List of terrorist incidents

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 with James I in attendance.

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 Jewish pogroms sweep southern Russia. The word pogrom becomes international.
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, precipitating World War I.
1920 Jerusalem pogrom of April, 1920 incited by Haj Amin Al-Husseini (subsequently 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 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-quiescent IRA; June 26 engage in 3 sectarian murders
1969 A bomb in a Bank killed 16 people in Milan

1970s

1970 October 5 - 17 October Crisis (Quebec): FLQ murder of Pierre Laporte, kidnapping of James Cross
1970 Nahariya/Avivim School Bus Attack by Palestinian PLO terrorists
1970 September 6 In an attempted seizure of an Israeli El Al jetplane, hijacker Sandinista Patrick Arguello was killed and hijacker Leila Khaled was captured.
1971 December 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 July 21 Bloody Friday nine are killed and 130 injured as Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) set off 22 bombs
1972 July 31 Provisional Irish Republican Army set of three car bombs in Claudy killing six
1972 September 5 Munich Olympic Massacre by Black September
1973 December 20 ETA basque terrorist group kills spanish Prime Minister Admiral Carrero Blanco bombing his car in Madrid.
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 JRA-PFLP attack on a Shell Oil facility in Singapore and the simultaneous seizure of the Japanese embassy in Kuwait
1974 September 13 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.
1976 December 4 In the Netherlands, members of the RMS movement occupy the Indonesian diplomatic consulate in The Hague. One Indonesian official was killed.
1976 December 14 In the Netherlands, near Beilen, a passenger train was hijacked by members of the RMS movement, passengers were kept hostage. Three passengers were killed by the hijackers.
1977 April 7 Federal Prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver were shot by two Red Army Faction members.
1977 May 23 In the Netherlands, RMS activists kept 105 children and 5 teachers hostage in a school in Smilde.
1977 June 11 In the Netherlands, near Groningen, a passenger train was hijacked by members of the RMS, 55 passengers were kept hostage. In an army attack six hijackers and two passengers were killed.
1977 July 30 Jürgen Ponto, then head of the Dresdner Bank, was shot and killed by the Red Army Faction in a failed kidnapping.
1977 September 5 Hanns Martin Schleyer was kidnapped by the Red Army Faction. He was executed 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 March 16 - May 9 The Red Brigade kidnapping of Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro and assassinate him 55 days later
1978 March In the Netherlands members of the RMS movement occupy a provincial office in Assen. 67 persons were kept hostage, one official was killed on the spot, another died of injuries a month later.
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
1978 Palestinian Fatah terrorists on the Tel Aviv - Haifa highway kill 34 Israelis.
1979 July 29, ETA basque terrorist group bombs two railway stations in Madrid, kills 7.
1979 August 27 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.

