Father of Scottish home rule, Dewar, dies
2000 — Scottish First Minister Donald Dewar died in hospital, after suffering a fall outside his Edinburgh residence. His son Ian and daughter Marion were at his bedside at Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital. Dewar had suffered internal bleeding in his head after his fall and his condition rapidly deteriorated. The cause of death was given officially as a brain haemorrhage. As politicians paid tribute to the 63-year-old former Scottish secretary, called the “father of home rule”, the inevitable search was on for a successor. Dewar led a devolved government which saw Labour sharing power with the Liberal Democrats. Scottish Lib-Dem leader Jim Wallace filled in for Dewar after the First Minister’s major heart surgery earlier this year.
Other important events:
1779 Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski is killed fighting for American independence at battle of Savannah, Georgia.
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 showed 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.
2001 Colombian rebels release two German hostages after holding them for almost three months.
2002 Former US president Jimmy Carter wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
2007 A bomb explodes at a famous Muslim shrine in northern India, killing at least two people.
2008 A strong earthquake hits Chechnya and other parts of Russia’s North Caucasus, killing at least 12 people.
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.
2010 Cayman Islands win their first-ever Commonwealth Games gold medal when Cydonie Mothersill powered to the women’s 200-metre crown.
2011 Emirates NBD, the largest Gulf bank by assets, take over Dubai Bank.
2012 Former Bangladesh army chief and chairman of a business group Harunur Rashid is jailed for fraud and money laundering cases.
