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The following is a timeline of acts and failed attempts that can be considered terrorism.

Note: there is no single accepted definition of terrorism in common use. Incidents listed here are commonly called terrorism, or meet some of the commonly used criteria.

17th century

• 1605 - Failed Gunpowder Plot to blow up English Parliament while King James I of England was there.

19th century

• 1856, 1858, 1859, raids by John Brown in his fight against slavery.
• 1865 - 1882 Jesse James and his gang attack "Northern" railroads and banks in personal continuation of the American Civil War
• 1881 Tzar Alexander II of Russia is assassinated by a "People's Will" (Narodnaya volya) terrorist.
• 1881-1884 Waves of pogroms against the Jews sweep southern Russia. The word pogrom--meaning "destructive, often murderous riot"--becomes known internationally.
• 1886 Bomb at Haymarket Square, Chicago during a labor rally kills 12.

1910s-1960s

• 1910 A bomb at the Los Angeles Times newspaper building in Los Angeles, California killed 21 workers.
• 1914 Assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, starts World War I.
• 1920 Jerusalem pogrom of April 1920 incited by Haj Amin Al-Husseini (later the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem).
• 1920 Wall Street Bombing - A bomb exploded on Wall Street in New York City, killing 40 people and wounding 300 others.
• 1929 The ancient Jewish community of Hebron is destroyed in the Hebron massacre. [1]
• 1946 Bombing of King David Hotel, the British Army HQ, by the right-wing Zionist terrorist group Irgun.
• 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. A member of the Ku Klux Klan bombed a Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four girls.
• 1966 Ulster Volunteer Force declares war on the then-quiet IRA; June 26 engage in 3 sectarian murders
• 1967 Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian assassinates Robert F. Kennendy in Los Angeles, California
• 1969 A bomb in a bank killed 16 people in Milan

1970s

• 1970 October Crisis (Quebec): FLQ murder of Pierre Laporte, kidnapping of James Cross
• 1970 Nahariya/Avivim School Bus Attack by Palestinian PLO terrorists
• 1971 Dec. 4: UVF bomb in McGurk's bar in Belfast's North Queen Street kills 15 people.
• 1972 Lod Airport Massacre by the Japanese Red Army terrorists
• 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre by Black September
• 1972 Bloody Friday nine are killed and many injured as Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) set off 22 bombs.
• 1973 December 20th, ETA Basque terrorist group kills Spanish Prime Minister Admiral Carrero Blanco bombing his car in Madrid, one more person dead.
• 1974 Guildford pub bombing by the IRA leaves 5 dead and 44 injured.
• 1974 Birmingham pub bombing by the IRA kills 19, 182 people are injured.
• 1974 Kiryat Shmona Massacre at an apartment building by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Palestinian terrorists
• 1974 Maalot Massacre at the Maalot High School in Northern Israel by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Palestinian terrorists
• 1974 UVF detonate 3 car bombs in Dublin and one in Monaghan; 33 dead - the deadliest toll of any one day in Ireland's 'Troubles'.
• 1974 TWA Flight 841
• 1974 September 13th, ETA Basque terrorist group bombs the "Rolando" cafeteria in Madrid, kills 12.
• 1975 Tel Aviv Savoy Hotel guest attacked by Palestinian PLO terrorists
• 1975 July 31: Three members of Ireland's popular Miami Showband killed in UVF gun attack.
• 1976 Hijacking of Air France Flight 139 (Tel-Aviv-Paris) and the following Operation Entebbe
• 1976 Orlando Letelier assassinated in Washington by Chilean government
• 1976 73 died when a Cubana aircraft was bombed while flying from Barbados to Havana.
• 1977, April 7 Federal Prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver were shot by two Red Army Faction members.
• 1977, July 30 Jürgen Ponto, then head of the Dresdner Bank, was shot and killed by the Red Army Faction in a kidnapping failed.
• 1977, September 5 Hanns Martin Schleyer was kidnapped by the Red Army Faction. He was murdered by the Red Army Faction on October 19 1977.
• 1977, October 13 Lufthansa flight LH 181 was kidnapped by a group of four Arabs around the leader "Captain Martyr Mahmud".
• 1978-1995 The Unabomber kills three and injures 29 in a string of anti-technology bombings
• 1978 A bomb is detonated outside the CHOGM meeting in Sydney Australia, killing 2 people. 3 Ananda Marga members are later arrested and jailed for the attack. They were then proven innocent of any crime by the supreme court.
• 1978 Palestinian Fatah terrorists on the Tel Aviv - Haifa highway kill 34 Israelis.
• 1979 Aug. 27th: Lord Mountbatten and three others are killed by IRA bomb on board his boat off Mullaghmore. The same day two IRA bombs kill 18 British Soldiers near Warrenpoint.
• 1979 July 29th, ETA Basque terrorist group bombs two railway stations in Madrid, kills 7.