1980s

1980 Archbishop Óscar Romero assassinated by death squads in El Salvador
1980 Four US 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 April 30 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.
1981 October 6 Assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat by Islamic Jihad
1982 July 20 Two bombs in Hyde Park and Regent's Park, London by the IRA kill 8 members of the Household Cavalry and the Royal Green Jackets. Seven horses are also killed.
1982 September 14 Assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Bashir Gemayel and twenty-five others in an car explosion at the Kataeb headquarters
1983 April 18 U.S. Embassy Bombing in Beirut, Lebanon kills 63.
1983 October 9 Rangoon bombing by North Koreans targets South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan, killing 21 persons and injuring 48
1983 October 23 Marine Barracks Bombing in Beirut kills 241 U.S. Marines. 58 French troops from the multinational force are also killed in a separate attack.
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 IRA mortar attack kills nine soldiers in Newry
1985 June 22 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 October 7 - October 10 Achille Lauro cruise ship hijacking by Palestinian Liberation Front, a passanger in a wheelchair is puposely killed
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, June 14th, ANC bombs Why Not Restaurant and Magoo's Bar in Durban, South Africa, 3 people killed, 73 wounded.
1986 July 15th, ETA Basque militant 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. In retaliation, the US bombs Libya in Operation El Dorado Canyon and tries to kill dictator Qaddafi.
1986 Pan Am Flight 73, an American civilian airliner, 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 militant 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 militant 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 Two bombs explode in Mecca, killing one pilgrim and wounding 16 others.
1989 September 19 UTA Flight UT-772 kills 171 people
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 29 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 21 ETA basque terrorist group bombs a militar truck in Madrid, kills 7, 36 injured.
1993 July 5 the IRA detonate a 1500lb car bomb (the largest used in Northern Ireland) in the centre of Newtownards in Northern Ireland, no one is killed but massive property damage is caused to the town centre.
1993 Mir Aimal Kansi, a Pakistani, fires an AK-47 assault rifle into cars waiting at a stoplight in front of the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters. Two died.
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 October 23 A bomb at a fish and chip shop on the Protestant Shankill Road, Belfast kills 10 people, including two children.
1993 October 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. Eight days later the Israeli Embassy in London and a Jewish charity are car-bombed. 20 are wounded. All three incidents are blamed on Hezbollah.
1994 Alas Chiricanas bombing
1994 Baruch Goldstein kills 29 Palestinian civilians in an attack on mosque in Hebron.
1994 Air France Flight 8969 is hijacked by GIA members who planned to crash the plane on Paris but didn't 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 militant group tries to kill José María Aznar (then leader of the Popular Party, later a Spanish Prime Minister) bombing his car, kills a woman.
1995 April 19 Oklahoma City bombing killing 168 people
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 11 ETA Basque militant 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 60 dead and 284 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. Acteal massacre - 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 nail bomb attacks against ethnic minorities and gays in London.
1999 Ahmed Ressam is arrested on the US-Canada border in Port Angeles, Washington; he confessed to planning to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport as part of the 2000 millennium attack plots
1999 Jordanian authorities foil a plot to bomb US and Israeli tourists in Jordan and pick up 28 suspects as part of the 2000 millennium attack plots
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 of the 2000 millennium attack plots fails, as the boat meant to bomb USS The Sullivans sinks
2000 Intensification of the campaign of terror attacks on civilians in Israel begun after the signing of the Oslo Accords - see Terrorism against Israel in 2000
2000 German police foil Strasbourg cathedral bombing plot
2000 USS Cole bombing kills 17 US sailors
2001 February 5 A bomb blast in Moscow's Byelorusskaya subway station injures 15 people.
2001 September 11, 2001 attacks 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 Jewish Defense League plot to blow up the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, California foiled
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 March 24 Twenty people die and 93 are injured in three bomb attacks on Russian towns near the border of Chechnya
2002 Ghriba Synagogue Attack in Tunisia
2002 May 8 Bus Attack in Karachi
2002 May 9 A bomb explosion in Kaspiisk in Dagestan kills at least 42 people and injures 130 or more during Victory Day festivities.
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 October 19 A car bomb explodes outside a McDonald's Corp. restaurant in Moscow, killing one person and wounding five.
2002 October 23 Moscow theater hostage crisis begins; 120 hostages and 40 terrorists killed in rescue 3 days later.
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
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, guerrillas in that country stage dozens of suicide bombings targeting Iraqi and Coalition targets. Attacks on coalition forces may not be terrorist attacks under Protocol 1 to the Geneva Conventions which gives lawful combatant status to non-uniformed guerrillas resisting foreign occupation if they display arms openly
2003 Istanbul Bombings: Within five days, truck bombs go off at two synagogues, the British Consulate, and the HSBC Bank in Istanbul, Turkey
2003 May 12 A truck bomb attack on a government building in the Chechen town of Znamenskoye kills 59
2003 May 14 As many as 16 die in a suicide bombing at a religious festival in southeastern Chechnya
2003 July 5 15 people die and 40 are injured in bomb attacks at a rock festival in Moscow
2003 August 1 An explosion at the Russian hospital in Mozdok in North Ossetia kills at least 50 people and injures 76
2003 September 3 A bomb blast on a passenger train near Kislovodsk in southern Russia kills seven people and injures 90
2003 October 15 - A bomb is detonated by Palestinians against a US diplomatic convoy in the Gaza Strip killing three Americans
2003 December 5 Suicide bombers kill at least 46 people in an attack on a train in southern Russia
2003 December 9 A blast in the center of Moscow kills six people and wounds at least 11
2004 Violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 2004
2004 109 Kurds are killed in 2 suicide bombings in Arbil, Iraq
2004 February 6 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 in Turkey
2004 March 11 bombing of commuter trains in Madrid, Spain kills 191 people and injures more than 1,400
2004 April 21 21 April 2004 Basra bombs in Iraq
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 in Saudi Arabia; at least 22 are killed
2004 August 24 Russian airplane bombings kill 90
2004 August 31 A blast near a subway station entrance in northern Moscow, caused by a suicide bomber, kills 10 people and injures 33
2004 September 1 - 3 Beslan school hostage crisis in North Ossetia, Russia
2004 September 9 2004 Jakarta embassy bombing - the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia was bombed, killing seven people

External links, resources, references

US State Department's List of Significant Terrorist Incidents (1961 - 2003)
Dmoz.org's Society Issues - Terrorism Incidents
Terrorism Time Line
History of Terrorism : Timeline of Terrorist Acts - Chronology
Thinkquest : Timeline of Terror
Time.com: A Timeline of Terrorism - Hits and Misses
Infoplease : Terrorist Attacks on Americans
Infoplease : Terrorist Attacks (within the United States or against Americans abroad)
Frontline : Terrorist Attacks on Americans