1998 - Lennox Lewis knocked down a surprisingly tough Shannon Briggs three times and retained his World Boxing Council heavyweight title when the referee stopped the fight in the fifth round. Lewis, a 12-1 favourite, got more than he bargained for with Briggs, who displayed a strong chin and put to rest all questions regarding his courage. In the fifth round, Lewis hit Briggs with a straight right hand that froze him and then he dropped in slow motion. Briggs got up at the count of seven, and Lewis swarmed over him. Lewis sent Briggs into a corner, punching him at will. Briggs missed with a wild overhand left and fell down. That was enough for referee Prank Cappuccino, who rushed in and stopped the scheduled 12-round fight at the fifth round.
Other important events
1800 - Act of Union with England passes in Ireland’s Parliament.
1854 - Britain and France declare war on Russia during the Crimean War.
1927 - Majestic Theatre opens in New York City.
1930 - Turkish cities of Constantinople and Angora change names to Istanbul and Ankara.
1938 - Japan installs puppet government of Chinese Republic in Nanking.
1942 - British naval forces raid the Nazi-occupied French port of St Nazaire during Second World War.
1945 - United States invades Cebu in the heart of the Philippines.
1959 - The State Council of the People’s Republic of China dissolves the Government of Tibet.
1969 - Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States, dies in Washington, age 78.
1970 - A 7.4 magnitude earthquake kills 1,086 people and destroys 254 villages in Gediz, Turkey.
1977 - Morarji Desai forms a government in India.
1979 - America’s worst commercial nuclear accident occurs at Three Mile Island.
1989 - UAE signs a deal with Britain to buy Hawk fighters to strengthen its armed forces.
1990 - Three arrested in London in plot to smuggle US-made nuclear triggering devices to Iraq.
1993 - Chinese Premier Li Peng is re-elected to a second term in office.
1995 - Mireille Durocher Bertin, an outspoken lawyer, is assassinated on a Port-au-Prince street in Haiti.
1999 - Nato aircraft widen their strikes against Yugoslavia, targeting ground forces in Kosovo.
2005 - A powerful 8.7 magnitude earthquake hits Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing around 300.
2006 - The Palestinian parliament approves Hamas’ cabinet.
2008 - Cuban President Raul Castro issues a decree allowing ordinary Cubans to have cell phone service, a luxury previously reserved for the select few.
2012 - The newly-renovated Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Centre for Arabic Language and Islamic Studies opens in Beijing, China.
2017 - South African anti-apartheid activist Ahmad Kathrada dies at the age of 87.
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