1980s

• 1980 Archbishop Oscar Romero assassinated by Death squads in El Salvador
• 1980 Four United States nuns killed by death squads in El Salvador
• 1980 December U.S. trained Salvadoran Army unit executes 800 civilians at the village of El Mozote
• 1980 Neo-Fascist bomb kills more than 80 people in Bologna railway station
• 1980 Iranian Embassy siege: Iraqi agents took over the Iranian Embassy in London, gaining hostages. After a number of days, one hostage was killed by the Iraqis, and the Special Air Service assaulted the building to rescue the remaining hostages. One hostage died during the assault.
• 1982 Two bombs in Hyde Park and Regent's Park, London by the IRA killl 8 members of the Household Cavalry and the Royal Green Jackets. Seven horses are also killed.
• 1983 United States Embassy Bombing in Beirut, Lebanon kills 63.
• 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing in Beirut kills 241 U.S. Marines.
• 1983 Harrods bomb by the IRA. Six are killed (including three police officers) and 90 wounded during Christmas shopping at the West London department store.
• 1983 Gulf Air Flight 771
• 1984 IRA bomb in the Grand Hotel Brighton 5 are killed in an attempt to kill members of the British cabinet.
• 1985 TWA Flight 847 hijacking
• 1985 Achille Lauro cruise ship hijacking by Palestinian Liberation Front
• 1985 IRA mortar attack kills nine soldiers in Newry
• 1985 Air India flight 182 is blown up by a bomb put onboard the flight from Canada by Sikh nationalists. All 329 passengers are killed. The single most deadly terrorist attack prior to September 11, 2001.
• 1985 EgyptAir Flight 648 hijacked by Abu Nidal group, flown to Malta, where Egyptian commandos storm plane; 60 are killed by gunfire and explosions.
• 1985 Rome and Vienna Airport Attacks
• 1985 Investigators associated with the WHO reported that U.S.-funded Contras repeatedly destroyed health-care facilities and murdered health-care workers in Nicaraqua.
• 1986 New Year's Eve fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, claimed 97 lives, mainly in the casino area. Fire set by 3 hotel workers, trying to make tourists stay away from Puerto Rico as a protest to their working wages.
• 1986 TWA Flight 840 bombed on approach to Athens airport; 4 Americans, including an infant, are killed.
• 1986 July 15th, ETA Basque terrorist group bombs a Guardia Civil police truck, kills 12.
• 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing On April 6, the La Belle discotheque, a known hangout for U.S. soldiers, was bombed, killing 3 and injuring 230 people, for which Libya is held responsible.
• 1986 Pan Am Flight 73 is hijacked; 22 people die when plane is stormed in Karachi, Pakistan.
• 1987 Enniskillen massacre. Remembrance Day parade in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh is bombed by the IRA and 11 are killed and 63 injured
• 1987 June 19th, ETA Basque terrorist group bomb in Hipercor Mall's parking in Barcelona, kills 21, 45 injured.
• 1987 KAL Flight 858 bombed by North Korea.
• 1987 December 11th, ETA Basque terrorist group bomb a Guardia Civil police bedrooms in Zaragoza, kills 11, 40 injured.
• 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 bombing (Lockerbie)
• 1989 Ten Royal Marines bandsmen are killed and 22 injured when base in Deal, Kent is bombed by the IRA.
• 1989 UTA Flight UT-772
• 1989 Avianca Flight 203 bombed over Colombia

