Swimmers Pham Thi Van

Events in 2005 and 21-1

Events in the world in the birth year of Pham Thi Van

• Worldwide aid pours in to help the eleven Asian countries devastated by the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami (Jan.). See Tsunami Factfile.
• Mahmoud Abbas wins presidency of the Palestinian Authority in a landslide. This is the first presidential election for Palestinians since 1996 (Jan. 9).
• The Sudanese government and Southern rebels sign a peace agreement to end a 20-year civil war that has claimed the lives of two million people (Jan. 9).
• Iraqi elections to select a 275-seat National Assembly take place despite threats of violence (Jan. 30). See also Iraq; Iraq Timeline.
• Former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri—a nationalist who had called for Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon—is assassinated (Feb. 14). Weeks of protests ensue.
• Violent protests follow elections in Kygyzstan (March 13), which international monitors deem severely flawed. President Askar Akayev flees the country and then resigns (April 4).
• Pope John Paul II Dies (April 2). Benedict XVI becomes the next pope (April 24).
• The Syrian military, stationed in Lebanon for 29 years, withdraws (April 26).
• Tony Blair becomes first Labour Party prime minister to win three successive terms, but his party loses a large number of seats in the elections (May 5).
• The European Union abandons plans to ratify the proposed European constitution by 2006 after both France and the Netherlands vote against it (June 16).
• Former Teheran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hard-line conservative, wins Iran's presidential election with 62% of the vote. He defiantly pursues Iran's nuclear ambitions over the course of his first year in office (June 24).
• London hit by Islamic terrorist bombings, killing 52 and wounding about 700. It is Britain's worst attack since World War II (July 7).
• Group of Eight industrial nations pledge to double aid to Africa to $50 billion a year by 2010, cancel the debt of many poor countries, and open trade (July 8).
• Pentagon assessment finds Iraq's police force is, at best, "partially capable" of fighting the country's insurgency. The U.S.'s eventual withdrawal plan hinges upon Iraqi security forces replacing U.S. soldiers: "As Iraqis stand up, Americans will stand down," President Bush had stated (July 20). See also Iraq; Iraq Timeline.
• The Irish Republican Army announces it is officially ending its violent campaign for a united Ireland and will instead pursue its goals politically (July 27). See also Northern Ireland Peace Process.
• The Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) sign a peace accord to end their nearly 30-year-long civil war (Aug. 15).
• Israel begins evacuating about 8,000 Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip, which has been occupied by Israel for the last 38 years (Aug. 15).
• A 7.6 earthquake centered in the Pakistani-controlled part of the Kashmir region kills more than 80,000 and leaves an estimated 4 million homeless (Oct. 2).
• Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, which narrowly prevailed over Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's Social Democratic Party in September elections becomes the country's first female chancellor (Oct. 10).
• Millions of Iraqi voters ratify a new constitution (Oct. 15).
• Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein goes on trial for the killing of 143 people in the town of Dujail, Iraq, in 1982 (Oct 19).
• Several weeks of violent rioting begins in the impoverished French-Arab and French-African suburbs of Paris after two boys are accidentally killed while hiding from police (Oct 27).
• Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf becomes Africa's first woman elected head of state (Nov. 11).
• Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon quits as head of the Likud Party, which he founded, to start a new, more centrist organization, called Kadima (Nov. 21).
• About 11 million Iraqis (70% of the country's registered voters) turn out to select their first permanent Parliament since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein (Dec. 15). See also Iraq; Iraq Timeline.
• See also People in the News, 2005 and 2005 News Quizzes.

Birthday Pham Thi Van (21-1) in history

• Day 21-1 year 1793: King Louis XVI was beheaded for treason.
• Day 21-1 year 1915: The first Kiwanis Club was founded in Detroit.
• Day 21-1 year 1924: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin died in Moscow.
• Day 21-1 year 1950: Former State department official Alger Hiss found guilty of perjury.
• Day 21-1 year 1954: USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine was launched.
• Day 21-1 year 1977: President Carter pardoned most Vietnam War draft evaders.
• Day 21-1 year 2003: The U.S. Census Bureau reported that Hispanics had surpassed Blacks as the largest minority group.
• Day 21-1 year 2010: In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that the government cannot restrict the spending of corporations for political campaigns, maintaining that it's their First Amendment right to support candidates as they choose. This decision upsets two previous precedents on the free-speech rights of corporations.