December 11th Major News Events

1997 Royal Yacht Britannia decommissioned

1997 : The Royal Yacht Britannia was decommissioned 1997. Royal Yacht Britannia Timeline

1967 Vietnam -- Viet Cong

Forty-six American soldiers were wounded and seven were killed in three confrontations with the Viet Cong 50 miles north of Saigon. Packages of heroine were found on some of the Viet Cong soldiers. An army doctor speculated that it makes them intoxicated so that they don't fear getting injured or dying.

1975 Iceland -- Cod War

An Icelandic gunboat opens fire on unarmed British fishery support vessels in the North Atlantic Sea, as part of the ongoing COD WAR caused when Iceland extended its control over fishing rights from 50 to 200 nautical miles from its coast .

1979 Cuba -- Castro Regime

1979 : Huber Matos, a favoured lieutenant under Castro, came to despise his former leader. Matos was to spend 20 years in prison under inhuman conditions because he didn't't believe in what Castro was doing. Matos claimed that Castro became communist rather than trying democracy because under communism he could rule Cuba for a lifetime.

1979 Rhodesia -- Britain Gets Back Control

The Rhodesian Parliament hands power back to Britain until democratic elections can take place. The country will be renamed Zimbabwe after the elections.

1981 El Salvador -- 900 killed in Massacre

Salvadoran armed forces kill nearly 1000 civilians as part of an anti-guerrilla campaign in the village of El Mozote and surrounding areas in El Salvador. The news was suppressed for a month by the authorities but reporters from the New York Times and the Washington Post did visit and confirm the murders and exposed them in January 1982

1985 U.S.A. -- The Unabomber

The Unabomber kills his first victim, Hugh Scrutton who is killed in his computer store in Sacramento, California, by a mail package that explodes in his hands. The Unabomber had detonated his first bomb in May 1978 on the Chicago campus of the University of Illinois

1986 Spain -- Pesticides

Scientists have discovered that pesticides have poisoned 5,000-10,000 birds during the previous September in Spain.. The enormous numbers of deaths occurred in a rice growing region on the Atlantic seaboard in southern Spain.

1986 England -- AIDS

As the number of people infected with the AIDS virus increases in England new campaigns are launched including the "Play Safe" campaign which aims to encourage people to have only one sexual partner and to use a condom as protection against diseases. And the "Aids: Don't die of ignorance". campaign which explains how the disease is spread.

1990 U.S.A. -- Ivana Trump

Ivana Trump a former Olympic athlete and fashion model filed for divorce from real estate mogul Donald Trump after he had an affair with a former beauty queen from Georgia, Marla Maples.

1993 Malaysia -- Tower Block Collapses

One block of the Highland Towers apartment building collapses killing 48, the cause of the collapse was through structural failure caused by improper construction of the pilings. Following the collapse the other 2 towers that made up Highland Towers are closed and abandoned due to safety concerns.

1993 Ukraine -- Soldiers Visit US

Ukrainian soldiers who a couple of years ago were sworn enemies of the U.S. were hosted at Fort Drum and got to see all the American military equipment. The U.S. Defense Department explained the visit "as part of our effort to expand the defense relationships between the U.S, Ukraine, and other countries."

1994 Chechnya -- Russia Sends In Troops

1994 : Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders tanks and troops into the rebel region of Chechnya to restore constitutional order, the mostly Muslim region had declared independence from Moscow and had been having problems with rebels who it is believed were funded by Moscow. The war continued for nearly 2 years when Chechnya was given substantial autonomy but not full independence.

1997 Japan -- Kyoto Protocol

150 countries agreed at a global warming conference in Kyoto, Japan, to take steps to control the greenhouse gas emissions, The objective of the Kyoto Protocol is to achieve "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system

2001 Great Britain -- Post Office Workers

Consignia who now runs the Post Office service has announced up to 30,000 Post Office workers could lose their jobs over the next 18 months, as part of a £1.2bn cost-cutting package

2004 Austria -- Viktor Yushchenko

After falling ill in September 2004 doctors in Austria determined that Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko had been poisoned with dioxin, which caused the severe disfigurement and partial paralysis of his face.

