2001 - Ford, the giant American automaker, has nominated Al Tayer Motors as its new dealership for Dubai and the northern emirates, while Omeir Bin Youssef Group will hold the rights for Abu Dhabi. Ford’s headquarters in the US confirmed the new dealerships by wire. Saeed Al Tayer (above left), managing director of Al Tayer Motors, and Mohammad Bin Omeir (right), managing director of Omeir Bin Youssef Group, were present along with Jim Benintende (centre), managing director of Ford Middle East and North Africa, at the press conference to announce new agencies for the UAE. There were 20 applicants for the Ford franchise in UAE. The appointments follow an out-of-court settlement between Ford and its earlier UAE distributor, Galadari Automobile Co.
Other important events
1821 - Panama declares itself independent of Spain and joins the Republic of Colombia.
1905 - Sinn Fein Party, part of the Irish republican movement, is founded in Dublin, Ireland.
1912 - Albanian patriot Esmail Quemali proclaims independence from Ottoman rule and creates first-ever Albanian government.
1919 - Lady Astor is elected first woman member of Britain’s parliament.
1942 - Almost 500 people perish in a fire that destroys the Coconut Grove nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts.
1944 - Albania is liberated from German occupation.
1958 - Chad becomes an autonomous republic within the French community.
1960 - Mauritania becomes an independent republic, separating from France.
1971 - Jordan’s Prime Minister Wasfi Tell is assassinated while attending an Arab conference in Cairo, Egypt.
1975 - East Timor declares its independence from Portugal.
1987 - South African Airways jet plane with 159 people on board crashes in Indian Ocean near Mauritius.
1989 - Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi resigns after election defeat.
1990 - Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew steps down after 31 years in power.
1990 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher formally resigns and John Major takes over.
1996 - UAE signs a Defence Cooperation Agreement with Britain.
1997 - Fighting breaks out among President Laurent Kabila’s soldiers in Kinshasa, Congo.
2000 - Norway’s King Harald opens the world’s longest road tunnel in Laerdal, Norway.
2004 - Jordan’s King Abdullah strips his half-brother and heir apparent of his title as crown prince.
2007 - President Pervez Musharraf steps down as Pakistan’s military commander.
2013 - Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is ejected from parliament.
2015 - Dubai unveils a Dh100-billion fund to support projects as part of the Clean Energy Strategy 2050.
