- 1611
| Jan 02 | Elizabeth Bathway is tried in Hungary for the murder of 610 persons, most for their blood for a bath to make her flesh look younger. She is convicted and walled up in her room with a small opening for food and toilet. She dies on August 12, 1614. | Ref: 52 |
- 1614
| Aug 21 | Elizabeth Bathway, convicted of 610 murders in 1611, dies in her "jail". | Ref: 52 |
- 1875
| Jul 04 | White Democrats kill several blacks in terrorist attacks in Vicksburg. | Ref: 5 |
- 1885
| Nov 03 | Tacoma vigilantes drive out Chinese, burn their homes & businesses. | Ref: 5 |
- 1888
| Aug 06 | Martha Turner is murdered by an unknown assailant, believed to be Jack the Ripper, in London, England. | Ref: 2 |
| Aug 31 | Mary Ann Nicholls a 42-year-old prostitute, was found stabbed to death in London, first of at least five murders by Jack the Ripper. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 08 | Annie Chapman is murdered, believed to be the second of five women murdered by Jack "The Ripper". | Ref: 8 |
| Sep 30 | Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes are murdered, believed to be the third and fourth of five women murdered by Jack "The Ripper". | Ref: 8 |
| Nov 09 | Mary Jane Kelly is murdered, believed to be the last of five women murdered by Jack "The Ripper". | Ref: 8 |
- 1912
| May 20 | Joseph Proce 3rd victim of NYC's Zodiac killer (survives), is born. | Ref: 5 |
- 1920
| Sep 16 | Thirty people are killed in a terrorist bombing in New York's Wall Street financial district. | Ref: 2 |
- 1925
| May 30 | British mariners shoot on demonstrators. | Ref: 5 |
- 1928
| May 23 | Bomb attack on Italian embassy in Buenos Aires, 22 die. | Ref: 5 |
- 1929
| Feb 14 | The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. in Chicago, the first organized crime massacre of national notoriety occurs when gunmen in the employment of gangster Al Capone murder seven members of the "Bugs" Moran gang in a garage on North Clark Street. | Ref: 3 |
- 1931
| Oct 16 | Trunk murderess Winnie Ruth Judd chops first. | Ref: 5 |
- 1938
| Apr 18 | Headless Mad Butcher victim found in Cleveland. | Ref: 5 |
- 1939
| Nov 18 | The Irish Republican Army explodes three bombs in Picadilly Circus. | Ref: 2 |
- 1940
| Nov 18 | George Matesky Mad Bomber's first time bomb. | Ref: 5 |
- 1941
| Dec 06 | Richard Speck, mass murderer (killed 8 student nurses in 1966), is born. | Ref: 24 |
- 1942
| Mar 17 | John Wayne Gacy Jr Chicago IL, serial killer (32 boys), is born. | Ref: 5 |
- 1946
| Jun 29 | British authorities arrested more than 2,700 Jews in Palestine in an attempt to stamp out alleged terrorism. | Ref: 70 |
| Jul 22 | Jewish extremists blew up a wing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing about 100 people. | Ref: 70 |
- 1948
| Feb 22 | Arabs bomb attack in Jerusalem, 50 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 29 | Stern-group bomb Cairo-Haifa train, 27 British soldiers died. | Ref: 5 |
| May 27 | Arabs blow up Jewish synagogue Hurvat Rabbi Yehudah he-Hasid. | Ref: 5 |
- 1949
| Sep 06 | Howard Unruh steps into the streets of his hometown of Camden NJ and kills 13 people in 12 minutes. He is captured and sent to a mental hospital. | Ref: 52 |
- 1952
| Apr 01 | Abdel Basset Ali Al-Megrahi Tripoli Libya, bomber (Pan Am 103), is born. | Ref: 5 |
- 1955
| Apr 01 | EOKA-bomb attacks against British government buildings in Cyprus. | Ref: 5 |
- 1956
| Mar 09 | British authorities arrest and deport Archbishop Makarios from Cyprus. He is accused of supporting terrorists. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 04 | Lamen Khalifa Fhimah Suk Giuma Libya, bomber (Pan Am Flight 103), is born. | Ref: 5 |
| May 28 | Germaine Montenesdro 2nd victim of NYC's Zodiac killer (survives), is born. | Ref: 5 |
- 1957
| Jan 22 | Mad Bomber (George P Metesky) accused of 30 explosions, arrested. | Ref: 5 |
| May 29 | Algerian rebels kill 336 collaborators. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 09 | Nashville's new Hattie Cotton Elementary School dynamited. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 29 | A hand grenade explodes in Israel's Knesset (Parliament). | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 16 | Ed Gein butchers last victim. | Ref: 5 |
- 1959
| Feb 20 | Joel Rifkind New York serial killer, is born. | Ref: 5 |
- 1961
| Jan 22 | A Portuguese ocean liner, the "Santa Maria," was hijacked in the Caribbean with some 600 passengers aboard; the drama ended eleven days later when the ship docked in Brazil. | Ref: 6 |
| Feb 02 | The 600 passengers of a hijacked Portuguese ocean liner, the "Santa Maria," were allowed to disembark in Brazil. | Ref: 6 |
| Dec 17 | Disgruntled employee set fire to a Niteroi Circus of Rio de Janeiro circus tent in Niteroi Brazil; 323 die. | Ref: 5 |
- 1962
| Apr 08 | Dara: British liner exploded and sank in Persian Gulf; 236 dead. Caused by time bomb. | Ref: 85 |
| Jun 14 | Anna Sleasers first Boston Strangler victim. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 25 | A black church is destroyed by fire in Macon Georgia. | Ref: 5 |
- 1963
| Sep 15 | Four children were killed when a bomb went off during Sunday services at a black Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama. (Go to article.) | Ref: 70 |
- 1965
| Feb 16 | Four persons are held in a plot to blow up the Statue of Liberty, Liberty Bell and the Washington Monument. | Ref: 2 |
- 1966
| Mar 08 | An IRA bomb destroyed Nelson's Column in Dublin. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 14 | Richard Speck rapes & kills 8 nurses in a Chicago dormitory. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 01 | Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, shoots and kills 16 people and wounds 31 others at the University of Texas before he was killed by police. | Ref: 72 |
- 1967
| Jan 18 | Albert DeSalvo, who claimed to be the "Boston Strangler," is convicted in Cambridge, Massachusetts, of armed robbery, assault and sex offenses. (Sentenced to life, DeSalvo was killed by a fellow inmate in 1973.) (Addendum: In December 2001, DNA evidence failed to link DeSalvo to the last Boston Strangler victim, castingthe killer's identity further in doubt.) | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 15 | Richard Speck is arrested for the murder of eight nurses in Chicago the previous July. | Ref: 68 |
| Jun 05 | Murderer Richard Speck sentenced to death in the electric chair. | Ref: 5 |
- 1968
| Feb 02 | Springer Publishers in West Berlin, bombed. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 03 | Greece, Portugal & Spain's embassies bombed in the Hague. | Ref: 5 |
| May 30 | University church in Leipzig German Democratic Republic, blown up. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 23 | PLO's first hijacking of an El Al plane. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 05 | 21 killed by hijackers aboard a Pan Am jet in Karachi Pakistan. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 23 | Four men hijack an American plane, with 87 passengers, from Miami to Cuba. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 26 | Arab terrorists in Athens fire on El Al plane, killing 1. | Ref: 5 |
- 1969
| Feb 18 | PLO-attack El-Al plane in Zurich Switzerland. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 10 | (Manson) In the early morning hours, Family members stab to death Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. The words "Death to Pigs" and "Healter [sic] Skelter" are found printed on a wall and a refrigerator door. | Ref: 87 |
| Dec 08 | Police surprise attack on Black-Panthers in Los Angeles. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 12 | Bomb attack on bank in Milan, 14 killed. | Ref: 5 |
- 1970
| Mar 01 | (Manson) Charles Manson's album "Lie" is released. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 05 | 3 SDS Weathermen terrorist group bomb 18 West 11th St in New York NY. | Ref: 5 |
| May 22 | Arab terrorists kill 9 children & 3 adults on a school bus. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 06 | Palestinian guerrillas seized control of three jetliners which were later blown up on the ground in Jordan after the passengers and crews were evacuated. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 12 | Arab commandos blow up hijacked airliners in Jordan. | Ref: 10 |
| Oct 05 | British trade commissioner James Richard Cross was kidnapped in Canada by militant Quebec separatists; he was released the following December. | Ref: 5 |
- 1971
| Mar 01 | A bomb explodes in a restroom in the Senate wing of the Capitol, causing some $300,000 in injuries, but no injuries. The Weather Underground, a U.S. leftist radical group that opposes the war in Vietnam, claims responsibility for the bombing. | Ref: 3 |
| Mar 04 | "City Command" kidnaps 4 US military men at Ankara, Turkey. | Ref: 5 |
| May 18 | Vampire rapist Wayne Bodens last victim found. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 09 | Prisoners seized control of the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, N.Y., beginning a siege that claimed 43 lives. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 13 | The Attica prison riots end. Nine prison guards were held hostage, and perished along with thirty-one of their captors when 1,500 state police and other law-enforcement officers stormed the complex in a hail of indiscriminate gunfire. (XDG, p 4A, 9/13/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Sep 16 | 6 Klansmen arrested in connection with bombing of 10 school buses. | Ref: 5 |
- 1972
| Feb 16 | German mass murderers "Three of Breda" freed. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 25 | Germany gave in to ransom demands from the Arab terrorist hijackers of a jumbo jet and paid $5 million for the release of its passengers. | Ref: 4 |
| May 08 | Sabena aircraft at Lod International, Tel Aviv, captured by Palestinians. | Ref: 5 |
| May 30 | 3 Japanese PFL terrorists kill 24, wound 72 at Tel Aviv's Lod International Airport. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 21 | Bloody Friday in Belfast IRA explodes 21 bombs killing 9 injuring 130; IRA apologizes 30 yrs later. | Ref: 10 |
| Sep 05 | Arab guerrillas, of the organization called Black September, attacked the Israeli delegation at the Munich Olympic games; eleven Israelis, five guerrillas and a police officer were killed in the siege. | Ref: 17 |
| Oct 29 | Palestinian guerrillas kill an airport employee and hijack a plane, carrying 27 passengers, to Cuba. They force West Germany to release 3 terrorists who were involved in the Munich Massacre. | Ref: 2 |
- 1973
| Mar 02 | "Black September" terrorists occupy Saudi Embassy in Khartoum. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 08 | Two bombs explode near Trafalgar Square in Great Britain, injuring 234. | Ref: 2 |
| Aug 15 | Black September kills 3 wounds 55 Athens. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 17 | Arab terrorists shoot passengers on Boeing 737 to Kuwait. | Ref: 5 |
- 1974
| Feb 04 | (Patty Hearst) Patricia Hearst (19), daughter of publisher Randolph Hearst is kidnapped in Berkeley, CA, by the Symbionese Liberation Army. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 12 | (Patty Hearst) The Symbionese Liberation Army asks the Hearst family for $230 million in food for the poor. | Ref: 2 |
| Feb 18 | (Patty Hearst) Randolph Hearst is to give $2 million in free food for the poor in order to open talks for his daughter Patty. | Ref: 2 |
| Feb 23 | (Patty Hearst) The Symbionese Liberation Army demanded $4 million more for the release of Patty Hearst. | Ref: 4 |
| Mar 20 | (Patty Hearst) Patty Hearst is convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to 7 years in prison. | Ref: 3 |
| Apr 03 | (Patty Hearst) Patty Hearst in a tape sent to the authorities, declares that she was joining the SLA of her own free will. | Ref: 3 |
| Apr 15 | (Patty Hearst) Patty Hearst is caught on a bank video tape participating in a bank robbery. | Ref: 3 |
| Apr 17 | Moslem fundamentalists assault military academy in Heliopolis Egypt. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 17 | Ted Bundy victim Susan Rancourt disappears from Central Washington State College, Ellensburg WA. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 18 | Red Brigade kidnaps Italian Attorney General Mario Sossi. | Ref: 5 |
| May 06 | Bundy victim Roberta Parks disappears from OSU, Corvallis OR. | Ref: 5 |
| May 14 | Symbionese Liberation Army destroyed in shoot-out, 6 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| May 15 | Mail truck terrorists take school in Maälot, 30 killed | Ref: 5 |
| May 17 | (Patty Hearst) Los Angeles police raided the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)'s secret headquarters, killing six of the group’s nine known members. Patty Hearst was not on the premises of the group that kidnapped her. | Ref: 3 |
| May 23 | Italian Red Brigade officer Mario Sossi freed. | Ref: 5 |
| May 28 | Italians fascist bomb demonstrators in Brescia, 6 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 01 | Bundy victim Brenda Ball disappears from Burien, Wash. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 11 | Bundy victim Georgann Hawkins disappears from UW, Seattle, Wash | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 03 | Bundy victim (?) Nancy Wilcox disappears in Salt Lake City, Utah. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 31 | Bundy victim (?) Laura Aime disappears in Utah. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 08 | In a federal court, charges are dropped against eight Ohio National Guardsmen for their role in the deaths of four anti-war protestors at Kent State University. | Ref: 3 |
| Nov 08 | Bundy victim (?) Debi Kent disappears in Salt Lake City, UT. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 21 | Two Irish Republic Army (IRA) bombs were exploded in two separate Birmingham, England, pubs, killing twenty-one people and injuring hundreds. Ultimately, six people are imprisoned for 16 years. They are released on March 14th, 1991 after the courts determined the evidence against them was largely fabricated by the police. | Ref: 3 |
| Dec 01 | Los Angeles Skid Row slasher kills first of 8. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 27 | FSLN (Frente Sandinista de Liberaci¢n Nacional/Sandinista National Liberation Front) seizes government hostages at a private Managua party. | Ref: 5 |
- 1975
| Jan 12 | Caryn Campbell Bundy victim, disappears from Snowmass CO. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 14 | Bomb explodes at annex of Amsterdam metro station. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 06 | Bundy victim Denise Oliverson disappears from Grand Junction, Colo. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 13 | Christian Falange kills 27 Palestinians, begins Lebanese civil war. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 25 | West German embassy blown-up in Stockholm Sweden. | Ref: 5 |
| May 06 | Bundy victim Lynette Culver disappears from Pocatello ID. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 04 | Bundy victim (?) Nancy Baird disappears from Layton, Utah. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 18 | (Patty Hearst) Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst is captured by the FBI in San Francisco, 19 months after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 29 | The Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffer kills his first victim. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 04 | 6 South Molukkans occupy Indonesian consulate in The Hague, 1 dead. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 14 | Six South Moluccan extremists surrendered after holding 23 hostages for 12 days on a train near the Dutch town of Beilen. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 29 | 11 killed, 75 hurt by terrorist bomb at LaGuardia Airport in New York NY. | Ref: 5 |
- 1976
