On December 3, 2001, a young buck named Happy Lendervedder agreed to the SDMB terms of service and logged in for the very first time.
… Tom Ridge, head of Homeland Security, ordered a state of high alert across the US to at least the end of Ramadan in 2 weeks.
… Gov. Gray Davis of California met with Pres. Fox and Mexican legislators in Mexico City to discuss economic solutions on mutual interests.
… In New Jersey, Judge Clarkson S. Fisher began jailing striking teachers, who defied his back-to-work order.
… Dean Kamen, inventor, unveiled his battery-powered, 12 mph Segway Human Transporter in NYC. Kamen had spent $100 million over the last decade to develop the vehicle.
…Mary J. Blige’s ‘Family Affair’ was the #1 song.
…Ocean’s 11 was the #1 movie.
…Brand new television shows people were talking about: ‘Six Feet Under,’ 'According to Jim,’ ‘Law & Order: CI,’ ‘Star Trek: Enterprise,’ ‘Alias,’ ‘Lizzie McGuire,’ ‘Fear Factor,’ and ‘That’s My Bush!’
I registered April 23, 2000. It was Easter, and therefore my family was partaking in our usual Easter tradition of having a big meal with some relatives.
Also on that day:
[ul]
[li]Elian Gonzalez spent a secluded Easter with his father at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, a day after the six-year-old boy was removed from his Miami relatives’ home in a pre-dawn raid by immigration agents.[/li][li]In China Li Chenglong (48), deputy mayor of Guigang city, was executed. He had been convicted of corruption during his term as Communist Party secretary of Yulin city between 1991 and 1996.[/li][li]In Iran 5 liberal publications were shut down and Latif Safari, director of the banned Neshat daily, was jailed.[/li][li]Jordan’s King Abdullah II made his first state visit to Israel and spent 4 hours in Eilat with Prime Minister Barak.[/li][/ul]
Recent film releases in the US were U-571, Love & Basketball, and Gossip, but 28 Days and American Psycho had come out the previous week and were likely still playing in theaters; popular songs were “Maria Maria” by Santana featuring The Product G&B, “Smooth” by Santana featuring Rob Thomas, “What a Girl Wants” by Christina Aguilera, “The Bad Touch” by The Bloodhound Gang, “Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit, “Sleep Now In The Fire” by Rage Against The Machine, and “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down.
Not much here. On September 14th, 1999, Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga joined the United Nations. The number one pop song appeared to be either Lou Bega’s Mambo No 5, or Vengaboys’s We’re Going To Ibiza, which is a bit sad. There was a surprising amount of latin pop on the charts that year, from Ricky Martin, Christina Aguilera, and Enrique Iglesias.
Heavy fighting is reported overnight in the Damascus suburb of al-Abbaseen between Syrian government forces and the Free Syrian Army.
Madonna exposes her right breast on stage in Istanbul.
Lady Gaga suffers a concussion after smacking her head with a pole during a show in New Zealand.
More than 80 people die in a landslide triggered by two earthquakes in Afghanistan; an entire village is buried.
Al-Shabaab offers a reward of 10 camels for information about the whereabouts of Barack Obama and chickens for information on Hillary Clinton in response to the U.S. announcement of rewards of $3-7 million for various militant commanders.
The Parliament of Albania elects Bujar Nishani President of the Republic of Albania.
In tennis, Rafael Nadal wins the men’s singles at the 2012 French Open.
Gee, I’m coming up on my 10th anniversary, Jan. 12, 2006. No major news events, but among the tidbits I found:
Pat Robertson apologizes to Ariel Sharon’s son for saying Sharon’s stroke was “divine retribution” for dividing God’s land.
And…
Pamela Anderson (with the help of PETA) leads a campaign to have the bust of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Harland Sanders removed from the Kentucky state capitol.
On Aug 27, 2008, in Colorado Democrats officially made Barack Obama their presidential nominee and Sen. Joe Biden their vice presidential nominee. Obama made a surprise late visit to the convention.
…The Group of Seven (G7) industrialized democracies condemned Russia for its actions in Georgia, underlining the country’s growing estrangement from the West.
…In Mexico a 38-year-old man from Oregon was arrested in San Jose del Cabo following a fight at an apartment complex. He died in jail hours later. On Aug 31 six Mexican officers placed under house arrest on suspicion of homicide.
… In Spain tens of thousands of people from around the world hurled tons of ripe tomatoes at each other in the annual food fight in the eastern Spanish town of Bunol.
On December 16, 2008, pirates were in the news and I was joining the Straight Dope:
Somali pirates hijacked a tugboat belonging to total SA off the Yemeni coast. On August 3 pirates freed the tugboat TB Masindra 7, its attached Indonesian barge ADM1 and its 11 Indonesian sailors after a ransom was paid to end the second-longest hostage saga off the coast of Somalia.
The UN Security Council approved land and air attacks on pirate bases in Somalia.
In eastern Afghanistan police and US troops in Khost province killed three insurgents suspected of links to Al-Qaeda, denying local claims that the victims were civilians.
Bangladesh’s military-backed government said it will end nearly two years of emergency rule and restore civil liberties before this month’s national elections.
In Greece protesters forced their way into Greece’s state NET television news studio and interrupted a news broadcast featuring the prime minister so they could urge viewers to join mass anti-government demonstrations.
In Israel a bus filled with 49 passengers plunged into a desert ravine near the resort town of Eilat. 24 Russian travel agents were killed. In 2014 the bus driver was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
This is all from the timeline.ws link Happy Lendervedder provided.
Oh and from the playbackfm link, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” was the number one song.
[ul]
[li]Beck’s new album Guero is released.[/li][li]At the New York-Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center, Neil Young has successful surgery for a brain aneurysm using a minimally invasive neuroradiological procedure.[/li][li]The E-mail spammer Scott Richter of “OptInRealBig.com” has filed for bankruptcy protection in Denver. The reason claimed is a costly legal battle with Microsoft. [/li][li]MGM Studios v. Grokster, an important lawsuit regarding the future of peer-to-peer file sharing, is heard before the United States Supreme Court. (CNN)[/li][/ul]
The Supreme Court of Canada handed down in decision in Smith v. Jones, deciding once and for all which is the most generic last name in the English language.
It was the 285th day of the year 1999 in the Gregorian calendar. There were 80 days remaining until the end of the year. The day of the week was Tuesday.
Pervez Musharraf took power in Pakistan from Nawaz Sharif through a bloodless coup.
The Day of Six Billion: The proclaimed 6 billionth living human in the world was born.
The former Autonomous Soviet Republic of Abkhazia declared its independence from Georgia
… and Dragwyr signed onto the SDMB. The post is gone, but I signed up to ask about low-flow toilets.
On August 27, 2008, there was a minute break in the time-space continuum. Any event that may have occurred on that date actually occurred the preceding day (August 26) or the following day (August 28).
However, one event date has not changed. There was a changing of the SDMB hamsters on August 27, 2008, an extremely rare event. During the changeover the SDMB recorded BigT joining the SDMB.
July 3, 2010, a bunch of people were arrested for a variety of (mostly petty) crimes in whatever part of New Hampshire relies on The Lowell Sun as a news source. That’s the only news related archive that comes up when I Google that date. Also, according to a Yahoo.com search, the city of Riverside, CA made public a list of various zoning and building permits issued to local businesses and residents during the previous week.