1990s

• 1990 A series of car bombings directed by the IRA in Northern Ireland leave 7 people dead and 37 wounded.
• 1991 Two IRA members are killed by their own bomb in St Albans.
• 1991 May 29th, ETA Basque terrorist group bombs the Guardia Civil police barracks in Vic (Barcelona), kill 10.
• 1992 Israeli Embassy bombing in Buenos Aires, Argentina; 29 die.
• 1992 Eight Protestant builders killed by an IRA bomb on their way to work at an Army base near Omagh.
• 1993 World Trade Center bombing
• 1993 Failed New York City landmark bomb plot
• 1993 June 21st, ETA Basque terrorist group bombs a militar truck in Madrid, kills 7, 36 injured.
• 1993 Mumbai car bombings in India
• 1993 IRA bomb in Warrington kills two children.
• 1993 IRA detonate a huge truck bomb in the City of London at Bishopsgate, killing two and causing approximately £350m of damage.
• 1993 Oct 23: A bomb at a fish shop on the Protestant Shankill Road, Belfast kills 10 people, including two children.
• 1993 Oct. 30: Seven people killed in a Loyalist UFF gun attack in a bar in Greysteel, Co Derry.
• 1994 Bombing of Jewish Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 86 and wounds 300.
• 1994 Baruch Goldstein kills 29 Arabs in machine gun attack on mosque in Hebron.
• 1994 Air France Flight 8969 is hijacked by GIA members who planned to crash the plane on Paris but did not succeed.
• 1994 A small bomb explodes on board Philippine Airlines flight 434, killing a Japanese businessman. Authorities found out that Ramzi Yousef planted the bomb to test it for his planned terrorist attack.
• 1994 June 18: Six Catholic men shot dead by Loyalists in a pub in Loughinisland, Co Derry.
• 1995 Operation Bojinka is discovered on a laptop computer in a Manila, Philippines apartment by authorities after an apartment fire occurred in the apartment.
• 1995 Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway
• 1995 April 19, ETA Basque terrorist group tries to kill Jose Maria Aznar (then leader of the Popular Party, later Spanish Prime Minister) bombing his car, kills 1 woman.
• 1995 Oklahoma City bombing
• 1995 islamist terror bombings in France by a GIA unit (Khaled Kelkal being one of the operational leaders)
• 1995 Bombing of military compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• 1995 December 11th, ETA Basque terrorist group bombs a militar truck in Madrid, kills 6 civilian public servants.
• 1996 Central Bank Bombing in Sri Lanka kills 90 and wounds 1,400.
• 1996 A series of four suicide bombings in Israel leave 67 dead and 161 wounded within 10 days.
• 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing, killing one and wounding 111.
• 1996 IRA break their cease-fire and kill two in a bomb at the Canary Wharf towers in London.
• 1996 Manchester bombing by IRA
• 1996 Khobar Towers bombing
• 1997 Islamic terrorists attack tourists in Luxor, Egypt, killing 71 people, most of them European and Japanese vacationers.
• 1997 A terrorist opened fire on tourists at an observation deck atop the Empire State Building in New York City, killing a Danish national and wounding visitors from the United States, Argentina, Switzerland and France before turning the gun on himself. A handwritten note carried by the gunman claimed this was a punishment attack against the "enemies of Palestine".
• 1997 December 22. 46 killed while praying in Acteal, Chiapas, Mexico. A paramilitary group associated with ex-president Salinas is held responsible.
• 1998 U.S. embassy bombings
• 1998 Omagh bombing by the so-called "Real IRA" kills 29.
• 1999 Gunmen opened fire on Shi'a Muslims worshipping in an Islamabad mosque killing 16 people injuring 25.
• 1999 David Copeland's nail bomb attacks against ethnic minorities and gays in London.
• 1999 Ahmed Ressam is arrested on the United States-Canada border in Port Angeles, Washington; he confessed to planning to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport as part of the 2000 celebration terrorist attacks plot
• 1999 Jordanian authorities foil a plot to bomb United States and Israeli tourists in Jordan and pick up 28 suspects as part of the 2000 celebration terrorist attacks plot
• 1999 Indian Airlines Flight 814, which just took off from Kathmandu, Nepal for Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India is hijacked, one passenger is killed and some hostages are released. After negotiations between the Taliban and the Indian government, the last of the remaining hostages on board Flight 814 are released
• 1999 Russian Apartment Bombings lead Russia into Second Chechen War.
• Fatal Terrorist Attacks in Israel since the Declaration of Principles (September 1993) to September 2000

