1993, Jan. 3: German minister Moellemann resigns

German minister Moellemann resigns

1993 - German Economics Minister and Vice-Chancellor Juergen Moellemann announced his resignation after acknowledging that he had sent letters on official notepaper promoting a product manufactured by a cousin. Moellemann, a member of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), told a news conference he was not guilty of any wrongdoing but was stepping down to avoid further damaging controversy. “In view of the importance which I attach to the office of economics minister, especially at this time, I believe it would not be compatible with my understanding of the office to burden the exercise of the office with the public rows that would probably be unavoidable if I remained in the ministry,” he said. “I therefore informed the Chancellor [Helmut Kohl] that I will submit my resignation.”

January 3

1739 - Convention of the Pardo to settle Anglo-Spanish disputes opens.

1815 - Austria, Britain and France form defensive alliance against Prussia and Russia.

1833 - Great Britain retakes control of the Falkland Islands following diplomatic and military conflicts with Spain and other claimants.

1915 - Rebellion breaks out in Albania.

1921 - First Indian Parliament meets.

1925 - Benito Mussolini dissolves Italian parliament, becomes dictator.

1938 - The March of Dimes campaign to fight polio is organised in the United States.

1941 - Italian forces surrender at Bardia, Libya, during Second World War.

1945 - Nikolaos Plastiras becomes Prime Minister of Greece.

1947 - US Congressional proceedings are televised for the first time.

1958 - New Zealand explorer and mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary reaches South Pole overland.

1959 - Alaska is admitted as 49th US state.

1961 - United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.

1967 - Edward Brooke of Massachusetts takes office as the first African American Senator to be popularly elected.

1968 - The Beatles form the multimedia company Apple Corps.

1977 - Apple Computer, Inc. is incorporated.

1988 - Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain’s longest-serving Prime Minister of the century.

1993 - US President George H. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin sign arms control treaty.

1999 - Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif escapes an assassination attempt when a bomb explodes on a bridge as he is about to pass.

2001 - Former US First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes the first female Senator from New York.

2009 - Israeli tanks roll into Gaza and engage in night-time battles with Hamas forces.

2011 - Arnold Schwarzenegger steps down as governor of California.

2016 - Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic missions attacked in Tehran during protests.