Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student, is beaten and left for dead outside of Laramie, Wyoming. The subsequent media coverage, followed by his death on October 12, opens a larger conversation on homophobia in the United States. October 10 – Indictment and arrest of Augusto Pinochet: General Augusto Pinochet, Chilean dictator from 1973 to 1990, is indicted for human rights violations he committed in Chile by Spanish magistrate Baltasar Garzón. 6 days later British police place him under house arrest during his medical treatment in the UK. This is a leading case in the law of universal jurisdiction. October 17 – 1998 Jesse pipeline explosion: An oil pipeline explosion in Jesse, Nigeria results in 1,082 deaths. October 29 Hurricane Mitch makes landfall in Central America, killing an estimated 11,000 people. STS-95: Former astronaut John Glenn returns to space, as a payload specialist. Gothenburg discothèque fire: 63 are killed and 213 injured in an arson fire. November November 11 – Tencent, a multinational technology company, is founded in Shenzhen, China. November 17 – Voyager 1 overtakes Pioneer 10 as the most distant man-made object from the Solar System, at a distance of . November 20 – A Russian Proton rocket is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying the first segment of the International Space Station, the 21-ton Zarya Module. November 24 – A declassified report by Swiss International Olympic Committee official Marc Hodler reveals that bribes had been used to bring the 2002 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City during bidding process in 1995. The IOC, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, the United States Olympic Committee and the United States Department of Justice immediately launch an investigation into the scandal. December December 4 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour launches the first American component to the International Space Station, the Unity module on STS-88. It docks with Zarya two days later. December 6 – Hugo Chávez, politician and former member of the Venezuelan military, is elected President of Venezuela. December 14 – The Yugoslav Army ambushes a column of 140 Kosovo Liberation Army militants attempting to smuggle arms from Albania into Kosovo, killing 36. December 16 – Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. President Bill Clinton orders airstrikes on Iraq. UNSCOM withdraws all weapons inspectors from Iraq. December 19 – The U.S. House of Representatives forwards articles of impeachment against President Clinton to the Senate, making him the second president to