1998 - The Dubai ISAF World Sailing Championships was formally opened by Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation, Chairman of Emirates and President of the organising Committee at the Dubai International Marine Club, venue for the championships. The opening ceremony started with an official display of the 300 brand new competitive boats provided by the organisers for the first time in the championships. With the display of boats over, the 1,200 sailors from 83 competing nations began their march past in alphabetical order. They were followed by loud cheers from the crowd. Paul Henderson, president of the ISAF, welcomed all the sailors of the world. The flag of the DIMC flew high beside the flag of the ISAF.
Other important events
1789 - The US Constitution goes into effect as the first Federal Congress meets in New York City.
1801 - Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third US President.
1861 - Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States.
1882 - Britain’s first electric trams run in east London.
1917 - Jeannette Rankin from Montana takes office as the first woman elected to the US Congress.
1933 - Franklin D. Roosevelt sworn in as the 32nd US President.
1965 - Syria orders nationalisation of nine oil companies.
1970 - French submarine with 57 aboard is lost in Mediterranean Sea off the Riviera.
1972 - Soviet Union signs agreement with Libya to develop and refine oil.
1974 - British Prime Minister Edward Heath resigns after failing to form a coalition with the Liberal Party.
1977 - Earthquake devastates Bucharest and Romanian towns killing more than 1,000.
1980 - Robert Mugabe storms to victory in Rhodesia’s (now Zimbabwe) independence election.
1990 - ANC loyalists overthrow the government of South African homeland of Ciskei.
1991 - Kuwait’s cabinet holds its first meeting in the country since the Iraqi invasion.
1992 - Algeria bans the Islamic Salvation Front.
1997 - Israeli orders the closure of four Palestinian offices in occupied east Jerusalem.
2000 - Krzysztof Suprowicz, Polish ambassador to Yemen, kidnapped by armed tribesmen, is freed.
2009 - The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir.
2010 - 63 women and children are killed after a gate collapses and creates a stampede in a temple in Kunda, Uttar Pradesh, India.
2012 - Around 200 people die when an arms dump explodes in Brazzaville, capital of the Congo Republic.
2017 - Malaysian government expels the North Korean ambassador over killing of Kim Jong-nam.