| Mar 20 | (Patty Hearst) In California, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst is convicted of taking part in a 1974 armed robbery of a San Francisco bank, and is subsequently sentenced to seven years in prison. | Ref: 3 |
| Mar 29 | Eight Ohio National Guardsmen are indicted for shooting four Kent State students during an anti-war protest on May 4, 1970. | Ref: 2 |
| Jul 03 | 103 hostages were rescued by an Israeli commando unit in a raid on Entebbe airport in Uganda. 106 hostages had been taken from a hijacked Air France airliner on its way to Paris from Tel Aviv. Seven pro-Palestinian guerrilla hijackers, 20 Ugandan soldiers and 3 hostages were killed in the raid. | Ref: 4 |
| Jul 15 | A 36-hour kidnap ordeal began for 26 schoolchildren and their bus driver as they were abducted near Chowchilla, CA., by three gunmen and imprisoned in an underground cell. The captives escaped unharmed. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 21 | Orlando Letelier, onetime foreign minister to Chilean President Salvador Allende, is killed when a bomb explodes in his car in Washington DC. (XDG, p 4A, 9/21/2001) | Ref: 83 |
| Sep 24 | (Patty Hearst) Patricia Hearst is sentenced to seven years in prison for her part in a 1974 bank robbery. (She was released after 22 months, granted clemency by President Carter.) (Xenia Daily Gazette, p 4A, 9/24/2000) | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 19 | (Patty Hearst) Patty Hearst is released from prison on $1.5 million bail. | Ref: 2 |
- 1977
| Jan 12 | Anti-French demonstrations takes place in Israel after Paris released Abu Daoud, responsible 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli athletes. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 31 | Frenchman François Claustre freed, after 33 months as hostage in Chad. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 10 | Bomb explosion in Moskouse metro. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 09 | About a dozen armed Hanafi Muslims invade three buildings in Washington D.C., killing one person and taking more than 130 hostages. The siege ended two days later. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 11 | More than 130 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims were freed after ambassadors from three Islamic nations joined the negotiations. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 11 | 34 Israelis killed by Palestinians on the Tel Aviv-Haifa highway. | Ref: 5 |
| May 09 | (Patty Hearst) Patty Hearst is released from prison on probation. | Ref: 3 |
| May 23 | Moluccan extremists hold 105 schoolchildren & 50 others hostage on a hijacked train in Netherlands, children released May 27, siege ends June 11. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 11 | A 20-day drama ends as Dutch marines rescue hostages from a Moluccan held train in Holland. Six gunmen and two hostages on the train are killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 23 | A jury in Washington DC convicted 12 Hanafi Muslims of charges stemming from the hostage siege at three buildings the previous March. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 30 | Stacy Moskowitz shot to death by Son of Sam, at 20. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 10 | Postal employee David Berkowitz was arrested in Yonkers, N.Y., accused of being New York City's "Son of Sam," the gunman responsible for six slayings and seven woundings. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 17 | West German commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa jetliner that was on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 86 hostages and killing three of the four hijackers. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 19 | The body of West German industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer, who had been kidnapped by left-wing extremists, was found in Mulhouse, France. | Ref: 6 |
| Dec 31 | Ted Bundy escapes from jail in Colorado. | Ref: 5 |
- 1978
| Jan 15 | Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman were murdered in their sorority house at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Serial killer Ted Bundy was later convicted of the crime and executed. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 09 | Ted Bundy kills Kimberly Leach, 12, Lake City FL; later executed. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 15 | Escaped mass murderer Ted Bundy recaptured, Pensacola FL. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 07 | Belgian baron Charles Bracht kidnapped. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 11 | Terrorists attack mail truck at Tel Aviv, 45 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 11 | Palestinian guerrillas went on a rampage on the Tel Aviv-Haifa highway, killing 34 Israelis. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 13 | Moluccans "suicide commandos" occupies Province house. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 14 | Marines terminate Molukse action in Province house (1 dead). | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 16 | Aldo Moro, 5-time Prime Minister of Italy, is kidnapped by left-wing urban guerrillas (Red Brigade), who later murder him. | Ref: 5 |
| May 08 | David R. Berkowitz pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn courtroom to the "Son of Sam" killings that had terrified NYers. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 12 | David Berkowitz was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for each of the six "Son of Sam" .44-caliber killings that had terrified New Yorkers. | Ref: 70 |
| Jul 12 | David Berkowitz is sentenced to life imprisonment for the Son of Sam murders. (Ref: "Great American Trials", ISBN 0-8103-9134-1, 1994) | |
| Jul 30 | Gunman shoots his way into the Iraqi Embassy in Paris. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 20 | Gunmen open fire on an Israeli El Al Airline bus in London. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 31 | (Patty Hearst) Symbionese Liberation Army founders William & Emily Harris plead guilty to 1974 kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst. | Ref: 9 |
| Nov 18 | California Congressman Leo J. Ryan and four other people were killed in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple; the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide by 912 cult members, including the cult leader, 47-year old Jim Jones. (TWA, 1980) | Ref: 95 |
| Nov 19 | The worst case of murder-suicide in history took place in Jonestown, Guyana. Religious-cult leader Jim Jones (Peoples Temple) directed the ingestion of Kool-Aid (laced with cyanide) by at least 900 of his followers. He and his mistress then followed suit. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 21 | Police in Des Plaines, Ill., arrested John W. Gacy Jr. and began unearthing the remains of 33 men and boys that Gacy was later convicted of murdering. | Ref: 70 |
- 1979
| Jan 04 | Ohio officials approve an out-of-court settlement awarding $675,000 to the victims and families in the 1970 shootings at Kent State University, in which four students were killed and nine wounded by National Guard troops. | Ref: 2 |
| Jan 12 | Los Angeles's Hillside Strangler, Kenneth Bianchi, arrested in Bellingham. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 22 | Ali Hassan Salameh [Abu Hassan], killed by car bomb; believed to have helped mastermind massacre of 1972 Munich Olympics athletes. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 29 | (Patty Hearst) President Jimmy Carter commutes the sentence of Patty Hearst. | Ref: 2 |
| Jan 30 | The civilian government of Iran announced it had decided to allow Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who'd been living in exile in France, to return. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 01 | (Patty Hearst) Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst, whose prison sentence for bank robbery had been commuted by President Carter, left a federal prison near San Francisco. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 01 | Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini received a tumultuous welcome in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of exile. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 11 | An American-led commando squad financed by millionaire industrialist H. Ross Perot, rescues two of his employees from an Iranian prison | Ref: 62 |
| Feb 14 | Adolph Dubs, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was kidnapped in Kabul by Muslim extremists and killed in a shootout between his abductors and police. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 16 | Failed Palestinian attack on Zaventem Airport in Belgium. | Ref: 5 |
| May 03 | Headquarters of the ruling Christian Democrats in Rome are bombed by the terrorist Red Brigade. | Ref: 17 |
| Nov 03 | 63 Americans taken hostage at US Embassy (Teheran, Iran). | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 03 | The Greensboro Massacre. Five members of the Communist Workers' Party, participating in an anti-Ku Klux Klan rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, are shot to death in broad daylight by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis. Eight other demonstrators are wounded. | Ref: 3 |
| Nov 17 | During the Iran Hostage Crisis, the Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's political and religious leader, orders the release non-U.S. captives and female and minority Americans, citing these groups as among the people oppressed by the U.S. government. | Ref: 3 |
| Nov 21 | A mob attacked the US Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing two Americans. (TWA, 1981) | Ref: 95 |
| Dec 12 | In response to the Iran hostage crisis, the Carter administration ordered the removal of most Iranian diplomats in the United States. | Ref: 6 |
| Dec 15 | World Court in Hague rules Iran should release all US hostages. | Ref: 5 |
- 1980
| Jan 28 | Six US diplomats who had avoided being taken hostage at their embassy in Tehran flew out of Iran with the help of Canadian diplomats. (XDG, p 4A, 1/28/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Jan 29 | 6 Iranian held US hostages escape with help of the Canadians. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 31 | Police storm occupied Spanish embassy in Guatemala City, killing 41. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 06 | Abolnassan Bani-Sadr, newly installed president of Iran, denounces militants holding US Embassy as "dictators who have created a government within a government". | Ref: 62 |
| Feb 27 | Terrorists occupies Dominican embassy in Bogota. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 06 | Islamic militants in Tehran say that they will turn over the American hostages to the Revolutionary Council. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 10 | Iran's leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, lends his support to the militants holding the American hostages in Tehran. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 12 | A Chicago jury found John Wayne Gacy Jr. guilty of the murders of 33 men and boys. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 20 | The US appeals to International Court on hostages in Iran. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 24 | The United States launched an abortive attempt to free the American hostages in Iran, a mission that resulted in the deaths of eight US servicemen. (TWA, 1981) | Ref: 95 |
| Apr 25 | President Jimmy Carter tells the American people about the hostage rescue disaster in Iran. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 26 | Following an unsuccessful attempt by the United States to rescue the US Embassy hostages in Iran, the Tehran government announced the captives were being scattered to thwart any future rescue effort. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 30 | Terrorists seize the Iranian Embassy in London. | Ref: 2 |
| May 02 | Joseph Doherty & 3 other IRA men arrested for murder. | Ref: 5 |
| May 24 | Iran rejects a call by the World Court to release US hostages. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 10 | Ayatollah Khomeini releases Iran hostage Richard I Queen. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 11 | American hostage Richard I Queen freed by Iran. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 02 | 85 people are killed when a bomb explodes at the train station at Bologna, Italy. (XDG, p 4A, 8/2/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Dec 04 | The bodies of four American churchwomen slain in El Salvador two days earlier were unearthed. (Five national guardsmen were later convicted of murdering nuns Ita Ford, Maura Clarke and Dorothy Kazel, and lay worker Jean Donovan.) | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 19 | Iran requests $24 billion in US guarantees to free hostages. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 24 | Americans remembered the US hostages in Iran by burning candles or shining lights for 417 seconds -- one second for each day of captivity. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 31 | A Jewish owned hotel in Nairobi Kenya is bombed killing 18. | Ref: 5 |
- 1981
| Jan 04 | British police arrest Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper". | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 05 | British police arrest Peter Sutcliffe, a truck driver later convicted of "Yorkshire Ripper" murders of 13 women. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 19 | The United States and Iran signed an agreement paving the way for the release of 52 Americans held hostage for more than 14 months. Sarzaneh Shoaie of the Pars News Agency | Ref: 70 |
| Jan 20 | Iran released 52 Americans it had held hostage for 444 days, minutes after the presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan. | Ref: 17 |
| Jan 25 | The 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days arrived in the United States. AP correspondent Walter Rodgers describes the scene | Ref: 70 |
| Jan 27 | President Reagan greeted the 52 former American hostages released by Iran at the White House. | Ref: 70 |
| Jan 30 | An estimated two million NYers turned out for a ticker-tape parade honoring the freed American hostages from Iran. | Ref: 6 |
| Feb 21 | "Yorkshire Ripper" Peter Sutcliffe, murderer of 13 women, captured. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 02 | Aircraft hijacked by 3 Pakistani terrorists. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 29 | Truck driver Peter Sutcliffe admitted in a London court to being the "Yorkshire Ripper," the killer of 13 women in northern England during a five-year period. | Ref: 5 |
| May 23 | Barcelona fascists take 200 people hostage. | Ref: 5 |
| May 24 | Hostage situation ends at Central Bank in Barcelona Spain. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 13 | Tom Snyder interviews Charles Manson on "Tomorrow". | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 22 | 2 Habash terrorists attack a travel agency in Greece killing 2. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 17 | Fulton County (Atlanta) grand jury indicts Wayne B William 23 year old photographers, for murder of 2 of 28 blacks killed in Atlanta. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 24 | Four Armenian gunman seize the Turkish consulate in Paris holding 60 hostages for 15 hours before surrendering. (XDG, p 4A, 09/24/2001) | Ref: 83 |
| Dec 17 | Members of the Red Brigades kidnap Brig. Gen. James L. Dozier, the highest-ranking U.S. Army official in southern Europe, from his home in Verona, Italy. (Dozier was rescued 42 days later.) | Ref: 2 |
- 1982
| Jan 06 | Truck driver William G. Bonin was convicted in Los Angeles of being the "freeway killer" who had murdered 14 young men and boys. | Ref: 70 |
