1998 - Kenya’s Daniel Komen took a second world title off Haile Gebrselassie in two weeks when he totally shattered the Ethiopian’s 5,000 metres indoors world record at the Globen Galan in Stockholm. Komen clinched the record with an astonishing time of 12:51.48, shaving nearly eight seconds off the world mark of 12:59.04 set by Gebrselassie at the Globen Galan last year. This was the latest conquest in a tightly-fought rivalry between the two athletes and comes just 13 days after Komen beat Gebrselassie’s world indoor 3,000 metres record with a time of 7:24.90 in Budapest. Marie Mutola of Mozambique ran the fastest women’s 800 metres so far this year with a time of 1:57.90 while Maria Akraka broke Sweden’s record, running the distance in 2:00.01.
Other important events
1618 - Peace of Madrid ends war between Venice and Austria.
1674 - Netherlands and England sign Peace of Westminster.
1855 - The first weather map is presented at the French Academy of Sciences.
1861 - Russian czar Alexander II abolishes serfdom.
1878 - American inventor Thomas Edison receives a patent for his phonograph.
1881 - Kansas becomes first state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.
1920 - The Netherlands joins the League of Nations.
1945 - US Marines raise the US flag on top of Mount Suribachi, during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
1951 - A popular revolution in Nepal ends 104-year rule of the Rana dynasty.
1959 - Agreement is signed in London by Greece, Turkey and Britain for independence of Cyprus.
1980 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau wins fourth term as prime minister of Canada.
1985 - An Iberia Airlines plane crashes in Spain, killing 148.
1993 - A packed ferry carrying up to 1,500 people sinks off Haiti. More than 1,200 people are killed.
1997 - Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping dies in Beijing at age 92.
1998 - US troops land in Kuwait in the first wave of reinforcements to boost American military muscle poised for possible action against Iraq.
2002 - Train inferno in Egypt kills 350.
2003 - A plane carrying 302 people, all military personnel, crashes in southern Iran, killing all on board.
2006 - Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, a Dh55-billion initiative, is launched.
2007 - Two bombs explode on a train headed from India to Pakistan, sparking a fire that kills 66 people.
2008 - Cuban leader Fidel Castro hands power to brother Raul after 50 years in power.
2014 - Facebook acquires popular messaging service, WhatsApp, for US$19 billion (Dh69.88 billion).
2016 - Italian writer Umberto Eco dies after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 84.
2017 - Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi announces retirement from international cricket.
