1997 - Britain’s World Boxing Organisation (WBO) featherweight champion ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed turned on a superb display of thunderous jabbing to outclass Puerto Rico’s Jose Badillo and retain his crown in Sheffield. Hamed successfully completed his eighth defence of his title by stopping the 27-year-old southpaw in the seventh round of a scheduled 12-round contest. Badillo, who had soaked up tremendous punishment, was finally saved when the referee stopped the contest as Hamed tore in with a series of bruising combinations. After Hamed had made his usual spectacular entrance, he went clinically to work using a jab he had under-employed in previous defences. Very soon Badillo’s face was swollen and bruised but he survived the expected third-round onslaught.
Other important events
1797 - Dutch fleet is defeated by British off Camperdown, Holland.
1811 - The first steam-powered ferryboat, the Juliana, is put into operation in the United States between New York City and Hoboken, New Jersey.
1828 - Russians occupy Varna, now in Bulgaria, in war against Turkey.
1899 - South African Boers declare war on Great Britain.
1933 - Latin American countries sign Rio de Janeiro non-aggression pact.
1950 - The US Federal Communications Commission issues the world’s first licence to broadcast colour television.
1963 - United Nations condemns repression in South Africa by 106-1 vote.
1968 - Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, is launched.
1971 - Aristides Royo is elected as president of Panama.
1980 - Iraq severs diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya and North Korea, accusing them of providing assistance to Iran.
1984 - Space shuttle Challenger astronaut Kathy Sullivan becomes the first American woman to walk in space.
1992 - Voters in Lebanon’s Kesrouan district elect five deputies, completing the country’s first parliamentary elections in 20 years.
1995 - Palestinians express their jubilation as Israel quits more areas in West Bank.
1996 - American military forces begin withdrawing from Bosnia.
1997 - Jordan breaks off security ties with Israel.
2000 - South African cricket officials ban Hansie Cronje from cricket for life for his part in the worst sporting scandal.
2002 - Former US president Jimmy Carter wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
2009 - Pakistani commandos free around 40 hostages held by militants at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, ending a 24-hour siege with deaths of 19 people.
2011 - Emirates NBD, the largest Gulf bank by assets, takes over Dubai Bank.
2012 - Former Bangladesh army chief and chairman of a business group Harunur Rashid is jailed for fraud and money laundering cases.
2016 - Samsung Electronics scrap its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after failing to resolve safety concerns.