2005 Israel -- Security Breech

Israel demanded that Palestine provide more security at the newly opened Gaza border crossing with Egypt. Israel claimed that because Palestinians did not supply them with information on people crossing this border 15 militants got into Israel.

2005 England -- Buncefield Oil Depot Explosions

A series of massive explosions led to an enormous fire at one of Britain's largest oil depots ( Buncefield oil depot near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire ) sending thick black smoke drifting up to 40 miles away.

2006 United Nations -- Kofi Annan’s final speech

Kofi Annan makes his last speech as U.N. secretary general, and calls upon the U.S. not to lose sight of its core principles during the fight on terror. Mr. Annan said that states should be accountable for their actions, and the U.N. was the only body where this could be assured. In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Mr Annan was entitled to his opinions.

2006 Iran -- Iran defends Holocaust denial

Iran's foreign minister rejects criticism of the two-day conference being held in Iran that examined whether the Holocaust actually happened. Manouchehr Mottaki told its participants that the event did not seek to confirm or deny the Holocaust, but but allow people to "express their views freely". Israel's prime minister has condemned the gathering, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned the scale of the Holocaust, in which six million Jews died.

2007 Algeria -- UN Building Bombed

Al-Qaeda terrorists plant a car bomb at the United Nations office in Algiers killing 11 United Nations employees. The terrorists also plant a massive bomb the cities Constitutional Council Offices in the city killing up to 20 including a number of students in a bus who were passing the building.

2007 U.S.A. -- The Federal Reserve cuts interest rates

The Federal Reserve is cutting the key short-term interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point (to 4.25 percent). Its concern about the credit crisis has led to the cut in the rate at which financial institutions lend money to each other for very short periods, although it might not end their reluctance to lend externally. It has been admitted that this could push the economy towards recession. Concern that subprime mortgage problems might have made banks and other lenders reluctant to lend money for other activities is ongoing.

2008 U.S.A. -- Bank of America says it will be cutting 30,000 to 35,000 jobs over the next three years

The Bank of America Corporation says that it is planning on cutting 30,000 to 35,000 positions over the next three years as a result of its acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. and the current economic situation. They admit that the final number of job cuts won’t be known for some time. The companies together employ 307,000 people, including about 60,000 at New York-based Merrill Lynch. A Bank of America spokesman says the majority of job losses will come over 2009.

2008 U.S.A. -- Car Companies Bail Out

Negotiations are under way in the U.S. Senate to secure Republican backing for a $14 billion U.S. car industry bail-out bill. The Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid says that talks are progressing, and the Senate should vote that day. The House of Representatives had passed the Democrat and White House-backed bill on 10th, but the measure has faced opposition from Senate Republicans. Republican senators block the proposal on the 11th.

2011 Panama -- Manuel Noriega Returns to Panama

2011 : Former leader of Panama, Manuel Noriega, was extradited back to Panama from France where he had been held. Noriega was taken straight to prison after being convicted (in absentia) of crimes that he had committed like murdering political opponents, embezzlement, and corruption in the 1980s when he was in power. The 77 year old Noriega had spent 20 years in prison in the United States after being arrested by US troops and convicted of several charges and was then transported to France in 2010 to serve time for crimes he was convicted of there, like money laundering. He was finally taken back to Panama after a French court approved a request from Panama.

2012 Russia -- Opera Singer Dies

Russian opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya died at the age of eighty-six. Vishnevskaya had a forty yea rcareer and had performed many soprano roles in classic operas.

2013 India -- India Reinstates Anti-Gay Law

The Indian Supreme Court upheld a 153-year-old colonial law that banned gay sex in the country. The law had been previously overturned by a Delhi High Court order in 2009. The law makes the offense punishable by up to ten years in prison. The move prompted the Indian government to announce considerations in making law that would decriminalize gay sex.