12 February 253

After being informed that its recently purchased coffin of Nedjemankh (pictured) had been looted, the Metropolitan Museum of Art shuttered its ongoing exhibition Nedjemankh and His Gilded Coffin two months early and later returned the artifact to Egypt.

In the first meeting between the leaders of the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow signed the Havana Declaration at José Martí International Airport in Cuba.

Just before landing at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York, killing the house's occupant and all 49 people on board the aircraft.

Protesters in La Paz and the Bolivian government brokered a deal to end two days of rioting against a proposed salary tax.

The NASA space probe NEAR Shoemaker touched down on Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.

Edvard Munch's painting The Scream (pictured) was stolen from the National Gallery of Norway.

Two-year-old James Bulger was led away from New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, England, and murdered by two 10-year-old boys, who became the youngest convicted murderers in modern English history.

A devistating tornado outbreak across Mississippi and Alabama kills 45 people and injures 427 others.

The Imperial Japanese Army initiated the Battle of Pasir Panjang in Kent Ridge Park in Singapore.

USS Macon, one of the largest helium-filled airships ever created, crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

George Gershwin's composition Rhapsody in Blue premiered at Aeolian Hall in New York.

Mexican football club Toluca FC was founded by a group of local businessmen and sports enthusiasts.

The ferry SS Penguin struck a rock in Wellington Harbour and sank, killing 75 people in New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century.

Ère des attentats: In one of the first acts of modern terrorism, Émile Henry threw a bomb into Café Terminus in Paris, France, killing one person and injuring 17 more.

The precursor of Michigan State University in East Lansing was founded as the United States' first agricultural college.

A papal conclave convened to select a new pope after the death of Pope Alexander VIII.

Queen Isabella I issued an edict outlawing Islam in the Crown of Castile, forcing virtually all her Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity.

In the first general election since the July Revolution in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Tarique Rahman, wins a landslide victory upon returning to power after almost 19 years. A referendum held alongside was also approved by the majority of voters.

The country known as the Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia in accordance with the Prespa agreement, settling a long-standing naming dispute with Greece.

Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their split in 1054.

Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York while on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing all 49 on board and one on the ground.

The city of San Francisco begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.

The trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, begins at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands. He dies four years later before its conclusion.

An Iran Airtour Tupolev Tu-154 crashes in the mountains outside Khorramabad, Iran while descending for a landing at Khorramabad Airport, killing 119.