| Jan 28 | Italian anti-terrorism forces rescued US Brigadier General James L. Dozier, 42 days after he had been kidnapped by the Red Brigades. | Ref: 17 |
| Feb 27 | Wayne B. Williams was found guilty of murdering two of the 28 young blacks whose bodies were found in the Atlanta area over a 22-month period. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 28 | FALN (PR Nationalist Group) bombs Wall Street. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 02 | Terror group "The Illuminated Path" frees 260 prisoners in Peru. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 24 | 150 Khomeini followers assault student dormitory in West Germany. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 19 | David S Dodge becomes the first American hostage in Lebanon. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 20 | Bombs planted by Irish Republican Army explode in 2 London parks. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 16 | The massacre of hundreds of Palestinian men, women and children by Lebanese Christian militiamen began in west Beirut's Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 18 | Christian militia begin massacre of 600 Palestinians in Lebanon. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 25 | Penn prison guard George Banks kills 13 (5 were his own children) | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 28 | The first of seven deaths was reported in the Chicago area from Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide. Later, Johnson and Johnson introduced a triple sealed, tamper resistant Tylenol bottle. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 29 | 264,000 bottles of Tylenol, the pain reliever, were recalled after a CA man was poisoned by a strychnine-laced capsule. Seven people died of cyanide poisoning when they unknowingly ingested Tylenol that had been deliberately tampered with. The killer or killers have never been identified. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 06 | A bomb planted by the Irish National Liberation Army exploded in a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, killing 11 soldiers and six civilians. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 08 | Demanding an end to nuclear weapons, Norman Mayer, holds the Washington Monument hostage After 10 hours, police kill him; he has no explosives. | Ref: 5 |
- 1983
| Apr 18 | A car bomb set off by a suicide bomber demolishes US embassy in Beirut, Lebanon killing more than 60 people including 17 Americans. Pro-Iranian terrorists were blamed but the perpetrators were not found. | Ref: 70 |
| Jul 15 | 8 killed, 54 wounded, by Armenian extremists bomb at Orly, France. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 21 | US announces Lebanon freed American hostage David Dodge. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 09 | The president of South Korea, Doo Hwan Chun, with his cabinet and other top officials are scheduled to lay a wreath on a monument in Rangoon, Burma, when a bomb explodes. Hwan had not yet arrived so escaped injury, but 17 Koreans--including the deputy prime minister and two other cabinet members--and two Burmese are killed. North Korea is blamed. | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 15 | US Marine sharpshooters kill 5 snipers at Beirut Intl Airport. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 23 | 241 US Marines and sailors in Lebanon were killed in a suicide truck-bombing at the Marine Operations Center; a near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 paratroopers. | Ref: 17 |
| Nov 07 | Bomb explodes in US Capitol, causing heavy damage but no injuries. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 09 | Alfred Heineken, beer brewer from Amsterdam, is kidnapped and held for a ransom of more than $10 million. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 05 | 12 killed by a car bomb shattering 9-story building in west Beirut. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 06 | A bomb planted on a bus in Jerusalem explodes, kills 6 Israelis. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 12 | A truck bomb explodes at the US Embassy in Kuwait. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 17 | Bomb attack on Harrod's war house in London, 5 killed, 94 injured. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 27 | President Reagan takes all responsibility for the lack of security in Beirut that allowed a terrorist on a suicide mission to kill 241 Marines. | Ref: 2 |
- 1984
| Jan 03 | Syria frees captured US pilot after appeal from Jesse Jackson. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 01 | Ravindara Mhatrem, Indian diplomat, kidnapped in England (killed 0203). | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 15 | Extremist Sikhs plunder 40 stations in Punjab India. | Ref: 5 |
| May 30 | Bomb explodes in rebel leader Eden Pastora headquarters in Nicaragua. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 18 | James Oliver Huberty opens fire at a McDonald's fast food restaurant in San Ysidro, CA, killing 21 people before being shot dead by police. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 20 | A suicide car bomber attacked the U.S. Embassy annex in north Beirut, killing a dozen people. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 12 | IRA bombs hotel where Margaret Thatcher is staying. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 04 | Hijackers commandeered a Kuwaiti airliner. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 06 | Hijackers aboard Kuwaiti jetliner kill 2nd hostage. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 09 | Iranian commandos end capture of Kuwaiti plane, after six days. | Ref: 5 |
- 1985
| Jan 08 | Lawrence Martin Jenco, head of the US-based Catholic Relief Services, is kidnapped in West Beruit by gunmen believed to represent the Islamic Jihad Organization. | Ref: 17 |
| Jan 21 | Bomb attack on Borobudur temple in Java. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 14 | Hostage CNN reporter Jeremy Levin is released in Beirut. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 16 | Terry Anderson, chief Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press, was abducted in Beirut; he was released in December 1991. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 17 | Richard Ramirez, the infamous Night Stalker, buys a gun and then kills his first two two women, Dayle Okazaki and Veronica Yu, in separate attacks in Los Angeles, | Ref: 3 |
| Apr 21 | Bomb attack in NATO/AEG-Telefunken building in Brussels. | Ref: 5 |
| May 01 | "Communist" bomb attack kills 2 firemen in Brussels. | Ref: 5 |
| May 11 | Booby trap bomb kills 86 people in India. | Ref: 5 |
| May 13 | A confrontation between Philadelphia authorities and the radical group MOVE ended as police dropped an explosive onto the group's headquarters; eleven people died in the resulting fire and 61 row houses are destroyed. (TWA, 1986) | Ref: 95 |
| May 28 | David Jacobsen, director of the American University Hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, was abducted by pro-Iranian kidnappers (he was freed 17 months later). | Ref: 70 |
| Jun 14 | The 17-day hijack ordeal of TWA Flight 847 began as a pair of Lebanese Shiite Muslim extremists seized the jetliner shortly after takeoff from Athens, Greece. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 30 | Thirty-nine American hostages from a hijacked TWA jetliner were freed in Beirut after being held for 17 days. | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 31 | Richard Ramirez, later convicted of California's "Night Stalker" killings, is captured by residents of an East Los Angeles neighborhood. (XDG, p. 4A, 8/31/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Sep 29 | First of 5 cyanide-laced Tylenol victims dies. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 04 | Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying it had killed American hostage William Buckley. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 07 | Terrorists hijacked an Italian cruise ship, Achille Lauro, demanding the release of prisoners held by Israel. Of the four hundred people on board, only Leon Klinghoffer, wheelchairbound, was shot to death; an example that the four Palestinian gunmen meant business. They surrendered two days later to the Egyptians who promised them free passage out of their country. When Klinghoffer’s body was returned to his native NY City, NY Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said that Leon Klinghoffer died “because he was an American, because he was a Jew and because he was a free man.” | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 08 | The hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro killed American passenger Leon Klinghoffer, dumping his body and wheelchair overboard. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 09 | The hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise liner surrendered after the ship arrived in Port Said, Egypt. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 10 | US fighter jets force Egyptian plane carrying hijackers of Italian ship Achille Lauro to land in Italy, gunmen are placed in custody. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 15 | The hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise liner surrendered after the ship arrived in Port Said, Egypt. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 16 | A body washed ashore in Syria was identified as Leon Klinghoffer, slain in hijacking of Achille Lauro | Ref: 62 |
| Nov 23 | 58 die as Egyptian commandos storm hijacked Egyptair jet in Malta. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 24 | The hijacking of an Egyptair jetliner parked on the ground in Malta ended with 60 deaths when Egyptian commandos stormed the plane; two of the dead were shot by the hijackers. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 27 | Terrorists kill 20 & wound 110 attacking El Al at Rome & Vienna airports; President Reagan blamed Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qaddafi. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 28 | Palestinian guerrillas opened fire inside the Rome and Vienna airports; a total of 20 people were killed, including five of the attackers, who were slain by police and security personnel. | Ref: 64 |
- 1986
| Jan 16 | Police arrested 3 IRA-terrorists in Amsterdam. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 21 | Bomb attack in East-Beirut, 27 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 05 | In Lebanon, Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying it had "executed" French hostage Michel Seurat, who had been abducted almost a year earlier. | Ref: 6 |
| Mar 08 | Four French television crew members were abducted in west Beirut; a caller claimed Islamic Jihad was responsible. (All four were eventually released.) | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 28 | Extremist Sikhs kill 13 hindus in Ludhiana India. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 02 | Four American passengers were killed when a bomb exploded aboard a TWA jetliner en route from Rome to Athens, Greece. | Ref: 18 |
| Apr 05 | A bomb explodes in a West Berlin disco packed with American soldiers, killing 2 US servicemen. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 25 | ETA bomb attacks Madrid killing 5. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 29 | Seamus McElwaine Irish IRA-terrorist, killed at 25. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 26 | Kidnappers in Lebanon released the Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco, an American hostage held for nearly 19 months. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 12 | Joseph Cicippio, the acting comptroller at the American University in Beirut, is kidnapped. He is released in December, 1991. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 21 | Edward Austin Tracy, an American living in Beirut, was kidnapped in Lebanon | Ref: 62 |
| Dec 24 | French hostage Aurel Cornea, held in Lebanon for 9 months, released. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 26 | Hijackers take over an Iraqi Airways Boeing 737 with 91 people on board during a flight from Baghdad to Amman it lands in Arar, Saudi Arabia where it explodes, killing 62 people. | Ref: 5 |
- 1987
| Jan 13 | W German police arrest Mohammed Ali Hamadi, suspect in 1985 hijacking. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 20 | Terry Waite, special envoy of the archbishop of Canterbury, secured the release of missionaries detained in Iran after the Islamic revolution, is seized during a return mission to Beirut. | Ref: 3 |
| Jan 21 | Archbishop's envoy Terry Waite disappears in Lebanon. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 24 | Jesse Turner, professor of mathematics and computer science at Beirut University College and Alann (sic) Steen, communications instructor also at Beirut University College, were kidnapped in Lebanon. (All were later released.) | Ref: 62 |
| Feb 10 | Philippine troops murder 17 civilians-Lupao Massacre. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 20 | Bomb blamed on Unabomber explodes by computer store in Salt Lake City. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 21 | Tamil bomb attack in Colombo Sri Lanka, 115 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 06 | First of 3 massacres by Sikh extremists takes place in India. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 13 | Fawaz Younis became the first suspected foreign terrorist arrested by the Bureau for a crime perpetrated against Americans on foreign soil. In March 1989, a US District Court sentenced Younis to 30 years for the hijacking of a Jordanian plane carrying two Americans. | Ref: 14 |
| Nov 08 | A bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army exploded as crowds gathered in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, for a ceremony honoring Britain's war dead. Eleven people were killed. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 06 | Three satanist Missouri teenagers bludgeon comrade to death for "fun". | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 28 | In Arkansas R Gene Simmons kills 2, later bodies of 14 of his relatives are found at his home near Dover Arkansas. (TWA, 1989) | Ref: 95 |
- 1988
| Mar 06 | 3 IRA suspects were shot dead in Gibraltar by SAS officers. | Ref: 5 |
| May 01 | IRA attack in Roermond, kills 3. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 03 | Lebanese kidnappers release Mithileshwar Singh (held for 30 months). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 19 | Britain bans broadcast interviews with IRA members. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 19 | Car bomb kills 7 Israelis, wounds 11 near Lebanon border. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 20 | Man armed with explosives blows self up in 125 St subway station (NYC). | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 02 | 5 gunmen who hijacked Soviet Aeroflot jet, surrender in Israel. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 20 | Animal rights terrorists fire-bomb Harrod's department store, London. | Ref: 5 |
- 1989
| Jan 05 | 2 French TV newsmen arrested for trying to plant fake bombs on 3 airlines at JFK airport in security test. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 14 | Former Belgian premier Paul Vanden Boeynants kidnapped. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 14 | Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offers $1 million-$3 million bounty on Salman Rushdie's death for his novel, "Satanic Verses", which is deemed blasphemous. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 16 | Investigators in Lockerbie, Scotland, said a bomb hidden inside a radio-cassette player was what brought down Pan Am Flight 103 the previous December, killing all 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 19 | A white female jogger in New York's Central Park was brutally beaten and raped. Five black and Hispanic teenagers were convicted and sent to prison. The convictions were overturned in 2003 after a serial rapist confessed and DNA evidence tied him to the crime. | Ref: 70 |
