The first ever South Atlantic Hurricane makes landfall in South Brazil on the state of Santa Catarina, the Hurricane is dubbed Hurricane Catarina.
- March 29 - The Republic of Ireland bans smoking in all enclosed work places including: restaurants, pubs and bars.
- March 29 - Largest expansion of NATO to date, allowing Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia into the organization.
- March 31 - Four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed and their bodies mutilated after being ambushed in Fallujah, Iraq.
April

- April 1 - Faroese Prime Minister's Office announces that from then on the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's Office would use a new version of the Faroese Coat of Arms. The colours were inspired from the Merkið (flag) and yellow/gold was added. The new Coat of Arms depicts a Ram on a blue shield ready to defend. It can be used by the Government Ministries and by Faroese embassies, but some still use older versions of the Coat of Arms. Coat of Arms
- April 3 - A bomb explosion in a Madrid flat kills a Spanish policeman and five terrorists suspected of responsibility for the Madrid train bombings on March 11.
- April 4 - Serious fighting breaks out in Najaf, Sadr City, and Basra in Iraq as Shia insurgents supporting Muqtada al-Sadr rise against coalition forces.
- April 5 - Queen Elizabeth II begins a state visit to France to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale.
- April 8 - Darfur conflict: The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups.
- April 8 - Three Japanese citizens are taken hostage in Iraq.
- April 8 - Former Japanese famous economist, professor at Waseda University graduate school Kazuhide Uekusa was arrested on the escalator of JR Shinagawa Station because of trying to peep under high school girl's skirt with his hand mirror.
- April 16 - India defeats Pakistan in their first cricket tour in 14 years.
- April 17 - Israeli helicopters fire missiles at a convoy of vehicles in the Gaza Strip, killing the Gaza leader of Hamas, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi.
- April 20 - In Iraq, 12 mortars were fired on Abu Ghraib Prison by insurgents. Twenty two detainees were killed and 92 wounded. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-04-20-iraq_x.htm]
- April 21 - Mordechai Vanunu, who revealed an Israeli nuclear weapons programme in the 1980s, is released from prison in Israel after an 18 year term for treason.
- April 22 - Two trains carrying explosives and fuel collide in the North Korean town of Ryongchon, killing 161 people, injuring 1,300 and destroying thousands of homes.
- April 22 - The last coal mine in France closes, ending nearly 300 years of coal mining.
- April 25 - Referenda on a United Nations plan, which proposes to re-unite the island of Cyprus, take place in both the Greek and Turkish parts. Although the Turks vote in favour, the Greeks reject the proposal.
- April 28 - Abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq is revealed on the television show 60 Minutes II.
May

- May 1 - the largest expansion to date of the European Union takes place, extending the Union by 10 member-states: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta and Cyprus.
- May 6 - The final episode of Friends airs on NBC, drawing an estimated 52 million viewers in North America.
- May 8 - Would-be "Saudi Princess" "Antoinette Millard" surfaces in New York City and claims that muggers had stolen jewels worth of $262.000 from her (she later proves to be an impostor).
- May 9 - Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov is killed by landmine placed under a VIP stage during a World War II memorial parade in Grozny.
- May 9 - Team of Canada won the World Ice Hockey Championship in Prague.
- May 10 - The 2004 Philippine presidential and legislative elections take place. Incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wins the presidency.
- May 11 - An explosion destroys a plastics factory in Glasgow, UK, killing nine people and injuring over a hundred.
- May 12 - An American civilian contractor in Iraq, Nick Berg, is shown being decapitated by a group allegedly linked to al-Qaida on a web-distributed video.
- May 13 - In India, the Congress Party wins a surprise victory in the elections to the Lok Sabha.
- May 14 - Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, marries Australian Mary Donaldson in Copenhagen.
- May 17 - Ezzedine Salim, holder of the rotating leadership of the Iraqi Governing Council, is killed in a bomb blast in Baghdad.
- May 17 - Massachusetts legalizes same-sex marriage in compliance with a ruling from the state's Supreme Judicial Court (Goodridge v. Department of Public Health).
- May 19 - Tony Blair is hit with a purple flour bomb in the chamber of the House of Commons during a session of Prime Minister's Questions.
- May 19 - Jeremy Sivits pleads guilty in a court-martial in connection with alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
- May 23 - A section of the ceiling in Terminal 2E at Paris's Charles de Gaulle International Airport collapses, claiming at least six lives.
- May 23 - Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi visits North Korea to secure the release of the families of the nine abducted Japanese citizens returned earlier.
- May 26 - Terry Nichols is convicted by an Oklahoma state court on murder charges stemming from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
- May 29 - Dedication of the National World War II Memorial takes place in Washington, DC.
- May 30 - Thousands of people in Hong Kong take to the streets to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
June

