Sampras creates history
2000 - Pete Sampras overcame Patrick Rafter in four sets to win his seventh Wimbledon title and record-breaking 13th Grand Slam championship. Sampras served 27 aces and whipped 13 passing shot winners to beat Rafter 6-7 (10), 7-6 (5) 6-4, 6-2 in a match that end shortly before dusk after four hours of rain delay. After Sampras hit a service winner on match point, he threw both arms in the air, bent over, put his hands to his eyes and began to cry. Sampras climbed onto the stands and hugged his tearful father, Sam, and mother, Gloria, who had come to Wimbledon for the first time to see him go for the record. The victory established Sampras as the most titled player in Grand Slam history and confirmed his place among the greatest.
July 9
1816 - Argentina declares independence from Spain.
1877 - The inaugural Wimbledon Championships begins.
1850 - Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States, dies in Washington after serving only 16 months in office.
1925 - Revolution breaks out in Ecuador.
1954 - Australian Peter Thomson, 24, becomes the youngest golfer to win the British Open.
1982 - Pan Am Flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana, killing all 145 people on board and eight others on the ground.
1984 - Beirut airport reopens after a five-month shutdown.
1990 - Kuwait opens a revived parliament and welcomes Iran’s foreign minister.
1991 - The International Olympic Committee readmits South Africa after three decades.
1995 - Pete Sampras blazes his way into the Wimbledon record-books as he becomes the first American to win three consecutive men’s singles titles.
1997 - Mike Tyson’s boxing licence is revoked and he is fined $3 million (Dh11 million) for biting Evander Holyfield’s ear during a WBA bout.
2002 - African Union is formed with President Thabo Mbeki as chairman.
2005 - John Garang, a former rebel leader, is sworn in as Sudan’s first vice-president as a new constitution comes into force.
2006 - Italy wins the football World Cup.
2008 - Abu Dhabi Investment Council acquire New York’s Chrysler Building.
2009 - Michael Phelps breaks the record for the 100-metre butterfly, clocking 50.22 seconds, at the US Nationals in Indianapolis.
2012 - Aung San Suu Kyi attends her first session of parliament at Myanmar’s Lower House.