| May 12 | Retired British pilot Jack Mann is kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 31 | A pro-Iranian group in Lebanon released a grisly videotape purportedly showing the hanged body of American hostage William R. Higgins. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 27 | 107 people were killed when a bomb blamed by police on drug traffickers destroyed a Colombian jetliner. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 06 | Mafia drug kingpin bombs security force at Bogotá, kills 52. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 06 | Fourteen women were shot to death at the University of Montreal's school of engineering by a man who then took his own life. | Ref: 70 |
- 1990
| Mar 08 | NYC's Zodiac killer shoots 1st victim, Mario Orosco. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 29 | Germaine Montenesdro 2nd victim of NYC's Zodiac killer, shot dead. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 07 | An arson fire aboard a ferry en route from Norway to Denmark kills 158 people, ~360 escape. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Apr 22 | Pro-Iranian kidnappers in Lebanon freed American hostage Robert Polhill after nearly 39 months of captivity. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 23 | Pro-Iranian kidnappers in Lebanon freed American hostage Robert Polhill after nearly 39 months of captivity. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 30 | Hostage Frank Reed was released by his captives in Lebanon after 4 years of captivity; he was the second American to be released in eight days. | Ref: 5 |
| May 31 | NYC's Zodiac killer shoots 3rd victim, Joseph Ponce | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 21 | NYC's Zodiac killer shoots 4th victim, Larry Parham. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 27 | A gunman holds 33 people (killing 1) hostage in Berkley CA | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 08 | Israeli police kill 17 Palestinian rioters | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 05 | Rabbi Meir Kahane, a Brooklyn-born Israeli extremist, was shot to death in New York. (Egyptian native El Sayyed Nosair was acquitted of state charges, but was later convicted in federal court of Kahane's killing.) (XDG, p 4A, 11/05/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Nov 10 | Lebanon releases 2 French hostages (Camille Sontag & Marcel Coudari). | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 09 | The first American hostages to be released by Iraq began arriving in the United States. (XDG, p 4A, 12/9/2000) | Ref: 83 |
- 1991
| Apr 01 | Iran releases British hostage Roger Cooper after 5 years. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 22 | Jeffrey Dahmer is arrested after Milwaukee police find body parts in his apartment. (TWA, 1992) | Ref: 95 |
| Jul 24 | In an affadavit produced by Milwaukee police, Jeffrey Dahmer admits to killing 11 people. (TWA, 1992) | Ref: 95 |
| Aug 08 | The slain bodies of former Iranian Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar and his chief of staff were found in Bakhtiar's residence outside Paris. | Ref: 6 |
| Aug 08 | Lebanese kidnappers freed British TV producer John McCarthy, held hostage for more than five years; however, a rival group abducted Frenchman Jerome Leyraud, threatening to kill him if any more hostages were released (Leyraud was freed three days later). | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 10 | Nine Buddhists were found slain at their temple outside Phoenix, Arizona. (Two teen-agers were later arrested; one pleaded guilty to murder, the other was convicted of murder.) | Ref: 6 |
| Aug 26 | The bodies of two slain college students were found in their off-campus apartment in Gainesville, Florida; three more bodies were discovered in the days that followed, setting off a wave of panic. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 21 | An 18-hour hostage drama ends in Sandy, UT as Richard L. Worthington, who had killed a nurse and seized control of a hospital maternity ward, finally freed his nine captives, including a baby who was born during the seige. (Worthington committed suicide in prison in 1994.) (XDG, p 4A, 9/21/2001) | Ref: 83 |
| Oct 10 | Ex-postal worker Joseph Harris kills 4 postal workers. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 16 | George Jo Hennard, 35, crashes a pickup truck into a restaurant in Killeen, TX, and opened fire, killing 23 people before taking his own life. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 18 | Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon freed Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and educator Thomas Sutherland. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 02 | American hostage Joseph Cicippio, held captive in Lebanon for more than five years, was released. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 03 | Radicals in Lebanon released American hostage Alann Steen, who'd been held captive nearly five years. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 04 | Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson, the longest held of Western hostages in Lebanon, was released after nearly seven years in captivity. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 05 | Richard Speck mass murderer, dies a day before his 50th birthday. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 20 | Robert Bardo, an obsessed fan who stalked actress Rebecca Schaeffer before killing her, is sentenced in Los Angeles to life imprisonment without parole. (XDG, p 4A, 12/20/2001) | Ref: 83 |
| Dec 22 | The body of Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, an American hostage murdered by his captors, was found dumped along a highway in Lebanon. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 26 | Militant Sikhs kill 55 & wound 70 in India. | Ref: 5 |
- 1992
| Jan 13 | Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer enters a plea of guilty but insane in fifteen of the seventeen murders he confessed to committing. | Ref: 3 |
| Feb 12 | A jury finds serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is found sane in each of 15 murders, and five days later he was sentenced to fifteen consecutive life sentences. | Ref: 3 |
| Feb 17 | In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is sentenced to fifteen consecutive life sentences for his conviction on fifteen counts of first-degree murder. | Ref: 3 |
| Mar 17 | Islamic Jihad truck bombs Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires Argentina killing 29. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 25 | Libyan leader Colonel Moammar Gadhafi backs away from an offer to turn over two suspects in the PanAm Flight 103 bombing to the Arab League. (XDG, p 4A, 3/27/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Apr 10 | 25 die in a bus bombing in Sri Lanka. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 11 | Irish Republican Army bombs London financial district, killing 3. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 12 | Lynn Gunther of California threatens to blow herself up in front of UN. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 31 | White separatist Randy Weaver surrendered to authorities in Naples, Idaho, ending an 11-day siege by federal agents that claimed the lives of Weaver's wife, son and a deputy U.S. marshal. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 31 | It was announced that five American nuns in Liberia had been shot to death near the capital Monrovia; the killings were blamed on rebels loyal to Charles Taylor. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 29 | A refugee center in western Germany was firebombed despite a crackdown on neo-Nazis. (XDG, p 4A, 11/29/2002) | Ref: 83 |
- 1993
| Feb 15 | Bombings by Mafia drug lords kill 14 in Bogotá Colombia. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 26 | Six people were killed and more than a thousand injured in New York City. A van packed with a 1,210-pound bomb exploded in the parking garage underneath the World Trade Center. The explosion left a gigantic crater 200 feet wide and caused over 591 million dollars in damage. Fourteen of his followers and Dr. Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman were accused of the bombing. Rahman is now serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 28 | A gun battle erupted at a compound near Waco, Texas, when Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents tried to serve warrants on the Branch Davidians; four agents and six Davidians were killed as a 51-day standoff began. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 04 | Authorities announced the arrest of Mohammad Salameh, who was later convicted of playing a key role in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 06 | As a standoff at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco TX ended its first week, authorities appealed publicly to David Koresh and his followers to give themselves up. (XDG, p 4A, 3/06/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Mar 10 | Authorities announce the arrest of Nidal Ayyad, a second suspect in the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York. (XDG, p 4A, 3/10/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Mar 12 | 317 killed by bomb attacks in Bombay. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 15 | Searchers find the body of the 6th and final victim of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in NY. (XDG, p 4A, 3/15/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Mar 17 | 86 killed by bomb attack in Calcutta. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 20 | An Irish Republican Army bomb exploded in Warrington, England, killing 3-year-old Johnathan Ball and 12-year-old Tim Parry. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 14 | Top Army Special Forces officials are asked to offer their views of an FBI assault plan for the Branch Davidian compound but refused to do so. The meeting was called by the Justice Department and attended by Attorney General Janet Reno and top FBI officials at FBI headquarters in Washington. | |
| Apr 14 | Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh promises to surrender after completion of his Seven Seals manuscript. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 19 | David Koresh [Vernon Howell] cult leader (Davidians), suicide. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 19 | A 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended when fire destroyed the structure after federal agents began smashing their way in. Dozens of people, including leader David Koresh, were killed. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 24 | 1000 kg heavy IRA car bomb explodes in London, killing 1. | Ref: 5 |
| May 27 | Mafia or terrorists explode bomb outside the Uffizi [Art] Gallery in Florence; 5 dead, priceless art destroyed. (TWA, 1994) | Ref: 95 |
| May 28 | 200,000 demonstrate against mafia terror. | Ref: 5 |
| May 29 | Nazis kill 5 Turkish women in Solingen Germany. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 07 | (Long Island) A Colin Ferguson opens fire on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train near Mineola NY, killing six people and wounding 17. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 17 | Bangladesh moslems call for murder of feminist Taslima Nasrin. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 26 | In Russia, a four-day kidnap drama ends as four masked kidnappers who had abducted 11 teenagers landed their expolosives-packed helicopter, freed their last hostages and fled with $10M in ranson. The four men were captured the next morning. (XDG, p 4A, 12/26/2003) | Ref: 83 |
- 1994
| Feb 20 | 3 Afghans take 70 Pakistani children hostage. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 25 | American-born Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein opened fire inside the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank, killing 29 Muslims before he was beaten to death by worshippers. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 27 | Maronite church near Beirut bombed, 10 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 02 | Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh promises to surrender if taped statement is broadcast; it is, but he doesn't. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 04 | 4 Arab terrorists founded guilty of bombing the World Trade Center. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 14 | Mexican banker/billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu kidnapped. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 06 | Car rigged with explosives detonates next to bus in Afula in northern Israel. Nine Israelis killed, 45 wounded. Militant Muslim group Hamas claims responsibility. Ref | |
| Apr 06 | Massacres begin in Rwanda; Hutus in genocide (ethnic cleansing!?) against Tutsis; est. 200,000 dead. | Ref: 10 |
| Apr 13 | President guard at Kigali Rwanda, chops 1,200 church members to death. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 14 | Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh promises to surrender after completion of his Seven Seals manuscript. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 22 | 7,000 Tutsi's slaughtered in stadium of Kibuye Rwanda. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 24 | Bomb attack in center of Johannesburg, 9 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 25 | Mexican businessman & billionaire Angel Losada kidnapped. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 25 | Bomb attack on taxi stand in Johannesburg, 10 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 29 | Hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the terror of ethnic massacres in Rwanda pour into Tanzania. (XDG, p 4A, 4/29/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| May 24 | Four men convicted of bombing New York's World Trade Center in 1993 were each sentenced to 240 years in prison. | Ref: 70 |
| Jun 13 | Palestinian blows himself up on bus in Hadera in central Israel. Six Israelis killed, 25 wounded. Hamas claims responsibility. Ref | |
| Jun 27 | In Matsumoto, west of Tokyo, Aum members released sarin gas in a parking lot across the street from a rest house where judges who were hearing a case against them were staying. Seven people died and 150 people were injured. | Ref: 3 |
| Jul 18 | In Buenos Aires, a massive car bomb kills 96 people. | Ref: 2 |
| Aug 15 | Llich Ramirez Sanchez, the terrorist known as "Carlos the Jackal" was captured in Sudan, taken to Paris and jailed. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for three murders and held responsible for numerous terrorist attacks. | Ref: 4 |
| Oct 19 | Palestinian suicide bomber kills 22 Israelis, wounds 48 in Tel Aviv bus explosion. Hamas claims responsibility. Ref | |
| Nov 28 | Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was murdered in a Wisconsin prison by a fellow inmate. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 02 | Achille Lauro (Willem Ruys) sinks off the coast of Somalia. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 21 | Bomb goes off on #4 train on Fulton Street NYC. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 24 | 4 Moslem fundamentalists capture Air France pilot in Algiers. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 26 | French commando's terminate Air France hijacking in Marseille. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 30 | A gunman walked into a pair of suburban Boston abortion clinics and opened fire, killing two employees and wounding five other people (John C. Salvi III was later convicted of murder; he committed suicide in prison). | Ref: 6 |
