Hungarians vote to join European Union
2003 - Hungarians overwhelmingly supported joining the European Union with more than 80 per cent of voters approving membership in a referendum. The National Election Office said 83.8 per cent of ballots cast were in favour of membership. Turnout was 45.6 per cent – far lower than expected and below the required 50 per cent. But the vote was valid anyway because more than 2 million Hungarians voted yes. “No one can doubt that the real winners are Hungary’s children,” Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy (above, right) said at festivities after results were announced. “This is a cause for celebration.” Firework displays and small street parties greeted the result in low-key celebrations around the country. The EU head office in Brussels, Belgium, welcomed the vote.
April 13
1772 - Warren Hastings is appointed Governor of Bengal in India.
1849 - Hungarian Republic is proclaimed.
1919 - British troops fire on a gathering in Jallianwala Bagh, India, killing 379 people.
1935 - Commercial air service between London and Australia is established.
1936 - British footballer Joe Payne scores a record 10 goals in one match against Bristol Rovers.
1961 - UN General Assembly condemns South African apartheid.
1964 - Sidney Poitier becomes the first black to win an Academy Award for best actor.
1970 - Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, is crippled when a tank containing liquid oxygen bursts.
1975 - Civil war breaks out in Lebanon.
1984 - India wins the first Asia Cup cricket tournament in Sharjah after beating Pakistan in the final.
1986 - Stampede by Hindu pilgrims kills at least 46 people at a religious festival near New Delhi.
1987 - Portugal signs agreement to return Macau to China.
1997 - Tiger Woods wins a historic Masters title with a 12-stroke victory at the age of 21.
1998 - Dolly, the world’s first cloned sheep, gives birth to a lamb named Bonnie.
2002 - At least 160 police and Maoist rebels are killed in a single night of fighting, the worst carnage in the six-year-old insurgency in Nepal.
2003 - Britain’s Paula Radcliffe breaks her own world record by nearly two minutes to retain her London Marathon title. 2006 - UAE sets up the National Media Council and the National Transport Authority.
2011 - Egypt detains former president Hosni Mubarak and sons to investigate accusations of corruption and abuse of authority.
2013 - Lion Air, an Indonesian plane, breaks into two after missing the runway at Bali airport and landing in the sea, no fatalities.
2015 - Yemen’s Prime Minister Khalid Bahah sworn in as Vice-President in exile in Riyadh.
2016 - Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant retires from NBA.
2017 - US drops biggest non-nuclear bomb GBU-43 in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.
