1992 - German Michael Schumacher celebrated the first anniversary of his formula one debut with a thrilling maiden victory in Belgian Grand Prix. Schumacher steered his Benetton to the line ahead of newly-crowned world champion Nigel Mansell to register the first triumph by a German driver since Jochen Maas won a crash-marred Spanish Grand Prix in 1975. Schumacher, 23, finished 36 seconds clear of Mansell in a rain-hit race filled with incident and driven in both wet and dry conditions. Schumacher’s win moved him up to third place behind the Williams duo in the drivers’ championship, just a point behind Patrese on 44, and the young German wept openly as he stood on the victor’s podium. Schumacher did not take the lead until the 34th lap of the 44 lap race.
Other important events
1881 - Clement Ader of Germany patents the first stereo system.
1916 - Turkey declares war on Russia.
1918 - Czechoslovakia forms an independent republic.
1928 - Independence of India League is formed in India.
1941 - The last railroad link between Leningrad and the rest of the Soviet Union is severed by German forces.
1951 - US and the Philippines sign mutual defence pact.
1957 - All-African Federal Executive Council is formed in Nigeria.
1960 - East Germany imposes partial blockade of West Berlin.
1963 - A hotline is established between Soviet Union and US.
1967 - Thurgood Marshall becomes the first black American appointed to the US Supreme Court.
1973 - The hunting of elephants and the trade in ivory are banned in Kenya.
1981 - Iranian President Mohammad Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Hojatoleslam Mohammad Javad Bahonar die in an explosion that rocked downtown Tehran.
1984- The US space shuttle Discovery takes off on its first voyage.
1991 - Soviet republic of Azerbaijan declares independence.
1993 - Hassan II mosque, the second-largest in the world, opens in Casablanca.
1994 - Russia officially ends a half-century of military presence in former East Germany and the Baltics.
1996 - British boxer Frank Bruno announces his retirement.
1999 - Residents of East Timor vote for independence from Indonesia.
2001 - The first free election is held in East Timor.
2005 - Five senior officials are arrested over the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
2006 - Egyptian novelist Najeeb Mahfouz, the first Arab writer awarded the Nobel Prize, dies at the age of 94.
2009 - The UAE Cabinet bans printing on non biodegradable plastics bags.
2013 - A US drone kills senior Al Qaida leader Qaid Ahmad Nasser Al Dhahab in Yemen.
2016 - European Union asks Apple to replay a record €13 billion over Irish tax deal.
