2003 In the war-shattered cities of Chechnya and in a neighbouring republic where tens of thousands of refugees are camped, Chechens voted in a constitutional referendum that the Kremlin hopes will foster stability in the republic. Some 540,000 people are eligible to vote, including 38,000 Russian servicemen permanently stationed in Chechnya, said Chechen administration spokesman Edi Isayev. Two polling booths have also been set up in the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia, where tens of thousands of Chechen refugees live, too fearful to return home after nearly a decade of fighting between separatists and Russian forces. The polls were open from 8am to 8pm. The Kremlin and the Moscow appointed Chechen administration have been campaigning tirelessly, portraying the constitution as a key step toward bringing life back to normal in the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin made a personal appeal in a broadcast shown on Chechen television.
Other important events
1801 Russia’s Czar Paul I is assassinated and is succeeded by Alexander I.
1808 Napoleon’s brother Joseph takes the throne of Spain.
1857 The world’s first passenger elevator, built by Elisha Otis, goes into service in New York City.
1861 Italy institutes its first government under Count Camillo di Cavour.
1868 The University of California is established in Berkeley.
1919 Benito Mussolini founds the Fascist Party in Italy.
1933 German Reichstag grants Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers until April 1937.
1943 German counter attack on US lines in Tunisia.
1950 The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is established in Geneva, Switzerland.
1956 Pakistan becomes an independent republic within the British Commonwealth.
1976 The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights comes into effect.
1987 An IRA car bomb explodes at a British Army base in Rheindahlen, West Germany.
1988 Contra guerrillas sign a ceasefire agreement with the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.
1992 Albanians celebrate victory of the Democratic Party, marking the end of Communist power.
1994 Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated at an election rally in Tijuana.
1995 Renato Ruggiero is named the first head of the World Trade Organisation.
1996 Lee Teng-hui is elected president of the Republic of China.
2001 The Mir space station returns to Earth, ending its 15-year, 3.5 billion-kilometre odyssey.
2003 Slovenia votes to support its 2004 induction into the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
2005 Twenty inmates are killed when they attempted to break out of a prison in eastern Cambodia.
2006 Najah Al Attar is appointed as Second Vice-President of Syria, the first woman to hold such a high position.
2008 UAE announces plans to set up a nuclear agency.
2009 A FedEx cargo plane smashes into a runway while attempting to land at Tokyo’s main international airport, killing two.
2010 President Barack Obama signs into law a drastic overhaul of the US health care system.
2011 Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor dies at 79.
2013 Australian Warren Rodwell is freed after 15 months as a captive of militants in Philippines.
2015 Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan sign accord over Nile waters.