- June 1 - Twelve-year-old Satomi Mitarai, a Japanese schoolgirl attending Okubo Elementary School in Sasebo, Japan is murdered. Her killer, an 11-year-old classmate identified by Japanese authorities as "Girl A", becomes the basis for the Nevada-tan Internet meme.
- June 4 - Marvin Heemeyer destroys many local buildings with a home-made tank in Grancby, Colorado
- June 5 - Former President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, dies at age 93.
- June 6 - The 60th anniversary of D-Day is remembered by world leaders.
- June 7 - Tampa Bay Lightning defeat Calgary Flames in 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.
- June 8 - The first transit of Venus since 1882 occurs; the next one will occur in 2012.
- June 8 - The G8 Summit takes place over the next 2 days on Sea Island, in Georgia, USA.
- June 8 - The pickled heart of Louis XVII of France is buried in the royal crypt at Saint-Denis.
- June 11 - Terry Nichols is spared the death penalty by an Oklahoma state court on murder charges stemming from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The decision came on the third anniversary of the execution of his co-defendant, Timothy James McVeigh, in Terre Haute, Indiana.
- June 11 - After the first presidential state funeral since 1973, President Ronald Wilson Reagan is laid to rest at Simi Valley, California, at the site of the Reagan Presidential Library.
- June 12 - A 1.3 kg chondrite type meteorite struck a house in Ellerslie, New Zealand causing serious damage but no injuries.Ellerslie, New Zealand
- June 15 - The Detroit Pistons upset the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers to win the 2004 NBA Finals, four games to one.
- June 16 - The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (or "9/11 Commission") issues an initial report of its findings.
- June 21 - SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately-funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.
- June 28 - Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains collided in a rural area outside of San Antonio, Texas. Forty cars were derailed, including one chlorine car, and three people died, another 50 people were hospitalized because of exposure to the gas.
- June 28 - The U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq transfers sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government.
- June 28 - Canadian election: The Liberal Party, led by Paul Martin, is reduced to a minority government, after holding a majority since November 1993.
- June 30 - The preliminary hearings begin in Iraq in the trial of former president Saddam Hussein, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
July

- July 1 - The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft arrives at Saturn.
- July 4 - Groundbreaking of Freedom Tower at Ground Zero in New York City.
- July 4 - The Euro 2004 final between Portugal and Greece takes place in Lisbon, Portugal. Greece wins the match 1:0.
- July 22 - The Old Bridge of Mostar in Bosnia-Herzegovina is reconstructed and reopened after being destroyed by Bosnian Croat forces on November 9, 1993.
- July 25 - Over 100,000 opponents to Israel's unilateral disengagement plan of 2004 participate in a human chain from Gush Katif, to the Western Wall, Jerusalem (90 kilometers).
- July 25 - Lance Armstrong of Austin, Texas wins an unprecedented 6th consecutive Tour de France cycling title.
August

- August 1 - Supermarket fire in Asunción, Paraguay, kills about 400 people and leaves over 100 missing.
- August 3 - Statue of Liberty reopens after security improvements.
- August 6 - A United Nations report that blames the government of Sudan for crimes against humanity in Darfur is released.
- August 12 - Singapore's prime minister Goh Chok Tong hands over his position to Lee Hsien Loong.
- August 13 - The 2004 Summer Olympics begin in Athens. They end on August 29.
- August 13 - Hurricane Charley kills 27 people in Florida after killing four in Cuba and one in Jamaica. Charley made landfall near Cayo Costa, FL as a Category 4 hurricane. Charley was the most intense hurricane to strike the United States since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
- August 16 - Severe flooding in the village of Boscastle in Cornwall.
- August 18 - In Dublin, Ireland the Dublin Port Tunnel excavation works were completed and the final tunnel boring machine breakthrough ceremony took place.
- August 21 - A series of blasts rocks a rally of an opposition party in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing at least 13 people.
- August 22 - Armed robbers steal Edvard Munch's The Scream, Madonna and other paintings from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.
- August 24 - Two airliners in Russia, carrying a total of 89 passengers, crash within minutes of each other after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, leaving no survivors. Authorities suspect suicide attacks by rebels from Chechnya to be the cause of the crashes.
- August 29 - Around 200,000 protesters demonstrate in New York City against President George W. Bush and his government, ahead of the 2004 Republican National Convention.
- August 31 - Two suicide attacks on buses in Beer Sheva, Israel, kill at least 16 people and injure at least 60. Hamas claims responsibility for the attacks.
- August 31 - A woman commits a suicide attack near a subway station in northern Moscow, Russia, killing at least 10 people and injuring at least 50. Authorities hold Chechen rebels responsible.
September

