1983 - Sixty-two people were killed and more than 100 wounded when a car bomb devastated part of the American embassy in Beirut. The blast, which rocked west Beirut, brought down the front section of the seven-storey building, causing floors to buckle into a heap of broken concrete. In Washington, officials said the dead included 17 men in US Marine Corps uniforms, four local employees of the embassy and two Lebanese soldiers. The only possible clue to those responsible for the blast was a telephone call to the French news agency. A spokeswoman said the caller claimed responsibility and referred to the explosion as “Operation Dawn.” American Marines and French troops from the four-nation peace force in Beirut arrived at the Embassy to help rescue workers and cordon off the Embassy.
Other important events
1663 - Turks declare war against Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I.
1858 - A 60-day rainfall begins in Chicago.
1906 - Earthquake rocks San Francisco, California, killing about 700 people.
1934 - The first US coin-operated laundry opens in Fort Worth, Texas.
1942 - Lt Gen James Doolittle leads the first US air raid on Japan in the Second World War.
1945 - Soviet Union and Bolivia establish diplomatic relations.
1956 - American film actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
1980 - Former Rhodesia becomes independent Zimbabwe.
1986 - Angry crowds protest outside American embassies throughout the world as backlash continues against US attack on Libya.
1988 - US Navy destroys two offshore Iranian oil platforms and bombs two frigates in retaliation for a mine explosion that damaged a US frigate.
1990 - Eleven schoolchildren and four others are killed when a school bus is set ablaze during street-fighting in Beirut.
1992 - Former Afghanistan King Mohammad Zahir Shah returns after 20 years exile in Italy.
1993 - Pakistan President Gulam Ishaq Khan sacks Nawaz Sharif as prime minister.
1994 - Brian Lara scores 375 against England to beat Sobers’ record.
1996 - Gunmen massacre 18 Greek tourists outside a Cairo hotel in Egypt.
2007 - 183 people are killed when four bombs explode in Baghdad.
2008 - The son of the Dutch defence chief Gen Peter van Uhm is killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.
2011 - Emirates Aluminium’s (Emal) smelter plant opens in Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi.
2012 - Commercial flights are reintroduced between Iraq and Kuwait after 22 years.
2014 - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika wins fourth term with a landslide.
2015 - Dubai sets up the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre.
2016 - Indian court issues non-bailable arrest warrant against businessman and loan defaulter Vijay Mallya.