- 1995
| Jan 01 | Frederick West English contractor/serial killer, commits suicide at 53. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 22 | Two Palestinians blow themselves up at Beit Lid junction in central Israel, killing 21 Israelis. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility. Ref | |
| Jan 30 | Car bomb explodes in Algiers, 42 killed/296 injured. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 07 | Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan. (TWA, 1996) | Ref: 95 |
| Feb 17 | (Long Island) Colin Ferguson was convicted of six counts of murder in the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings (he was later sentenced to a minimum of 200 years in prison). | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 27 | Car bomb explodes in Zakho, North-Iraq (54-80 killed). | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 10 | Car bomb explodes in Karachi at shiite mosque, 17+ killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 19 | 5 die by poison gas in Japanese subway. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 20 | In Tokyo, Japan, at the height of the morning rush hour, five two-man terrorist teams from the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult, riding on separate subway trains, converge at the Kasumigaseki station and secretly release lethal sarin gas into the air. Twelve people eventually die, 5000 are injured, some permanently. | Ref: 3 |
| Mar 22 | Colin Ferguson was sentenced to life in prison for killing six people on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train in 1993. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 09 | Two Palestinians blow themselves up outside two Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, killing seven Israeli soldiers and an American. Hamas and Islamic Jihad claim responsibility. Ref | |
| Apr 19 | On the second anniversary of the Waco tragedy a truck bomb exploded at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 169 people and destroying the 9-story building. President Clinton designated the FBI as lead law enforcement agency in the case. The US Marshals Service, the Treasury Department, and many other state and local agencies contributed to the investigation. The Federal Emergency Management Agency also coordinated its efforts with the FBI, as did the armed forces, federal community mental health experts, and the General Services Administration. Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and was executed. | Ref: 14 |
| Apr 21 | Federal authorities arrest Timothy McVeigh in connection with the Oklahoma City bombing. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 23 | President Bill Clinton declares a national day of mourning for Oklahoma City bombing victims. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 24 | Package bomb, linked to Unabomber, blows up killing Gilbert B Murray. | Ref: 5 |
| May 16 | Japanese police arrest cult leader Shoko Asahara & charged him with Nerve-gas attack on Tokyo's subways two months earlier | Ref: 5 |
| May 23 | The remains of the nine story Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City are demolished. (XDG, p 4A, 5/22/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Jun 14 | Chechen rebels take 2,000 people hostage in a hospital in Russia. | Ref: 2 |
| Jun 22 | Riot police in Hakodate, Japan storm a hijacked jumbo jet, freeing all 364 people aboad and capturing the lone hijacker. (XDG, p 4A, 6/22/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Jul 19 | A pair of House subcommittees hold a joint hearing on the federal government's raid on the Branch Dividian compound near Waco TX. (XDG, p 4A, 7/19/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Jul 24 | Palestinian suicide bomber blows up bus in Tel Aviv, killing six Israelis, wounding 28. Hamas claims responsibility. Ref | |
| Aug 03 | Palestinian Eyad Ismoil is flown to the United States from Jordan to face charges he'd driven a bomb-laden van into New York City's World Trade Center. The explosion killed six, injured more than 1000 others; Ismoil was sentenced to life imprisonment.) (XDG, p 4A, 8/3/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Aug 10 | Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were indicted (11 counts each) for bombing the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in OK City. The April 19, 1995 blast killed 168 people . The first three counts of the indictment were for conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction to kill people and destroy federal property. The eight remaining counts were for killing federal law enforcement agents. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 15 | The Justice Department agrees to pay $3.1 million to white separatist Randy Weaver and his family to settle their claims over the killing of Weaver's wife and sone during a 1992 siege by federal agnets at Ruby Ridge, ID. (XDG, p 4A, 8/15/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Sep 19 | The New York Times and The Washington Post published the Unabomber's manifesto. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 02 | A man claiming to have a bomb hijacked a school bus with 13 learning-disabled children aboard, leading authorities around Miami-area highway for 90 minutes before being fatally shot by police. (XDG, p 4A, 11/02/2000) | Ref: 83 |
- 1996
| Feb 25 | Two Palestinian suicide bombers blow up a bus in Jerusalem and at soldiers' hitchhiking post in coastal city of Ashkelon, killing 23 Israelis, two Americans and a Palestinian. More than 80 wounded. Hamas claims responsibility. Ref | |
| Mar 03 | Suicide bomb on Jerusalem bus kills at least 18 others and wounds 10 people. Hamas claims responsibility. Ref | |
| Mar 04 | Suicide bomber blows himself up outside Tel Aviv shopping center, killing 12 people and wounding more than 100. Hamas claims responsibility. Ref | |
| Apr 03 | Unibomber Theodore Kaczynski is arrested in Montana. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 05 | Accompanied by six children who survived the Oklahoma City bombing, President Clinton bowed his head in silent prayer at the site where 168 people were killed almost a year earlier. | Ref: 64 |
| Apr 24 | IRA plants largest bomb to date under Hammersmith Bridge on 80th anniversary of Easter Rising. | Ref: 10 |
| Apr 28 | Martin Bryant, armed with a semiautomatic rifle opens fire on tourists on the Australian island of Tasmania, killing 35 people; he was captured by police after a 12-hour standoff at a guest cottage. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Jun 15 | A truck bomb blew up in a retail district of Manchester, England, injuring more than 200 people in an attack claimed by the Irish Republican Army. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Jun 18 | Federal prosecutors in CA charged Theodore Kaczynski in four of the Unabomber attacks. | |
| Jun 19 | NY City police announced that a shooting suspect in custody had been linked to the "Zodiac" shootings that terrorized NYers in the early 1990's. | Ref: 6 |
| Jun 25 | A truck bomb killed 19 Americans and injured hundreds at a US military housing complex in Saudi Arabia. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Jul 24 | Two bombs blamed on Tamil separatists ripped through a commuter train near Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing 64 civilians and wounding more than 400. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Sep 19 | The NY Times and The Washington Post published the Unabomber's manifesto. | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 01 | Theodore Kaczynski was charged by a U.S. federal grand jury with mailing a bomb that killed advertising executive Thomas Mosser in 1994. Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, pleaded guilty in January 1998 to mail bombings that killed three people and injured 23. He was sentenced in July 1997 to life without possibility of parole by a federal court in Sacramento. | Ref: 4 |
| Oct 01 | Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and nine other defendants were convicted in NY of conspiring to attack the United States through bombings, assassinations and kidnappings. | Ref: 6 |
| Nov 23 | A hijacked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 crashed into the waves off Comoros Islands, killing 125 of the 175 people on board. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Dec 03 | Four people were killed in a subway bombing in southern Paris. | Ref: 64 |
| Dec 17 | Peruvian guerrillas took hundreds of people hostage at the Japanese embassy in Lima; all but 72 of the hostages were later released by the rebels; the siege ended April 22, 1997, with a commando raid that resulted in the deaths of all the rebels, two commandos and one hostage. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 22 | Peruvian guerrillas holding more than 360 hostages at the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima freed all but 140 of their captives. Eight workers were killed in an explosion at the Wyman Gordon Forgings metal-fabricating plant in northwest Houston. | Ref: 64 |
| Dec 25 | Peruvians held candles high and prayed outside the Japanese ambassador's residence, where leftist rebels freed one hostage for health reasons, but continued to hold more than 100 others. | Ref: 64 |
- 1997
| Jan 16 | Two bomb blasts an hour apart rocked an Atlanta building containing an abortion clinic. Six people were injured. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 21 | A bomb explodes at a gay and lesbian nightclub in Atlanta, injuring five people. (XDG, p 4A, 2/21/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Feb 23 | A Palestinian man, Ali Abu Kamal, opens fire on the observation deck of New York City's Empire State Building, killing one person and wounding six before shooting himself to death. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 22 | Government commandos stormed the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru, ending a 126-day hostage crisis. All 14 Tupac Amaru rebels were killed; 71 hostages were rescued. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 23 | Government commandos stormed the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru, ending a 126-day hostage crisis. All 14 Tupac Amaru rebels were killed; 71 hostages were rescued. | Ref: 70 |
| May 21 | Prosecutors at the Oklahoma City trial of Timothy McVeigh rest their case. (XDG, p 4A, 5/21/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Jun 02 | Timothy McVeigh was convicted of murder and conspiracy in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. | Ref: 70 |
| Jul 30 | Two bombers kill themselves and 16 others in an outdoor Jerusalem market. More than 150 injured. Hamas claims responsibility. Ref | |
| Sep 04 | Three explosions kill three Israelis and three other people suspected to be suicide bombers. More than 165 people wounded. Hamas claims responsibility. Ref | |
| Sep 23 | Armed men raided an Algerian village, killing at least 200 people in one of the worst massacres since Algeria's Islamic insugency began. (XDG, p. 4A, 9/23/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Nov 12 | Ramzi Yousef was found guilty of masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 17 | Six militants opened fire at the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor, Egypt, killing 62 people, most of them foreign tourists. The attackers were killed by police. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 30 | In Tajikistan, French hostage Karine Maine was killed with five suspected kidnappers when a grenade expolded during a failed rescue operation. A companion had been released hours earlier. (XDG, p 4A, 11/30/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Dec 12 | SWAT team shoots John E Armstrong in Florida, freeing 2 young hostages. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 12 | Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, the international terrorist known as "Carlos the Jackal," went on trial in Paris on charges of killing two French investigators and a Lebanese national. (Convicted, he is serving a life prison sentence.) | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 23 | A jury in Denver convicted Terry Nichols of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing, declining to find him guilty of murder. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 24 | Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, the aging revolutionary known as "Carlos the Jackal," was sentenced by a French court to life in prison for the 1975 murders of two French investigators and a Lebanese national. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 30 | Armed men massacred 412 men, women and children in four mountain villages in Algeria. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 31 | Leftist rebels in Peru released two diplomats, leaving 81 hostages in the besieged Japanese embassy residence in Lima. | Ref: 64 |
- 1998
| Jan 08 | Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was sentenced in New York to life in prison. | Ref: 70 |
| Jan 08 | Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski asks to act as his own lawyer. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 22 | Theodore Kaczynski pleads guilty in Sacramento, Calif., to being the Unabomber in return for a sentence of life in prison without parole. | Ref: 70 |
| Jan 29 | A bomb rocks an abortion clinic in Birmingham AL killing Robert Sanderson, an off-duty police officer working as a security guard, and critically injuring Emily Lyons, a nurse. Eric Rudolph, a suspect, was captured in May 2003. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 14 | Eric Rudolph was delcared the suspect in the bombing of a Birmingham, Alabama abortion clinic. A $100,000 reward was offered for his arrest and conviction. As of early 2002, Rudolph was still at large -- reward or no. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 17 | Larry Wayne Harris & Bill Levitt arrested for possession of anthrax. | Ref: 5 |
| May 04 | Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was given four life sentences plus 30 years by a federal judge in Sacramento, Calif., under a plea agreement that spared him the death penalty. | Ref: 70 |
| May 27 | Michael Fortier, the government's star witness in the OK City bombing case, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after apologizing for not warning anyone about the deadly plot. | Ref: 70 |
| Jun 04 | A federal judge sentenced Terry Nichols to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing. | Ref: 70 |
| Jul 24 | A gunman burst into the US Capitol, opening fire and killing two police officers before being shot and captured. | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 07 | A pair of major explosions near US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. “Clearly, this is a terrorist attack,” US State Department spokesman Lee McClenny said. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 15 | A car bomb in Omagh, Northern Ireland, killed 29 people and injured 370. It was the single deadliest act of violence in 30 years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 07 | Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, was beaten, robbed and left tied to a wooden fence post outside of Laramie; he died five days later. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 12 | Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student, dies five days after being beaten and lashed to a fence; two men were charged with his murder. (Russell Henderson later pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping; a second suspect, Aaron McKinney, has yet to stand trial.) (TWA, 1999) | Ref: 95 |
- 1999
