Way back when: Today in history
BY GENE CURTIS
Monday, March 11, 2013
3/11/13 at 2:44 AM
1993 - N. Korea quits treaty
North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, an action it said was partially based on the start of joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises a few days earlier. The North called the exercises "nuclear war maneuvers," but a South spokesman said they were a "purely defensive conventional exercise." When the exercises began, North Korea ordered its 1.1 million-strong army on full alert. South Korea also ordered its 650,000-member army to maintain "a high state of readiness."
1998 - Asteroid will miss us
An asteroid could come within 30,000 miles of Earth's center and possibly could collide with Earth on Oct. 26, 2028, according to a notice issued by the International Astronomical Union. But NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said the next day that we could quit worrying about that asteroid. The JPL's calculations indicated the asteroid would miss earth by 600,000 miles. The astronomers said it "poses no threat to the earth whatsoever."
2004 - Train bombs kill 201
Ten bombs hidden in backpacks tore apart four commuter trains in Madrid, killing at least 201 people and wounding more than 1,400 three days ahead of Spain's general election. A shadowy group claimed responsibility in the name of al-Qaida for Europe's worst terrorist attack since the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland. Train cars were turned into twisted wrecks and platforms were strewn with corpses. Campaigning for the election was called off and three days of mourning were declared. Police believed that at least six Moroccans were involved in the bombings.
2012 - GI kills 16 civilians
A 38-year-old staff sergeant serving his fourth tour in Afghanistan is accused of slipping out of his base and creeping into three houses in two villages where 16 civilians, including children, were killed and their bodies burned. Staff Sgt. Robert Bales surrendered in the incident and was flown out of the country a few days later. The Taliban said in a statement that it would take revenge "for every single martyr with the help of Allah," and Afghan lawmakers were angered by the U.S. flying Bales out of the country. Bales was court martialed on murder charges in December but the trial was delayed when the judge ordered a sanity review before a mental health defense can be presented.
Associated Images:
Rescue workers cover bodies near a bomb-damaged passenger train in Spain in 2004. AP file
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