1993 - The besieged cult headquarters of religious fanatic David Koresh exploded in flames set by his own followers, apparently killing more than 85 people in a possible mass suicide. There was immediate speculation that Koresh’s followers had set fire to the compound to fulfil a prophecy from the charismatic Koresh, who had refused many times to surrender or let his followers give up. The FBI only said there was “massive loss of life” in the fire. FBI spokesman Bob Ricks told a press conference only eight of the estimated 95 cult followers in the compound were known so far to have survived the blaze. Asked what had happened to the others Ricks replied:”We can only assume that few if any others survived. There was massive loss of life.”
Other important events
1839 - The Treaty of London establishes Belgium as a kingdom.
1897 - The first Boston Marathon is run from Ashland, Massachusetts, to Boston.
1903 - An earthquake hits Turkey, killing 1,700 people.
1928 - Japan occupies Shantung in China.
1948 - Burma (Myanmar) joins the United Nations.
1951 - The first Miss World beauty contest is held in London.
1960 - South Korea’s founding President Syngman Rhee is toppled.
1964 - Coalition government in Laos is deposed by right-wing military group.
1975 - India’s first satellite Aryabhatta is launched.
1982 - Astronauts Sally Ride and Guion Bluford Jr become the first women and African-American selected for the Nasa programme.
1987 - Central Airbase, a new multi-million dollar airbase, is inaugurated in Dubai.
1988 - UAE flag tanker the FAL V is attacked by Iranian gunboats in the Strait of Hormuz.
1989 - A gun turret explodes aboard the USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors.
1995 - A huge car bomb tears apart a government building in Oklahoma City, killing at least 167.
1998 - The leaders of 34 countries in the Western Hemisphere, gathered at the Summit of the Americas in Chile, agree to take steps to create the world’s largest free trade zone.
2000 - An Air Philippines plane crashes in the southern Philippines, killing all 131 people aboard.
2004 - Spanish troops start to withdraw from Iraq.
2005 - German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is chosen new Pope to succeed John Paul II.
2012 - India successfully test-fires a nuclear-capable missile with a range of more than 5,000km and joins the select club of nations with long-range missiles.
2013 - A 6.6 magnitude earthquake kills 203 people in Sichuan province in China.
2015 - Up to 700 people drown when an overcrowded boat smuggling them to Europe capsizes off Libya.
2017 - The first food bank in the UAE opens in Dubai.