| Feb 16 | Enraged Kurds seized embassies and held hostages across Europe following Turkey's arrest of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 19 | A powerful bomb shatters an outdoor food market in Vladikavkaz, Russia, killing at least 53 people. (XDG, p 4A, 3/19/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Apr 05 | Libya surrendered two suspects in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland to a U.N. representative. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 22 | At Columbine HS in Littleton CO, investigators find a powerful bomb made from a propane tank, heightening suspicions that gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who killed 13 people before killing themselves, intended to destroy the school. (XDG, p 4A, 2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Jun 16 | Kathleen Ann Soliah, a fugitive member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, is captured in St Paul MN, where she had made a new life for herself under the name Sara Jane Olsen. (XDG, p 4A, 6/16/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Jul 29 | Mark O. Barton goes on a killing rampage in Atlanta, shooting 21 people, killing 9. Additionally Barton's wife and two children are also dead by gunshot wounds. Barton then killed himself. Barton is also the only suspect in the 1993 slaying of his first wife and mother-in-law. Apparently Barton was upset regarding recent stock market losses. (XDG, p 4A, 7/29/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Sep 13 | A suspected bomb devastated an eight-story apartment building in Moscow, killing at least 118 people. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 20 | Lawrence Russell Brewer was convicted in the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, TX. (Brewer was later sentenced to death.) | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 02 | Copier repairman Byran Uyesugi is accused of going on a shooting spree at a Xerox Corp. parts warehouse in Honolulu killing seven male co-workers with a 9 mm handgun. | Ref: 9 |
| Nov 03 | Aaron McKinney is convicted of murder in the beating of gay Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard. (McKinney and Rssell Henderson, who pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murder, are serving life sentences.). (XDG, p 4A, 11/3/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Dec 24 | Five hijackers seize an Indian Airlines jet with 189 people aboad, forcing the aircraft on a journey across south Asia and into the Middle East. (The eight-day ordeal results in the death of one passenger and India's release of three jailed pro-Kashmir militants in exchange for the rest of the hostages.) (XDG, p 4A, 12/24/2000) | Ref: 83 |
- 2000
| Jan 19 | The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced indictments of Mokhtar Haouari and Abdel Ghani Meskini in the "Borderbom" investigation. The two were charged with collaborating with Ahmed Ressam and others in a wide-ranging terrorist conspiracy to bomb American sites during the January 1, 2000, millennium celebrations. The FBI/New York Police Department Joint Terrorist Task Force, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service, and Canada's Department of Justice assisted in the investigation. | Ref: 14 |
| Mar 24 | A federal judge awarded former hostage Terry Anderson $ 341 million from Iran, holding Iranian agents responsible for Anderson's nearly seven years of captivity in Lebanon. | Ref: 6 |
| Apr 19 | “The empty chairs are a simple yet powerful portrayal of someone’s absence. Like an empty chair at a dinner table, we are always aware of the presence of a loved one’s absence,” said architects Hans and Torrey Butzer and Sven Berg, explaining their inclusion of 168 bronze and stone chairs, each inscribed with a victim's name and mounted on a glass base, the focus at the opening of the Oklahoma City National Memorial. This memorial marks the place where 168 people died in 1995 in the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history. A new expanse of green lawn was once the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, and a 320-foot-long reflecting pool lined with black stone has replaced the bombed-out street. The chairs, symbolic of tombstones, are also placed in symbolic positions: Nine rows representing the nine floors of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, with each victim's chair placed in the row according to the floor on which he or she worked or was visiting at the time of the blast. 19 of the chairs are smaller, representing the children who were murdered in the attack. Ironically, A 70-year-old elm tree survived the bombing. “The Survivor Tree” is now protected by the Rescuer's Orchard: Fruit trees symbolic of the many rescue workers who pulled survivors from the rubble. | Ref: 4 |
| Apr 23 | A group of 21 tourists and workers were kidnapped from a Malaysian diving resort by Abu Sayyaf rebels. | Ref: 6 |
| Apr 28 | Richard Scott Baumhammers, 34, a resident of Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania (suburban Pittsburgh) allegedly kills five people critically wounds one in a two-county shooting spree that begins in a residential area then moved to an Indian grocery store, a Chinese restaurant, a karate studio and two synagogues. He is arrested about 1 1/2 hours later. | Ref: 9 |
| May 24 | Gunmen killed five people in a robbery attempt at a Wendy's restaurant in Queens, NY. | Ref: 6 |
| Jun 08 | A knife-wielding man kills eight children at a Japanese elementary school. (XDG, p 4A, 6/8/2001) | Ref: 83 |
| Jul 12 | In Philadelphia, a WPVI TV news helicopter videotaped about a dozen police officers kicking and punching Thomas Jones, a black carjacking suspect. (Jones later pleaded guilty to carjacking and other crimes, and was sentenced to 18 to 36 years in prison; however, the circumstances of the beating are still under investigation.) | Ref: 6 |
| Jul 17 | Tokyo District Court Judge Manabu Yamazaki said former Aum Shinrikyo, or Supreme Truth, cult members Toru Toyoda, 32, and Kenichi Hirose, 36, deserved the death penalty for their roles in releasing sarin nerve gas in the incident that killed 12 and injured thousands in the 1995 gas attack of a Tokyo subway. (CNN, 7/17/2000) | Ref: 9 |
| Jul 21 | Special Counsel John C. Danforth concluded "with 100 percent certainty" that the federal government was innocent of wrongdoing in the siege that killed 80 members of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, in 1993. | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 08 | A bomb ripped through an underground walkway in central Moscow, killing at least 13 people. | Ref: 6 |
| Aug 25 | The FBI, reversing itself after six years, admitted that its agents might have fired some potentially flammable tear gas canisters on the final day of the 1993 standoff with the Branch Davidians near Waco, TX, but said it continued to believe law enforcement agents did not start the fire which engulfed the cult's compound. | Ref: 6 |
| Sep 09 | Former Republican Senator John Danforth opened an independent inquiry into the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, TX. | Ref: 6 |
| Oct 20 | Egyptian-born Ali Mohamed, a U.S. citizen who'd served in the Army, pleaded guilty in NY to helping plan the deadly U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa in 1998 that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 26 | Washington DC serial killer Robert L. Yates Jr. is sentenced to 408 years in prison for 13 murders and one attempted murder. | Ref: 9 |
| Nov 08 | Former Senator and Waco special counsel John C. Danforth, conducting an independent review of FBI actions in the Waco tragedy, released his final report exonerating the FBI of wrongdoing. In October, the Government Operations Committee had reached a similar conclusion. | Ref: 14 |
| Dec 19 | The U.N. Security Council voted to impose broad sanctions on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers unless they closed "terrorist" training camps and surrender U.S. embassy bombing suspect Osama bin Laden. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 24 | Bombs exploded outside churches in nine Indonesian cities and towns, killing at least 19 people. | Ref: 64 |
| Dec 26 | Michael McDermott, wielding a semiautomatic rifle and a shotgun opened fire at an Internet firm in Wakefield, MA, where he was employed, killing seven workers. McDermott was later convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 28 | Software engineer Michael McDermott pleaded innocent to seven counts of murder in the shooting deaths of seven co-workers the day before at an Internet consulting company in Wakefield, Mass. | Ref: 64 |
- 2001
| Jan 31 | A Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands convicted one Libyan and acquitted a second in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 05 | Four disciples of Osama bin Laden went on trial in New York in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 15 | Chechen men wielding knives and claiming to have a bomb, hijack a Russian plane carrying 174 people after it left Turkey and forced it to land in the holy Saudi city of Medina. (Saudi special forces stormed it the following day; a flight attendent, a passenger and a hijacker were killed.) (XDG, p 4A, 3/15/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Mar 28 | The authors of a book on the Oklahoma City bombing revealed that during prison interviews, Timothy McVeigh has shown no remorse for what happened, and called the 19 children who died "collateral damage". (XDG, p.4a, 3/28/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Apr 06 | Algerian national Ahmed Ressam, accused of bringing explosives into the United States just days before the millennium celebrations, was convicted twice in the same day first in France for belonging to a group supporting Islamic militants, then in Los Angeles on terror charges. | Ref: 70 |
| May 18 | A Palestinian suicide bomber blows himself up at a shopping mall in Netanya, killing five Israelis. Israel retaliates with air strikes against security targets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that killed 10 Palestinians. (XDG, p 4A, 5/18/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| May 29 | Four followers of Osama bin Laden were convicted in New York of a global conspiracy to murder Americans, including the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people. | Ref: 70 |
| Jun 01 | A suicide bomber attacked a Tel Aviv nightclub, killing 21 Israelis. | Ref: 70 |
| Jun 21 | A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., indicted 13 Saudis and a Lebanese in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 American servicemen. | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 02 | Muslim extremists seized 36 Filipinos on the southern island of Basilan and beheaded at least four. | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 09 | A suicide bomber detonated his explosives in a central Jerusalem pizzeria, killing 15 other people. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 11 | Following the massive terrorist attacks against New York and Washington, the FBI dedicated 7,000 of its 11,000 Special Agents and thousands of FBI support personnel to the PENTTBOM investigation. "PENTTBOM" is short for Pentagon, Twin Towers Bombing. | Ref: 14 |
| Sep 11 | In an act of terror compared to Pearl Harbor, four jets are hijacked, two are flown into each tower of the World Trade Center in New York, a third flies into the Pentagon and a fourth crashes in Pennsylvania, where it is likely the hijackers were overpowered by the passengers. The death toll is predicted to hit 5000, more than twice that of Pearl Harbor. The event was carried by every news organization in the world and virtually every newspaper. Details | Ref: 86 |
| Sep 13 | Secretary of State Colin Powell named Osama bin Laden as the prime suspect in the terror attacks on the United States; limited commercial flights resumed for the first time in two days. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 14 | The House and Senate, by a vote of 420-1 and 98-0, respectively, to authorize the president to use US troops against those responsible for attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. (USA Today, p 5A, 10/08/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Sep 14 | The FBI released the names of the 19 suspected hijackers who took part in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks; President George W. Bush toured the ruins of the World Trade Center and addressed rescue workers over a bullhorn. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 18 | New York City reveals death and missing toll of Sept. 11 disaster at 5,422 later revised to 2,787. | Ref: 10 |
| Sep 18 | Taliban leaders in Afghanistan confirm their declaration of a Jihad (holy war) against America. | Ref: 10 |
| Sep 19 | The Pentagon ordered combat aircraft to the Persian Gulf in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks; American and United airlines announced 40,000 layoffs. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 20 | President George W. Bush addressed a joint session of Congress regarding the terrorist attacks and named PA Gov. Tom Ridge to head the new Office of Homeland Security. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 21 | Congress approved $15 billion to help an airline industry reeling from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 24 | President George W. Bush froze the assests of 27 suspected terrorists and terrorist groups. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 27 | An armed man went on a shooting rampage in the local parliament in Zug, Switzerland, killing 14 people before taking his own life. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 02 | NATO states that the US had provided "clear and conclusive" evidence of Osama bin Laden's involvement in the attacks on New York and Washington. (XDG, p 4A, 10/02/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Oct 04 | NATO approved a U.S. request for military assistance in the anti-terror campaign. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 04 | Authorities confirmed that a photo editor at the supermarket tabloid The Sun in Boca Raton, Fla., had contracted the inhaled form of anthrax; he died the following day. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 05 | Robert Stevens, 63, a photographer for one of the American Media newspapers (which includes "The National Enquirer"), dies of inhalation anthrax, which causes severe respiratory problems. He had checked into the JFK Medical Center in Atlantis, Florida, Tuesday, 10/2. A second employee has tested positive for anthrax. Only 18 inhalation cases in the United States were documented in the 20th century, the most recent in 1976 in CA. The last anthrax case in Florida was in 1974, according to the state health department. Ref | |
| Oct 09 | Letters postmarked in Trenton, N.J., that later tested positive for anthrax spores were mailed to Sens. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 10 | President George W. Bush released a list of 22 most-wanted terror suspects, including Osama bin Laden. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 11 | The FBI announced an investigation into the anthrax outbreak after a third person tested positive in Florida. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 12 | NBC News said an assistant to anchorman Tom Brokaw had tested positive for skin anthrax after opening a letter addressed to Brokaw. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 14 | Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office was quarantined after an anthrax-tainted letter was opened. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 14 | President George W. Bush rejected an offer by the Taliban to discuss turning over Osama bin Laden if the United States ended the bombing in Afghanistan. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 15 | ABC said the infant son of a news producer in NY had developed skin anthrax. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 16 | Twelve Senate offices were closed and hundreds of staffers were tested for anthrax. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 17 | The House of Representatives announced plans to close for an anthrax sweep after 31 people at the Capitol tested positive for exposure to anthrax; NY Gov. George Pataki's Manhattan office was evacuated after anthrax was detected. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 18 | Four defendants were convicted in NY for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 18 | It was announced that a New Jersey letter carrier and an employee in CBS news anchorman Dan Rather's office had tested positive for skin anthrax. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 18 | In conjunction with the U. S. Post Office, the FBI offered a reward of $1,000,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person who mailed letters contaminated with Anthrax to media organizations and congressional offices. | Ref: 14 |
