August 21: Bomber kills five in Jerusalem bus

Bomber kills five in Jerusalem bus

1995 - A suicide bomber from the Hamas movement killed five people and wounded 100 in a morning rush hour bus attack in occupied Jerusalem. Hamas military wing said in a statement it was behind the bombing and vowed to carry out more attacks to derail the PLO-Israeli peace process. It did not name the attacker but referred to him as a man. Police said they had identified three of the victims, two Israelis and a foreigner. The bodies of a man and a woman were still unidentified. Security sources said the foreigner was a US tourist. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin put on hold peace talks with the PLO, which condemned the bombing. Both sides said they were determined to sign an agreement on extending Palestinian self-rule to the West Bank on schedule in Washington.

August 21

1808 - British forces defeat French at Vimiero, Portugal.

1917 - German forces attack Russians on the Latvian front in the First World War.

1936 - The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) makes its first television broadcast.

1945 - President Truman ends Lend-Lease scheme.

1959 - Hawaii becomes 50th state of United States.

1963 - Buddhists are arrested and martial law is imposed in South Vietnam

1975 - US lifts 12-year ban on exports to Cuba, but embargo on direct trade between Cuba and US remains in effect.

1980 - US and Somalia sign an agreement giving US naval and air forces access to military facilities in the East African country in return for American military aid.

1983 - Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino is assassinated at Manila airport.

1985 - Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto returns from exile in Europe to receive heroine’s welcome in her home town.

2002 - Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf unveils constitutional changes giving him power to dismiss parliament.

2008 - Masdar groundbreaking for the first photovoltaic production plant takes place in Ichtershausen, Germany.

2010 - Iran becomes the second nuclear-capable country in the Middle East when it begins fuelling its first nuclear power plant in defiance of international sanctions.

2013 - US soldier Bradley Manning is sentenced to 35 years in prison for giving classified military and diplomatic documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

2014 - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan names Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to succeed him as prime minister.