August 1
1774 English minister and scientist Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen.
1793 France becomes the first country to use the metric system of weights and measures.
1831 The new London Bridge is opened by King William IV.
1876 Colorado is admitted to the union as the 38th state of the United States.
1894 Japan and China declare war on each other over dominance in Korea
1914 Germany and Russia declare war against each other during First World War.
1936 Adolph Hitler opens the 11th Olympic Games in Berlin.
1943 The first uranium 235 production plant takes shape in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
1950 Guam becomes an unincorporated territory of US.
1960 Islamabad is declared the federal capital of the Government of Pakistan.
1965 The British Government bans cigarette advertising on television.
1966 The Chinese Communist Party opens a meeting that declares the start of the ultra-leftist Cultural Revolution, which lasts 10 years.
1988 An explosion by the Irish Republican Army kills a British soldier at an army barracks in London.
1995 A fire destroys goods worth hundreds of thousands of dirhams in the Hamriya fruit and vegetable market in Dubai.
1997 Rocket fire sends more than 7,000 Cambodian refugees fleeing to Thailand as forces of coup leader Hun Sen attack rival bases along the border.
1999 New Maqta Bridge opens in Abu Dhabi.
2000 Philippines Ambassador Leonides Caday escapes assassination bid in Indonesia.
2002 Southeast Asian nations sign a comprehensive pact with US to combat terrorism.
2005 King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia passes away.
2007 A bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, breaks into huge sections and collapses into the Mississippi River, pitching dozens of cars 60 feet into the water and killing at least four people.
2008 Emirates’ Airbus A380 takes off on its first commercial flight to New York.
2009 Philippines’ first woman president Corazon Aquino dies at the age of 76.
2010 The Netherlands pulls out troops from Afghanistan after a four-year mission.
2012 Kofi Annan steps down as UN envoy for Syria.
2013 Lana Nussaibah is sworn in as the first UAE’s woman delegate to the United Nations.
Deadlock in Kuwait-Iraq dialogue
1990 : Crisis talks between Kuwait and Iraq collapses. And Iraq, with 100,000 troops reportedly massed at the border, said Kuwait was not serious about meeting its demands. Both sides spoke of further talks. Iraq, which went reluctantly to the first session in Saudi Arabia, insisted they would have to be in Baghdad. The two delegations have left for home. But the border between the two Arab neighbours remained open. Negotiations break down less than 24 hours after opening, pitching the region into its most dangerous crisis since the Gulf War. Iraq Deputy Prime Minister Saadoun Hammadi said after the breakup of the Jeddah meeting: “No agreement has been achieved on anything because we did not feel from the Kuwaitis any seriousness in dealing with the severe damage inflicted on Iraq as a result of their recent behaviour and stands against Iraq’s basic interests. Kuwaiti Crown Prince and Prime Minister Shaikh Sa’ad Al Abdullah Al Sabah said: “I look forward to the resumption of direct meetings and negotiations in both brotherly nations to reach a solution to all issues under the Arab League charter and in a fashion that will ensure our joint and legitimate interest.”
