Today in History
August 30
1526 Suleiman I, Sultan of Turkey, defeats Hungarian army at battle of Mohacs, at which Louis II of Hungary is killed.
1645 Dutch make treaty of peace with Native Americans at New Amsterdam, New York.
1881 Clement Ader of Germany patents the first stereo system.
1916 Turkey declares war on Russia.
1918 Czechoslovakia forms an independent republic.
1928 Independence of India League is formed in India.
1941 The last railroad link between Leningrad and the rest of the Soviet Union is severed by German forces.
1951 US and the Philippines sign mutual defense pact.
1957 All-African Federal Executive Council is formed in Nigeria.
1960 East Germany imposes partial blockade of West Berlin.
1963 A hotline is established between Soviet Union and US.
1967 Thurgood Marshall becomes the first black American appointed to the US Supreme Court.
1973 The hunting of elephants and the trade in ivory are banned in Kenya.
1981 Iranian President Mohammad Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Hojatoleslam Mohammad Javad Bahonar die in an explosion that rocked downtown Tehran.
1984 The US space shuttle Discovery takes off on its first voyage.
1991 Soviet republic of Azerbaijan declares independence and begins forming its own army.
1993 Hassan II mosque, the second-largest in the world, opens in Casablanca.
1994 Russia officially ends a half-century of military presence in former East Germany and the Baltics.
1993 Hassan II mosque, the second-largest in the world, opens in Casablanca.
1999 Residents of East Timor vote for independence from Indonesia.
2005 Five senior officials are arrested over the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
2006 Egyptian novelist Najeeb Mahfouz, the first Arab writer awarded the Nobel Prize, dies at the age of 94.
2007 Taliban militants release the final seven of the original 23 South Korean captives they had been holding, bringing an end to a six-week hostage drama.
2009 The UAE Cabinet bans printing on non biodegradable plastics bags, as a move to lessen waste.
2010 A gunman opens fire in a busy Bratislava street, Germany, and leaving seven people dead and wounding 14 others.
2013 A US drone kills senior Al Qaida leader Qaid Ahmad Nasser Al Dhahab in Yemen.
2014 Lesotho Prime Minister Tom Thabane flees in fear of his life after soldiers seizes power in a coup.
HIGHLIGHT
1995
Massive Nato air assault on Serbs
Nato warplanes and artillery pound Serb targets across Bosnia as the alliance launches its most powerful ever military action to silence guns that have killed thousands of civilians. Bombs and rockets rained down around the Serb stronghold of Pale in a fourth wave of attacks as Nato redoubled efforts to knock out air defences and destroy artillery that can target the four UN “safe areas” of Bosnia. But the Nato military onslaught met with a setback when a Serb missile brought down a French Mirage jet. Nato sources said they were trying to establish if the two crew survived. U.S. officials said two prachutes were seen in the sky. The Nato air attacks hit Serb-held radar, missile and communications sites from near Tuzla in the north to around Mostar in the south in a bid to cripple air defences. British, French and Dutch artillery joined the assault around Sarajevo, firing some 600 rounds against Bosnian Serb gun emplacements and ammunition dumps.