- September 1 - Chechen rebels take between 1,000 and 1,500 people hostage, mostly children, in a school in Beslan, Northern Ossetia. The hostage-takers demand the release of Chechen rebels imprisoned in neighbouring Ingushetia and the independence of Chechnya from Russia.
- September 2 - The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 1559 calling for the removal of all foreign troops from Lebanon. This measure is largely aimed at Syrian troops.
- September 3 - Russian forces end the siege at a school in Beslan, Northern Ossetia. At least 335 people (among which at least 32 of the approximately 40 hostage-takers) have been killed and at least 700 people have been injured.
- 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.
- September 7 - The Scottish Parliament meets in the new Scottish Parliament Building for the first time.
- September 7 - Hurricane Ivan passes directly over Grenada, killing 37 people. It passes over other Caribbean islands over the next two days, killing 5 people in Venezuela, 4 in the Dominican Republic, 1 in Tobago and 20 in Jamaica.
- September 8 - In the "Rathergate" affair, the first Internet posts appear pointing out that documents claimed by CBS News to be typewritten memos from the early 1970s appear instead to have been produced using modern word processing systems.
- September 9 - A bomb blast outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, kills eleven people and injures up to 100 people.
- September 13 - The Assault Weapons Ban expires.
- September 15 - Davíð Oddsson prime minister of Iceland steps down after serving as prime minister since April 30 1991. Oddson becomes foreign minister as his foreign minister Halldór Ásgrímsson becomes prime minister.
- September 15 - Security at the Palace of Westminster is compromised when the House of Commons is stormed by a small group of protestors during a debate about fox hunting.
- September 15 - "Girl A" is sentenced to be institutionalized due to the murder of classmate Satomi Mitarai.
- September 16 - Hurricane Ivan strikes Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 3 storm, killing 25 in Alabama and Florida.
- September 17 - 2004 Summer Paralympics commences in Athens, Greece.
- September 17 - Mexico and Japan finish the two year long negotiations and sign a Free Trade Agreement in Mexico City.
- September 23 - Mount St. Helens becomes active again.
- September 23 - Tropical Storm Ivan, having come around and reformed in the Gulf of Mexico, makes its final landfall near Cameron, Louisiana, to little effect. In total, the storm killed 92 people.
- September 25 - Hurricane Jeanne makes landfall near Hutchinson Island, FL. In all, Jeanne killed over 3,000, most in Haiti.
- September 29 - First Ansari X-Prize flight of SpaceShipOne.
October