| Oct 19 | It was announced that a New Jersey postal worker and a New York Post employee had tested positive for skin anthrax. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 20 | Tests found traces of anthrax in a mail-bundling machine at a House office building a few blocks from the Capitol. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 21 | Washington postal worker Thomas L. Morris Jr. died of inhaled anthrax; officials closed two postal facilities and began testing thousands of postal employees. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 22 | Washington postal worker Joseph P. Curseen died at a Maryland hospital of inhaled anthrax. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 23 | Anthrax was found on the machinery at a military base that sorts mail for the White House. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 24 | The House passed a $100 billion economic stimulus package in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 26 | The Supreme Court building was closed for anthrax testing, and traces of anthrax were found in the State Department and CIA headquarters. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 28 | Gunmen kill 16 people in a church in Behawalpur, Pakistan. (XDG, p 4A, 10/28/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Oct 29 | A gunman killed four people in Tours, France. (XDG, p 4A, 10/29/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Oct 31 | A 61-year-old NY hospital worker became the fourth person to die from inhalation anthrax. The source of the anthrax remains unknown, though authorities suspect she came into contact with contaminated mail. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 16 | Investigators found a letter addressed to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., containing anthrax. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 17 | The Taliban confirmed the death of Osama bin Laden's military chief Mohammed Atef in an airstrike three days earlier. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 21 | Ottilie Lundgren, a 94-year-old resident of Oxford, Conn., dies of inhalation anthrax. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 01 | Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in back-to-back explosions at a downtown Jerusalem pedestrian mall, killing 11 bystanders. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 02 | A bomb went off aboard a bus in Haifa, killing 15 Israelis. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 04 | The United States froze the financial assets of organizations allegedly linked to Hamas, the group that claimed responsibility recent deadly suicide attacks in Israel. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 05 | Escaped convict Clayton Lee Waagner, suspected of mailing anthrax hoax letters to abortion clinics, was captured near Cincinnati. (XDG, p 4A, 12/5/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Dec 06 | The anthrax-tainted letter sent to Senator Patrick Leahy on December 5th, is identical to the letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. (XDG, p 11A, 12/07/2001) | Ref: 83 |
| Dec 09 | The United States disclosed the existence of a videotape in which Osama bin Laden said he was pleasantly surprised by the extent of damage from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 11 | Federal prosecutors charged Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, with conspiring to murder thousands in the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 13 | The Pentagon released a captured videotape of Osama bin Laden in which the al-Qaida leader said the deaths and destruction achieved by the Sept. 11 attacks exceeded his "most optimistic" expectations. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 13 | Five suspected Islamic militants killed nine people in an attack on India's parliament before being killed themselves. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 22 | Richard C. Reid, a passenger on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami, tried to ignite explosives in his shoes, but was subdued by flight attendants and fellow passengers. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 26 | The Arabic TV station Al-Jazeera aired new videotaped excerpts of Osama bin Laden in which the Al-Qaida leader condemned the United States as a nation that committed crimes against millions of Afghans. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 27 | U.S. officials announced that Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners would be held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. | Ref: 70 |
- 2002
| Jan 16 | Richard Reid was indicted in Boston on federal charges alleging he he'd tried to blow up a U.S.-bound jetliner with explosives hidden in his shoes. | Ref: 70 |
| Jan 18 | 1970s radical-turned-suburban mother Sara Jane Olson was sentenced in Los Angeles to 20 years to life in prison for plotting to blow up a pair of police cars 27 years earlier. | Ref: 70 |
| Jan 23 | John Walker Lindh, a US born Taliban fighter, is returned to the US to face criminal charges that he'd conspired to kill fellow Americans. (XDG, p 4A, 1/23/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Jan 23 | Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is abducted in Karachi, Pakistan. (XDG, p 4A, 1/23/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Jan 27 | Wafa Idris, a Palastinian paramedic, became the first female suicide bomber against Israel. Her victim was an 81-year old man. (XDG, p 4A, 1/27/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Feb 05 | A federal grand jury indicted John Walker Lindh on 10 charges, alleging that he was trained by Osama bin Laden's network and that he conspired with the Taliban to kill Americans. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 06 | A federal judge ordered John Walker Lindh, the so-called "American Taliban," held without bail pending trial. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 12 | Pakistan charged three men in connection with the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi. (They, and a fourth man, were later convicted of Pearl's murder.) | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 13 | John Walker Lindh pleaded innocent in federal court in Alexandria, Va., to conspiring to kill Americans and supporting the Taliban and terrorist organizations. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 16 | Launching his defense against war crimes charges, former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic justified his actions as a "struggle against terrorism" and said he was a victim of twisted facts and "terrible fabrication." | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 16 | (DC Sniper) A former bookkeeper for John Muhammed (the Washington DC serial sniper) is killed in Tacoma WA. Muhammed is the prime suspect, but has not been charged. (USA Today, p 3A, 11/25/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Feb 23 | Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by a rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 27 | US officials announce a $5M reward for information in the kidnap-murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. (XDG, p 4A, 2/27/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Feb 27 | A mob of Muslims set fire to a train carrying hundreds of Hindu nationalists in Godhra, India; some 60 people died. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 02 | Eleven Israelis were killed in a Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhood. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 12 | Homeland security chief Tom Ridge unveiled a color-coded system for terror warnings. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 19 | (DC Sniper) A golfer near the home of John Muhammed's sister in Tuscon AZ is killed. Muhammed and Malvo are in the area from March 13-25 and may be involved, according to police. (USA Today, p 3A, 11/25/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Mar 20 | Seven Israelis died when an Islamic militant blew himself up in a packed bus. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 27 | A suicide bomber killed 29 Israelis during a Passover Seder in Netanya, Israel. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 09 | Palestinian militants killed 13 Israeli soldiers during intense fighting in a refugee camp in Jenin, West Bank. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 10 | Eight Israelis are killed by a suicide bomber aboard a bus in Haifa. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 30 | Benevolence International Foundation, an Islamic charity based in suburban Chicago, and its directors were charged with perjury and accused by the FBI of supporting terrorists. The charity maintains its innocence. (XDG, p 4A, 4/30/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| May 02 | Pipe bombs exploded in six mailboxes in rural parts of Illinois and Iowa, injuring six people. | Ref: 70 |
| May 03 | Pipe bombs exploded in six mailboxes in rural parts of Illinois and Iowa, injuring six people. | Ref: 70 |
| May 07 | Authorities arrested 21-year-old college student Luke J. Helder in a series of rural mailbox bombings that left six people wounded in Illinois and Iowa. | Ref: 70 |
| May 16 | The remains of kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl were unearthed in Pakistan. | Ref: 70 |
| May 22 | A Palestinean, disguised as a punk rocker, blows himself up in a crowded pedestrian area of Rishon Letzion, a Tel Aviv suburb, killing 2. (USA Today, p 7A, 5/23/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| May 29 | FBI Director Robert Mueller says there may have been more missed clues before the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks, and suggested for the first time that investigators might have uncovered the plot if they had been more diligent about persuing leads. (XDG, p 4A, 5/29/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| May 30 | A solemn, wordless ceremony marked the end of the agonizing cleanup at Ground Zero in New York, 8 1/2 months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. | Ref: 70 |
| Jun 05 | (Elizabeth Smart) Mary Katherine Smart, 9, tells her parents that her sister Elizabeth, 14, was taken from their bedroom in Salt Lake City UT, between 1 AM and 2 AM. (USA Today, p 3A, 3/13/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Jun 06 | (Elizabeth Smart) Family and hundreds of volunteers search the streets and foothills of Salt Lake City looking for Elizabeth Smart. Police pursue more than 100 tips. (USA Today, p 3A, 3/13/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Jun 07 | A yearlong hostage crisis in the Philippines involving three Americans came to a bloody end as Filipino commandos managed to save only one of the captives. | Ref: 70 |
| Jun 14 | (Elizabeth Smart) Handyman Richard Albert Ricci, who once worked at the Smart home, is arrested on a parole violation unrelated to to the Smart disappearance. Ricci is questioned about the Smart case and is considered the top suspect. (USA Today, p 3A, 3/13/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Jun 14 | A suicide bomber blows up a truck at the US consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 14 Pakistanis. (XDG, p 4A, 6/14/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Jun 18 | A Palestinian detonated a nail-studded bomb in a Jerusalem bus, killing 19 passengers and himself. | Ref: 70 |
| Jun 22 | (Elizabeth Smart) Transient Brett Michael Edmunds, seen in the neighborhood the week of Elizabeth's disappearance, is questioned by police in a West Virginia hospital. Edmunds turns out to know nothing of the disappearance. (USA Today, p 3A, 3/13/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Jun 25 | A federal judge in Alexandria, Va., refused to accept a no-contest plea from Zacarias Moussaoui, accused of conspiracy in the Sept. 11 attacks, and instead entered an innocent plea on his behalf. | Ref: 70 |
| Jul 04 | A gunman opened fire at Israel's El Al airline ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport; three people were killed, including the gunman. | Ref: 70 |
| Jul 15 | A Pakistani judge convicts four Islamic militants in the kidnap-slaying of Wall Street Journal correspondant Daniel Pearl. (XDG, p 4A, 7/15/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Jul 17 | A double suicide bombing in Tel Aviv kills two foreign workers and on Israeli. (XDG, p 4A, 7/17/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Jul 18 | Accused September 11th conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui tried to plead guilty to charges that could have brought the death penalty, but a federal judge in Alexandria insisted he take time to think about it. (XDG, p 4A, 7/18/2003) | Ref: 1 |
| Jul 25 | Zacarias Moussaoui declared he was guilty of conspiracy in the Sept 11 attacks, then dramatically withdrew his plea at his arraignment in Alexandria VA. (XDG, p 4A, 7/25/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Jul 29 | A man, identified by authorities as a would-be suicide bomber with more than a half-ton of explosives in his car, is stopped by a chance traffic accident 300 yards from the American embassy. (XDG, p 4A, 7/29/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Jul 31 | (Elizabeth Smart) Handyman Richard Albert Ricci, who once worked at the Smart home, pleads innocent to unrelated burglary and theft charges. (USA Today, p 3A, 3/13/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Jul 31 | A bomb exploded inside a cafeteria at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, killing nine people, including five Americans. | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 02 | A federal judge ruled the US government had to reveal the names of people detained in the investigation of the September 11th terrorist attacks; an appeals court later sided with the federal authorities. (XDG, p 4A, 8/02/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Aug 04 | A Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a bus in northern Israel during rush hour, killing himself and nine passengers. | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 11 | Dr Steven J Hatfill, a bioweapons expert under scrutiny for anthrax-laced letters, fiercely denied any involvement and said he cooperated with the investigation. (XDG, p 4A, 8/11/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Aug 19 | Abu Nidal, a Palestinian schoolteacher-turned-terrorist mastermind, was reported to have died in Baghdad of multiple gunshot wounds. | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 30 | (Elizabeth Smart) Handyman Richard Albert Ricci, 48, who once worked at the Smart home, dies three days after suffering a brain hemorrhage and collapsing in his jail cell. (USA Today, p 3A, 3/13/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Sep 02 | A congressional report found that intelligence agencies that were supposed to protect Americans from the September 11 hijackers failed to do so because they were poorly organized, poorly equipped and slow to pursue clues that might have prevented the attacks. | Ref: 83 |