2000s

• 2000 The last part of the 2000 celebration terrorist attacks plot fails, as the boat meant to bomb USS The Sullivans sinks
• 2000 Beginning of a campaign of attacks on civilians in Israel - see Terrorism against Israel in 2000.
• 2000 USS Cole bombing
• 2000 German police foil Strasbourg cathedral bombing plot
• 2001 September 11, 2001 attacks ("9/11") kill thousands in New York City, New York, and hundreds in Arlington, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
• 2001 Paris embassy terrorist attack plot foiled
• 2001 Anthrax attacks on the offices the United States Congress and New York State Government offices, and on employees of television networks and tabloid.
• 2001 December 13, 2001 Terrorist attack on Indian Parliament.
• 2001 Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians continue - see Terrorism against Israel in 2001.
• 2001 Richard Reid, attempting to destroy American Airlines Flight 63, is subdued by passengers and flight attendants before he could detonate his shoe bomb
• 2002 Singapore embassies terrorist attack plot foiled
• 2002 Ghriba Synagogue Attack in Tunisia
• 2002 May 8 Bus Attack in Karachi
• 2002 June 14 attack outside U.S. Consulate in Karachi
• 2002 Limburg tanker bombing in Yemen
• 2002 Kidnapping and murder of journalist Daniel Pearl
• 2002 Bali car bombing of holidaymakers
• 2002 Zamboanga bombings in the Philippines
• 2002 Moscow theatre siege
• 2002 Most deadly year of Palestinian terror campaign against Israel, including the Passover Massacre in which 30 people are killed - see Terrorism against Israel in 2002.
• 2002 Kenyan hotel bombing
• 2002 Beltway sniper attacks
• 2003 Palestinian terror attacks against Israel continue, including the Maxim restaurant massacre. See Terrorism against Israel in 2003.
• 2003 Chechen militants carry out several deadly suicide bombings across Russia and nearby provinces, killing more than 250 people.
• 2003 Riyadh Compound Bombings--bombings of United States expat housing compounds in Saudi Arabia kill 26 and injure 160. Al-Qaeda blamed.
• 2003 Casablanca Attacks in Casablanca, Morocco leaves 41 dead. The attack involved 12 bombers and 5 targets. The targets were "Western and Jewish". Attack attributed to a Moroccan al-Qaeda-linked group.
• 2003 Canal Hotel Bombing in Baghdad, Iraq kills 22 people including the top UN representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
• 2003 In response to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, terrorists in that country stage dozens of suicide bombings targeting Iraqi and Coalition targets.
• 2003 Istanbul Bombings: Within five days, truck bombs go off at two synagogues, the British Consulate, and the HSBC Bank in Istanbul, Turkey.
• 2003 October 15 - A bomb is detonated by Palestinians against a United States diplomatic convoy in the Gaza Strip.
• 2004 Violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 2004
• 2004 109 Kurds are killed in 2 suicide bombings in Arbil, Iraq.
• 2004 Bomb on Moscow subway kills 41.
• 2004 Suicide bombings at Shia holy sites in Iraq kill 181 and wound more than 500.
• 2004 Attack on procession of Shia Muslims in Pakistan kills 43 and wounds 160.
• 2004 March 9, 2004 attack of Istanbul restaurant
• 2004 Bombing of Spanish commuter trains kills 191 people and injures more than 1,400.
• 2004 21 April 2004 Basra bombs
• 2004 April 21 bombing of a security building in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia kills 5.
• 2004 Islamic militants seize hostages at a compound housing foreign oil workers; at least 25 are killed.

See also: aircraft hijacking, Palestinian terrorism, American terrorism, Israeli terrorism, IRA, suicide bombing, List of massacres, assassinations, Dupont Plaza Hotel, GIA