1986 - Crack Finnish driver Henri Toivonen, 29, and his Italian co- driver Sergio Cresto died when their Lancia crashed while leading on the second day of the gruelling three-day Corsican motor rally. Eyewitnesses said their car left the road on the 423.2km leg between Bastia and Calvi, hit a rock and burst into flames. Toivonen, son of noted former rally driver Pauli Toivonen, was a favourite to win the Corsican event after previous successes in the RAC and Monte Carlo Rallies. It was a bitter blow for Lancia, which held a slender four-point advantage over Peugeot, reigning world manufacturers’ champions and winners in Sweden in February. Last year’s Corsican rally claimed the life of Italy’s Attilio Bettega, whose Lancia plunged into a ravine on the first day.
Other important events:
1911 - French occupy Fes Al Bali, Morocco.
1926 - US military intervenes in Nicaragua
1933 - Adolf Hitler abolishes trade unions in Germany.
1945 - Soviet Union announces fall of Berlin during Second World War.
1953 - Jordan’s King Hussain ascends the throne.
1965 - The ‘Early Bird’ satellite is used to send television pictures across the Atlantic for the first time.
1969 - British liner Queen Elizabeth II leaves on maiden voyage to New York.
1982 - Argentine cruiser General Belgrano is sunk by a British submarine, killing 368 Argentine sailors.
1990 - Syrian and Egyptian leaders signal a new era of Arab unity, holding landmark talks after 13 years of mistrust over Cairo’s peace with Israel.
1994 - Nelson Mandela claims victory in South Africa’s first democratic elections.
1997 - Tony Blair becomes Britain’s youngest Prime Minister.
1999 - Double world champion Michael Schumacher wins San Marino Grand Prix.
2002 - Israeli troops depart the West Bank city of Ramallah, freeing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after more than a month of confinement in his compound.
2005 - Oman’s State Security Court sentences 30 Omanis charged with subversion to jail terms ranging from 1 to 20 years.
2010 - British actress Lynn Redgrave dies from breast cancer, at the age of 67.
2011 - Osama Bin Laden is killed in Pakistan in a firefight with US special forces.
2013 - UAE and Japan sign two major agreements for cooperation in nuclear energy and avoidance of double taxation.
