November 4, 2001: Dubai Air Show gets off to a colourful start

2001 - Dubai 2001, the 7th international aerospace exhibition, got off to a rousing start, with the inauguration by General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defence Minister, being followed in quick succession by a major Dh55 billion ($15 billion) boost to the global aviation industry announced by Emirates airline, through the purchase of 58 aircraft by the end of the decade. Shaikh Mohammad headed a VIP delegation that included Lieutenant General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief-of-Staff of the UAE Armed Forces; Prince Andrew, the Duke of York; Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman of Emirates airline.

Other important events

1890 - The world’s first electric-powered underground railway opens in London, England.

1898 - The French evacuate Fashoda (in Sudan) after British protests.

1921 - Japan’s Premier Takashi Hara is assassinated.

1922 - British archaeologist Howard Carter discovers the entrance to King Tutankhamen’s tomb in Egypt.

1924 - Stanley Baldwin is elected British Prime Minister.

1944 - Allies announce that Greece has been liberated from Germany in the Second World War.

1946 - Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) is established.

1952 - Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected US president.

1956 - Soviet troops invade Hungary.

1964 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is exiled from Iran.

1975 - The United States closes its mission in Angola because of the violent struggle between three rival liberation groups.

1979 - Students seize US Embassy in Tehran and take diplomats hostage for 444 days, demanding the ousted Shah of Iran as ransom.

1986 - At Talaq wins the million dollar Melbourne Cup at Flemington, Australia

1991 - Former first lady Imelda Marcos returns to the Philippines after more than five years in exile.

1992 - Iran arrests US businessman Milton Meier, on charges of corruption and espionage.

1993 - Jean Chretien becomes Prime Minister of Canada.

1995 - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.

2000 - The Dubai Media City is launched with a promise of freedom of expression and no censorship.

2005 - Arson hit-and-run attacks take place in suburbs of Paris and other French cities. A total of 897 vehicles are torched.

2008 - Barack Obama is elected the first black President of the United States.

2009 - An Afghan policeman fires on British soldiers in the volatile southern province of Helmand, killing five.

2012 - China’s disgraced politician Bo Xilai is expelled from the Communist Party.