1993 - Helen Hayes, who became one of America’s greatest actresses in a career that spanned a remarkable eight decades, died in Nyack, New York. She was 92. Hayes was suffering from congestive heart failure and an irregular heartbeat. Hayes’ family was with her when she died in her sleep. Many acclaimed performances earned her the unofficial title of “First Lady of the American Theatre”. She was one of two women to have received all four entertainment awards: An Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. She made graceful transitions from child actress to ingenue to major star and, in her 60s, to character roles with a repertory company. Hayes did continue to act in films and on television after leaving the theatre.
Other important events
1328 - Scotland wins its independence from England.
1521 - Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines.
1649 - England’s Parliament abolishes House of Lords.
1845 - Englishman Stephen Perry patents the rubber band.
1861 - Italy declares independence.
1888 - Britain establishes protectorate over Sarawak on Borneo.
1899 - Windsor luxury hotel in New York City catches fire, killing 92.
1921 - Poland’s Constitution is established.
1942 - General Douglas MacArthur arrives in Australia to become supreme commander of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific theatre during Second World War.
1948 - Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg sign the Brussels Treaty, a 50-year alliance focusing on economic, social and military cooperation.
1957 - Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines, is killed in a plane crash.
1959 - Dalai Lama flees Tibet for India.
1961 - South Africa leaves British Commonwealth.
1963 - Mount Agung erupts in Bali, killing more than 1,000 people.
1969 - Golda Meir becomes Prime Minister of Israel.
1980 - A freak storm strikes Dubai and the other emirates in the pre-dawn hours.
1987 - Pakistan wins its first-ever Test series in India.
1990 - The Bastille opera house in Paris, France, opens officially.
1991 - Millions of people vote for the first and only national referendum in Soviet Union.
1992 - South Africa votes for a whites-only referendum.
1994 - Serbs and Muslims sign agreement to ease stranglehold on Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.
2003 - Shaikh Ahmad Bin Hasher Al Maktoum wins gold in the World Cup double trap event in India.
2007 - President Mahmoud Abbas swears in new Palestinian coalition government.
2013 - Shams 1, the world’s largest solar power plant, is inaugurated at Madinat Zayed, Abu Dhabi.
2014 - Crimea votes to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.
