1998 - Finnish driver Mika Hakkinen (above) boosted his lead in the Formula One world championship by winning the Monaco Grand Prix in a McLaren Mercedes. Italian Giancarlo Fisichella in a Benetton-Playlife took second place ahead of Northern Irishman Eddie Irvine in a Ferrari. Mercedes Motorsport chief Norbert Haug praised Hakkinen: “It was a magnificent drive. It is extremely difficult not to make any mistakes on this circuit”. At the post-race press conference Hakkinen said: “It is every driver’s dream to win in Monaco, I can hardly believe it yet.” Current champion Canadian Jacques Villeneuve finished fifth.
Other important events
1844 - Samuel F.B. Morse transmits a message from Washington to Baltimore as he formally opens America’s first telegraph line.
1881 - Some 200 people die when the Canadian ferry Princess Victoria sinks near London, Ontario.
1883 - The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City opens after 14 years of construction.
1964 - Riot erupts at a football match in Lima, Peru, killing 300 spectators.
1976 - Britain and France open a trans-Atlantic Concorde service to Washington.
1994 - More than 200 pilgrims are killed in a stampede during the annual Haj pilgrimage in Mina, Saudi Arabia.
1997 - Mohammad Khatami wins Iranian presidential elections by a landslide.
1998 - First multiparty vote in a region ruled by China’s Communists is held in Hong Kong. Pro-democracy parties win.
2014 - Real Madrid wins a record 10th European League title.
2015 - Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg wins Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix.
