2003 - Kim Clijsters became the new world No 1 in women’s tennis, outlasting Lindsay Davenport 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 to win the JPMorgan Chase Open for her tour-high sixth title of the year. Clijsters takes over the top spot from the injured Serena Williams, who will trail by less than 45 points when the WTA Tour rankings come out. Clijsters, who moves up from No 2, is the first Belgian and the 12th woman to be No 1 since the rankings began in 1975. “She’s got a lot of game,” Davenport said. Clijsters is also the only player to be No 1 without first winning a Grand Slam title. The ranking came in a year that has so far been outstanding for her.
Other important events
1759 - Carlos III becomes king of Spain.
1787 - Turkey declares war on Russia, fearing designs on Georgia.
1792 - French monarchy is overthrown after mobs in Paris attack the palace of King Louis XVI.
1979 - India’s 17-tonne SLV-3 rocket, its first giant space rocket, fails and the fourth stage plunges into the Bay of Bengal.
1986 - General Arun Vaidya, former Indian army chief-of-staff, is assassinated.
1989 - US President George H. W. Bush appoints Army General Colin Powell as chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first black man to hold the post.
2002 - Turkey’s Economy Minister, Kemal Dervis, resigns from the government of Premier Bulent Ecevit.
2011 - Rioting takes place in English cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Salford, Birmingham and Nottingham.
2014 - A regional passenger plane of Sepahan Air crashes while taking off from Tehran, killing 39.
2016 - Michael Phelps wins the 21st gold medal of his Olympic career.
