2003 - Senior Congressman Sushil Kumar Shinde (above left) was sworn in as Maharashtra’s 22nd Chief Minister in a simple ceremony at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai. But while a throng of supporters from his hometown Sholapur sent ripples of excitement through the crowd with their slogans, few doubt that Shinde, the first Dalit (lower cast) to become chief minister of a government, faced with the largest cash crunch ever, faces the biggest challenge in his career. Governor Mohammad Fazal administered the oath of office and secrecy to Shinde with star guest K.R. Narayanan, former and first Dalit president of India, also present at the function. Chhagan Bhujbal of the Nationlist Congress Party as Deputy Chief Minister and 14 other ministers were also sworn in.
Other important events
1778 - English navigator Captain James Cook discovers the Hawaiian Islands.
1866 - Wesley College is established in Melbourne, Australia.
1896 - The X-ray machine is exhibited for the first time.
1911 - The first landing of an aircraft on a ship takes place as pilot Eugene B. Ely flies onto the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco harbour.
1960 - US and Japan sign joint defence treaty.
1968 - US and Soviet Union agree on draft treaty to control nuclear weapons.
1974 - Egypt and Israel sign the Sinai Separation of Forces Agreement.
1990 - Washington’s Mayor Marion Barry is held for cocaine.
1992 - More than 100,000 people attend Kenya’s first legal anti-government rally in 22 years.
1997 - Norwegian explorer Borge Ousland becomes the first person to walk across Antarctica alone and unaided.
1998 - Senior Iraqi diplomat Hekmat Al Hejju is stabbed to death in Amman, Jordan.
2000 - Helmut Kohl resigns as honorary chairman of the Christian Democratic Union.
2001 - At least five people are killed and up to 26 injured when a coach carrying pilgrims crashes on the Dubai-Abu Dhabi highway.
2005 - The world’s largest commercial jet, the Airbus A380, is unveiled in Toulouse, France.
2007 - A fire engulfs the high-rise building Fortune Tower under construction off Shaikh Zayed Road, Dubai, killing four workers.
2008 - Bobby Fischer, the reclusive chess genius, dies at the age of 64.
2009 - Israeli troops begin to withdraw from Gaza.
2012 - Kodak files for bankruptcy protection, becoming the most storied casualty of the digital age.
2013 - Former cycling champion Lance Armstrong admits that he had used performance-enhancing drugs and lied about it.
2014 - Iranian diplomat Ali Asghar Assadi is killed in a drive-by shooting outside the ambassador’s residence in Sana’a, Yemen.
2017 - Shaikh Sidi Hamza Al Qadiri Al Boutchichi, head of one of Morocco’s biggest Sufi orders, dies at the age of 95.