| Sep 05 | (DC Sniper) A pizzeria owner in Clinton MD is wounded by gunfire. The gunman steals $3000 and a laptop computer. The laptop is later found in John Muhammed's car. (USA Today, p 3A, 11/25/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Sep 14 | (DC Sniper) A store clerk in Silver Spring MD is wounded. Police suspect John Muhammed and Lee Malvo. (USA Today, p 3A, 11/25/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Sep 15 | (DC Sniper) A store clerk in Clinton MD is wounded. Police suspect John Muhammed and Lee Malvo. (USA Today, p 3A, 11/25/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Sep 17 | (Elizabeth Smart) The twice-daily briefings held by the Smart family are suspended. (USA Today, p 3A, 3/13/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Sep 21 | (DC Sniper) One woman is killed, another wounded outside a liquor store in Montgomery AL is killed. John Muhammed and Lee Malvo have been charged.. (USA Today, p 3A, 11/25/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Sep 21 | (DC Sniper) A man outside a liquor store in Atlanta GA is killed. Police suspect John Muhammed and Lee Malvo. (USA Today, p 3A, 11/25/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Sep 23 | (DC Sniper) A worker in a beauty supply store is killed in Baton Rouge, LA. John Muhammed and Lee Malvo have been charged.. (USA Today, p 3A, 11/25/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 02 | (DC Sniper) 5:20PM A Washington DC serial sniper shoots into the window of a craft store. No injuries in Montgomery County, MD. (USA Today, p 3A, 10/08/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 02 | (DC Sniper) 6:04PM A Washington DC serial sniper kills his 1st victim, James Martin, age 55, in a supermarket in Montgomery County, MD. (USA Today, p 3A, 10/08/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 03 | (DC Sniper) 7:41AM A Washington DC serial sniper kills his 2nd victim, James Buchanan, age 39, while mowing grass in Montgomery County, MD. (USA Today, p 3A, 10/08/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 03 | (DC Sniper) 8:12AM A Washington DC serial sniper kills his 3rd victim, Premkumar Walekar, age 54, while pumping gas in Montgomery County, MD. (USA Today, p 3A, 10/08/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 03 | (DC Sniper) 8:37AM A Washington DC serial sniper kills his 4th victim, Sarah Ramos, age 34, near a post office in Montgomery County, MD. (USA Today, p 3A, 10/08/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 03 | (DC Sniper) 9:58AM A Washington DC serial sniper kills his 5th victim, Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, age 25, at a gas station in Montgomery County, MD. (USA Today, p 3A, 10/08/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 03 | (DC Sniper) 9:20PM A Washington DC serial sniper kills his 6th victim, Pascal Charlot, age 72, while he was walking in Washington, DC. (USA Today, p 3A, 10/08/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 04 | (DC Sniper) 2:30PM A Washington DC serial sniper shoots, but does not kill, his 7th victim, a 43-year old woman, in the parking lot of a crafts store in Spotsylvania County, VA. (USA Today, p 3A, 10/08/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 04 | John Walker Lindh, the so-called "American Taliban," received a 20-year sentence after a sobbing, halting plea for forgiveness before a federal judge in Alexandria, Va. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 04 | Richard Reid pleaded guilty in a federal court in Boston to trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 07 | (DC Sniper) 8:09AM A Washington DC serial sniper shoots, but does not kill, his 8th victim, a 13-year old boy, outside a middle school in Prince George's County, MD. The 13-year old boy was wounded. He is the first child and the second victim to be wounded. Six others have been killed. (USA Today, p 1A, 10/08/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 09 | (DC Sniper) A Washington DC serial sniper kills his 9th victim, Dean Harold Meyers, age 53, while he was getting gasoline at a Manassas VA gas station. (XDG, p 2A, 11/18/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Oct 11 | (DC Sniper) 9:30AM A Washington DC serial sniper kills his 10th victim, Kenneth Bridges, age 53, while he was getting gasoline near Fredricksburg, VA. (USA Today, p 5A, 10/25/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 12 | A massive car bomb explodes outside the Sari Club, on Bali, Indonesia, killing 202 people, many of them foreign tourists. Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida were blamed. After four days, 30 of the 39 identified bodies are those of Australians, with scores more to identify. (Columbus Dispatch, p A14, 10/17/2002) | |
| Oct 14 | (DC Sniper) 9:15PM A Washington DC serial sniper kills his 11th victim, Linda Franklin, a 43-year old FBI analyst outside a Home Depot in Falls Church, VA. Two others have been shot, but not killed. (USA Today, p 3A, 10/16/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 15 | (DC Sniper) Robert Holmes, friend of suspected serial sniper John Allen Muhammed, calls the FBI office in Tacoma, WA, indicating his suspicions regarding the identity of the then-unknown sniper. (USA Today, p 2A, 11/19/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 19 | (DC Sniper) 8:00PM A Washington DC serial sniper shoots, but does not kill his 12th victim, a 37 year-old man outside a Ponderosa, 85 miles south of Washingto DC, in Ashland, VA. (USA Today, p 5A, 10/25/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 22 | (DC Sniper) 6:00AM A Washington DC serial sniper kills his 13th victim, Conrad Johnson, 35, a bus driver from Oxon Hill, MD on his bus less than a mile from the scene of his first shooting, in Silver Spring, MD. (USA Today, p 5A, 10/25/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 23 | About 50 rebels from Chechnya seize a Moscow theatre playing a popular musical, Nord-Ost (North-East). All of an estimated 750 were taken hostage. (USA Today, p. 1A, 6A, 10/28/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 24 | (DC Sniper) At approximately 3:15AM, after a tip from a motorist responding to an announced license plate number, police arrest John Allen Muhammed, 41, and John Lee Malvo, 17, without incident, at a rest area near Frederick MD. These are the suspected serial snipers. (USA Today, p 4A, 10/25/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 26 | About 100 Russian Special Forces storm the theatre after an unspecified gas knocked out Chechens and hostages alike. All Chechens were killed as were at least 117 hostages. (USA Today, p. 1A, 6A, 10/28/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Nov 03 | (Elizabeth Smart) Elizabeth Smart, abducted from her Salt Lake City bedroom on June 5th, turns 15. (USA Today, p 3A, 3/13/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Nov 08 | (DC Sniper) US Attorney General John Ashcroft sends the cases of John Muhammed and Lee Malvo to to Virginia because of Virginia's acceptane of the death penalty. (USA Today, p 3A, 11/25/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Nov 19 | USA Today reports on page 12A that a recently taped broadcast of Osama bin Laden is genuine, recent and unaltered. The tape provides no clues as to bin Laden's location or health. | Ref: 13 |
| Nov 19 | Author, investigator Patricia Cornwall names Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942) as Jack the Ripper in her book "Portrait of a Killer". Her evidence is compelling but not conclusive according to USA Today, p 4D, 11/19/2002. | Ref: 13 |
| Nov 27 | President George W. Bush appointed former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to lead an investigation into why the government failed to foil the Sept. 11 attacks. (Kissinger stepped down the following month, citing controversy over potential conflicts of interest with his business clients.) | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 27 | A suicide truck-bomb attack destroyed the headquarters of Chechnya's Moscow-backed government, killing 72 people. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 30 | A suspected extremist kills three US missionaries at a Baptist hospital in Yemen. (Abed Abdul Razak Kamel was sentenced to death in May 2003 for killing the missionaries.) (XDG, p 4A, 12/30/2003) | Ref: 83 |
- 2003
| Jan 05 | A pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up seconds apart in downtown Tel Aviv, killing 23 and injuring another 100. (Dayton Daily News, p A1, 1/06/2003) | |
| Jan 17 | (DC Sniper) Relatives of two of the Washington DC sniper victims are suing the gun manufacturer and the store that sold or lost through theft the weapon used in the attacks. (Columbus Dispatch, p A5, 1/17/2003) | |
| Jan 21 | Columbian rebels kidnap an American photographer and a British reporter, the first time foreign journalists are abducted in Columbia's four-decade civil war. Scott Dalton and Ruth Morris are freed 11 days later. (XDG, p 4A, 1/21/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Jan 30 | Richard C. Reid, the passenger who tried to ignite a bomb in his shoe on an American Airlines flight on Dec 22, 2001, is sentenced to three life sentences by US District Judge William Young in Boston. (USA Today, p 1A, 1/31/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Feb 03 | (Elizabeth Smart) The smart family releases a sketch of "Emmanuel", real name Brian David Mitchell, who worked as a handyman for the family. Elizabeth's sister said he resembled the man in the house the night Elizabeth disappeared. (USA Today, p 3A, 3/13/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Feb 11 | The al-Jazeera Arab satellite station broadcast what was believed to be a new audio statement from Osama bin Laden urging Iraqis to carry out suicide attacks on Americans. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 18 | An arson attack on two South Korean subway trains in the city of Daegu claimed 198 lives. (The arsonist was sentenced to life in prison.) | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 01 | Suspected Sept 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured by CIA and Pakistani agents. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 12 | (Elizabeth Smart) Elizabeth Smart, the 15-year old girl who was abducted from her bedroom in Salt Lake City UT on June 5th, 2002, is found alive and apparently well, walking on the side of a road 15 miles from her home. She is accompanied by an adult man, "Emmanuel" David Mitchell, a handyman who had worked in the Smart home, and Wanda Barzee, 57. (USA Today, p 1A, 3/13/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Mar 19 | Tobacco farmer Dwight Ware Watson, who'd claimed to be carrying bombs in a tractor and trailer that he'd driven into a pond on Washington's National Mall, surrenders after disrupting traffic for two days; there were no explosives. (XDG, p 4A, 3/19/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Apr 02 | A bomb blast near a wharf in the southern Philippine city of Davao kills 16. (XDG, p 4A, 4/02/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Apr 03 | Cuban security forces arrest the hijackers of a passenger ferry, rescuing nearly 50 hostages. (XDG, p 4A, 4/21/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Apr 14 | U.S. commandos in Baghdad captured Abul Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner "Achille Lauro" in 1985. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 16 | The Bush administration lowered the terror alert level from orange to yellow, saying the end of heavy fighting in Iraq has diminished the threat of terrorism in the United States. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 29 | Pakistani authorities announce the capture of Waleed bin Attash, accused of playing a lead role in the September 11 attacks. (XDG, p 4A, 4/29/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| May 12 | Suicide bombers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killed 26 people, including nine U.S. citizens. | Ref: 70 |
| May 16 | Five simultaneous suicide attacks claimed the lives of 33 victims and a dozen suicide bombers in Casablance, Morocco. | Ref: 70 |
| May 21 | A bomb explodes in an empty classroom at Yale University Law School. There are no injuries. (USA Today, p 4A, 5/22/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| May 31 | Olympic Park bombing suspect Eric Robert Rudolph was arrested outside a grocery store in Murphy, N.C. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 20 | (DC Sniper) John Muhammed, to the surprise of his attorneys, elects to represent himself, denying all involvement in the shootings. After two days, his attorneys take over. (USA Today, p 3A, 11/25/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Nov 06 | Tom West (aka Joseph John Eschenbrenner III), a former employee of Watkins Motor Lines in Atlanta GA, kills two and wounds three, in the West Chester OH (a Cincinnati suburb) offices of Watkins Motor Lines. West was arrested 2½ hours later at a truck stop in New Point IN along I-74. (XDG, p 1, 11/07/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Nov 20 | Two truck bombs driven by suicide bombers explode minutes apart in Istanbul Turkey killing 27 and injuring 450. (Dayton Daily News, p 1, 11/21/2003) | |
| Nov 21 | (DC Sniper) At Lee Malvo's trial, where defense attorneys claim Malvo was "brainwashed", jurors hear a tape where Malvo says, "I intended to kill them all." (USA Today, p 3A, 11/25/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Nov 24 | (DC Sniper) A jury in Virginia Beach, VA decides that the DC sniper, John Allen Muhammad, 42, should be executed. Judge Leroy F Millette Jr can reduce the punishment to life in prison without parole at the formal sentencing on February 12, 2004. (XDG, p 1, 11/25/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Nov 24 | (DC Sniper) A Virginia jury recommends the death penalty for convicted sniper John Muhammad. Formal sentencing will take place on February 12, 2004. (USA Today, p 1A 11/25/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Dec 18 | (DC Sniper) Lee Malvo, the 18-year old Washington DC serial sniper is convicted of two counts of capital murder. (USA Today, p 3A, 12/19/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Dec 26 | (DC Sniper) Lee Malvo, the 18-year old Washington DC sniper, is being sought by prosecutors in Louisiana and Alabama (so far) who are on record as seeking the death penalty. (USA Today, p 3A, 12/26/2003) | Ref: 13 |
- 2004
| Feb 01 | Four flights from Great Britain to Houston are canceled due to possible al-Qaeda terrorist threats. A Continental Airlines flight from Dulles in Washington DC to Houston is also canceled. This is the first time a US flight has been canceled due to terrorist threats. (USA Today, p 1, 2/02/2004) | Ref: 13 |
| Feb 03 | A white powder poison, ricin, is mailed to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Capitol Hill. The powder is identified quickly and no illness or death result. (XDG, p 1, 2/04/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Mar 09 | Abu Abbas, the Palestinian mastermind of the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijacking in 1985, dies in US custody in Iraq, apparently of natural causes. (USA Today, p 5A, 3/10/2004) | Ref: 13 |
| Mar 11 | At least 192 people are killed on Spanish trains as a series of seven bombs explode on four commuter trains. A shadow group acting for al-Qaida claimed responsibility. (XDG, p 1, 3/12/2004) | Ref: 83 |
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Terrorism Chronology