- October 4 - Two car bombs kill at least 16 people and injure dozens more in Baghdad.
- October 5 - A fire breaks out on the Canadian submarine HMCS Chicoutimi leaving it stranded without power in the North Atlantic ocean, off the north coast of Ireland. One crewmember is killed.
- October 8 - Kenneth Bigley, the British hostage held by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an Iraqi insurgent, is killed after a failed escape attempt.
- October 8 - Suicide bombers detonate two bombs at the Red Sea resort of Taba, Egypt, killing 34 people, mainly Israeli tourists and Egyptian workers.
- October 9 - Queen Elizabeth II opens the new Scottish Parliament Building in a ceremony in Edinburgh
- October 9 - Incumbent Prime Minister of Australia John Howard leads the Liberal-National coalition to victory over the Labor Party led by Mark Latham in federal elections.
- October 9 - Direct elections for president held for the first time in Afghanistan. Interim president Hamid Karzai is eventually declared the winner.
- October 10 - Abdullahi Yusuf is chosen as the new transitional president of Somalia.
- October 14 - Prince Norodom Sihamoni is chosen as the new king of Cambodia.
- October 16 - The New York Yankees defeat the Boston Red Sox, 19-8 in Game 3 of Major League Baseball's American League Championship Series. The game, which pushed the Yankees to a 3 games to none series lead, sets a record for longest nine inning baseball game.
- October 17 - A referendum in Belarus approves the lifting of constitutional term limits for the presidency.
- October 18 - Three men attack Greek journalist Philippos Syrigos in Athens and seriously wound him
- October 19 - General Khin Nyunt is replaced by Lieutenant-General Soe Win as Prime Minister of Myanmar.
- October 20 - The Boston Red Sox defeat the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, completing an unprecedented comeback from three games to none down.
- October 20 - Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 crashes in Missouri, killing 13 people, and injuring 2.
- October 20 - Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono becomes the first directly-elected President of Indonesia.
- October 21 - The Ministry of Defence approves the deployment of the Black Watch regiment of the British Army to Baghdad, Iraq after a request for assistance by the U.S. government.
- October 24 - The bodies of 49 Iraqi soldiers discovered after being ambushed by insurgents.
- October 24 - Brazil successfully launches its first rocket into space.
- October 25 - Reverand Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and Coretta Scott King receive Congressional Gold Medal.
- October 26 - October 26The Cassini probe passes within 1,200km of Titan
- October 27 - Details of the discovery of a new, recent, species of fossil hominid, Homo floresiensis, from the island of Flores, Indonesia are published.
- October 27 - The Boston Red Sox sweep the St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series championship for the first time since 1918.
- October 29 - A videotape of Osama Bin Laden speaking airs on Arabic TV, in which he threatens terrorist attacks on the United States, and taunts the president, George W. Bush, over the September 11 Terrorist attacks.
- October 29 - European heads of state signed in Rome the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution.
- October 30 - A 163 metre high radio mast in Peterborough, UK collapsed at a fire
- October 31 - Leftist candidate Tabaré Vázquez is elected President of Uruguay.
November

- November 1 - a 16 year old Palestinian, a muslim, blew himself up in an outdoor market in Tel Aviv, killing three Israelis.
- November 2 - U.S. presidential election: President George W. Bush defeats Senator John Kerry. Republicans make gains in the Jazz Age" or primarily in North America and in Australia as the "Roaring Twenties" . In Europe it is sometimes refered to as the Golden Twenties. See 1920s Berlin. ----
Events and trends
Since the closing of the 20th Century, the 1920s has drawn close associations with the 1990s, especially in the United States. This due to the fact both decades were considered very economically prosperous times, and a prosperity which lasted throughout almost the entire decade following a tremendous event at the closing of the previous decade (World War I and Spanish flu in the late 1910s, and the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s). In Australia, this decade was known as the Roaring Twenties. Despite the comparisons, however, there were a number of differences. First of all, Germany, like many other European countries, had to face a severe economic downturn in the opening years of the decade, due to the enormous debt caused by the war as well as the one-sided Treaty of Versailles. Such a crisis would culminate with a devaluation of the Mark in 1923, eventually leading to economic prosperity during the remainder of the period. Second, the decade was characterized by the rise of radical political movements, especially in regions that were once part of empires. Communism began attracting large numbers of followers following the success of the October Revolution and the Bolsheviks' determination to win the subsequent Russian Civil War. The Bolsheviks would eventually adopt semi-capitalist policies-- New Economic Policy-- from 1921 to 1928. The 1920s also experienced the rise of the far-right in Europe and elsewhere, starting with Italy, and were perceived by some in the Western world as an antidote to Communism. The Stock Market collapsed during October 1929 (see Black Tuesday) and drew a line under prosperous 1920s.
Technology

- John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as "Tommy gun"
- John Logie Baird invents the first working mechanical television system (1925)
- Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean (20 May-21 May 1927)
- Penicillin is discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming (1928)
- Philo T. Farnsworth invents the modern electronic CRT television
- Insulin is discovered by Frederick Banting during the winter of 1921-1922
Science

- Great advances in quantum mechanics
- Wave mechanics and the Schrödinger equation
- Werner Heisenberg formulates the uncertainty principle
- Paul Dirac's unification of quantum mechanics with special relativity
- Prediction and discovery of the expanding universe
War, peace and politics

