August 16, 2004

After 60 mm (2.4 in) of rain in two hours, severe flash flooding at Boscastle in Cornwall, UK, results in buildings, roads, and over 50 cars swept away. Flood waters race through town at speeds up to 65 km/h (40 mph). Many have to leave their homes; helicopters airlift 150 people to safety. (BBC) (Reuters)
NASA/ESA Spacecraft Cassini-Huygens discovers two new natural satellites of Saturn. They are provisionally named "S/2004 S 1" (later named "Methone") and "S/2004 S 2" (later named "Pallene"). (NASA)
In the standoff between the Jaish-i-Mahdi militia and Iraqi and US forces, fears of a major assault on Najaf mount. The city is closed to journalists and some Iraqi government soldiers are reported to desert. Some delegates at the national conference call on Iraqi interim Prime Minister Allawi to end military operations against Muqtada al-Sadr. (BBC) (Knight Ridder)
At the 100th anniversary ceremony of the Herero uprising, Germany apologises for the genocide in Namibia, but rules out war reparations. (Guardian)
Same-sex marriage in Canada: Federal justice minister Irwin Cotler announces that the federal government will no longer resist court proceedings aiming to require provincial governments to issue same-sex marriage licences. (Toronto Star)