Democracy comes to Bhutan
2008 - The people of Bhutan shocked even themselves, voting for stability and experience in their first ever parliamentary elections but overwhelmingly rejecting a party led by the king’s uncle. This was not a vote against the much-loved king of Bhutan or a century of royal rule. Many people had said they were reluctant to embrace democracy, and the winner of the elections, Jigmi Thinley, was himself a staunch royalist. But the scale of his victory, winning 41 or 42 of the 47 seats on offer according to results collated in party offices, sent subtle messages which will reverberate around this deeply traditional and conservative land. “It is truly amazing,” said Palden Tshering, spokesman for Thinley’s Druk Phuensum Tshogpa.
March 24
1801 - Aleksandr P. Romanov becomes emperor of Russia.
1882 - Robert Koch, German bacteriologist, announces isolation of tuberculosis bacteria.
1883 - Long-distance telephone service is inaugurated between Chicago and New York City.
1952 - Great demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa.
1958 - Elvis Presley is inducted into the US Army in Memphis, Tennessee.
1965 - Chivu Stoica becomes head of state of Romania.
1972 - Britain takes direct control of Northern Ireland.
1976 - Argentina’s President Isabel Peron is deposed by her country’s military.
1977 - Morarji Desai becomes Prime Minister of India after defeating Indira Gandhi in a general election.
1980 - Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero is shot to death by gunmen in San Salvador.
1982 - Bangladesh’s army chief, Lt Gen Mohammad Ershad, seizes power in a bloodless coup.
1985 - US army major Arthur D. Nicholson Jr., is shot to death by a Soviet soldier in East Germany.
1990 - The last Indian troops in Sri Lanka set sail for home from the eastern port of Trincomalee.
1991 - The Mali opposition says government troops killed nearly 150 people in three days of pro-democracy protests.
1992 - Kyrgyzstan’s opposition overthrows President Askar Akayev.
1993 - Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is discovered by American astronomers Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker and Canadian astronomer David Levy.
1997 - Australian senate overturns the world’s first euthanasia law in Canberra.
1998 - The European Union declares 11 countries eligible for the euro, the currency that will replace their respective national currencies.
1999 - Nato launches airstrikes against Yugoslavia.
2006 - UAE Human Rights Organisation opens doors to expatriates.
2007 - Australia’s Matthew Hayden smashes fastest World Cup century against South Africa.
2008 - Yousuf Raza Gilani is elected the new Prime Minister of Pakistan.
2011 - Indian spiritual guru Satya Sai Baba dies at the age of 86.