- Rise of communism after World War I
- The Red Scare in the United States (1920-1921)
- In the United States, peak of the Ku Klux Klan (about five million members)
- In the United States, KKK auxiliaries established.
- Irish Civil War
- The Irish Free State gains independence from the United Kingdom in 1922
- Marie C. Brehm becomes temperance movement leader.
- Turkish War of Independence
- Moderation League of New York worked for repeal of prohibition.
- Polish-Soviet war
- First Labour Government of Ramsay MacDonald formed in the United Kingdom
- Kellogg-Briand Pact to end war
- Prohibition leaders were at the height of their power.
Economics

- Economic boom ended by "Black Tuesday" (October 29, 1929); the stock market crashes, leading to the Great Depression
Culture, religion

- Prohibition — legal attempt to end consumption of alcohol in Canada, the USA, and Finland
- Youth culture of The Lost Generation; flappers, the Charleston, and bobbed hair
- "The Jazz Age" — jazz and jazz-influenced dance music widely popular
- Women's suffrage movement continues to make gains as women obtain full voting rights in the United States in 1920, in Denmark in 1921, and in England in 1928; and women begin to enter the workplace in larger numbers
- In the US, gangsters and the rise of organized crime, often associated with bootleg liquor, in defiance of Prohibition.
- Rum rows are established to import bootleg alcoholic beverages into U.S.
- First commercial radio station in the U.S. goes onair in Pittsburgh, in 1920, and radio quickly becomes a popular entertainment medium
- Methodist Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals defends alcohol prohibition in U.S.
- Start of motion pictures with sound tracks in 1927
- Beginning of surrealist movement
- Beginning of the Art Deco movement
- Fads such as dance marathons, mah-jongg, crossword puzzles and pole-sitting are popular
- The height of the clip joint
- The Harlem Renaissance
- The Scopes Monkey Trial (1925) which questioned evolution, creationism, and the right to teach
- Bishop James Cannon, Jr. becomes a U.S. temperance movement leader.
- The Group of Seven (artists)
- Repeal organizations organized to fight national prohibition in U.S.
- Minister Daisy Douglas Barr heads Women's Ku Klux Klan (WKKK).
People

World leaders

- Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (Canada)
- President Sun Yat-sen (Republic of China)
- President Chiang Kai-shek (Republic of China)
- President Paul von Hindenburg (Germany)
- King Victor Emmanuel III (Italy)
- Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (Italy)
- President W.T. Cosgrave (Irish Free State)
- President Mustafa Kemal(Attaturk) (Turkey)
- Emperor Hirohito (Japan)
- Pope Pius XI
- Vladimir Lenin (Soviet Union)
- Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)
- King George V (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister David Lloyd George (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald (United Kingdom)
- President Woodrow Wilson (United States)
- President Warren G. Harding (United States)
- President Calvin Coolidge (United States)
- President Herbert Hoover (United States)
- Prime Minister Jason Bailey (Canada)
- Peebodie Mike Hawk (Guatamala)
Entertainers

- Charlie Chaplin
- George Gershwin
- Duke Ellington
- Fletcher Henderson
- Al Jolson
- Jelly Roll Morton
- Cole Porter
- Bessie Smith
- Rudy Vallee
- Paul Whiteman
- Louis Armstrong
- Eddie Cantor
- Helen Kane
- Buster Keaton
Sports figures

- Alex James (Arsenal & Scotland footballer)
- Babe Ruth (American baseball player)
- Bill Tilden (American tennis player)
- Bobby Jones (American golfer)
- Gordon Coventry (Australian Rules Football player)
- Herbert Sutcliffe (Yorkshire & England cricketer)
- Jack Dempsey (American boxer)
- Jack Hobbs (Surrey & England cricketer)
- Red Grange (American football player)
- Warwick Armstrong (Australian cricket captain)
- Wilfred Rhodes (Yorkshire & England cricketer)
- Helen Wills Moody (American tennis player)
External links

- [http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/keys/games/game_0_1920s/ Quiz: Life in the Roaring Twenties] Category:1920s ko:1920년대 ja:1920年代 simple:1920s

Category:Sport in Devon

Category:Devon Devon

Leinefelde-Worbis

Leinefelde-Worbis is een stad in de Duitse deelstaat Thüringen, gelegen in het district Eichsfeld. De stad heeft ongeveer 21.500 inwoners. Categorie:Thüringen

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