2001 - Japan’s lame-duck Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori ended a month of political confusion by formally announcing his resignation, as a bid by the former premier Ryutaro Hashimoto to succeed him gained momentum. “I have made up my mind to step down as we need to deal with mounting domestic and international tasks under a new government,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda quoted Mori saying. Mori will remain in office until his successor is appointed. One of the most unpopular prime ministers of modern times, Mori had announced he would bring forward elections for the leadership of his Liberal Democratic Party from September. But he had denied the move amounted to a de facto resignation. Politicians from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) prepared for a party election which officially kicks off later this week to select the successor. Mori, whose popularity vanished after a string of scandals and blunders during his year in office.
Other important events
1841 John Tyler sworn in as the 10th President of the United States.
1896 The first modern Olympic Games open in Athens, Greece.
1897 Sultan of Zanzibar abolishes slavery.
1909 US explorers Robert E. Peary and Matthew Henson reach the North Pole.
1917 US declares war on Germany, entering First World War.
1928 Palmas Island near Philippines is awarded to Holland in arbitration of dispute with US.
1941 Germany invades Greece and bombs Belgrade during the Second World War.
1945 Sarajevo liberated from Nazi occupation by Tito’s partisans.
1959 Scientists at Los Alamos, New Mexico, generate electricity from an atomic reaction for the first time.
1972 Egypt breaks ties with Jordan because of Jordanian King Hussain’s proposal for new Palestine state.
1978 US president Jimmy Carter signs legislation extending the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 70.
1985 King Fahd inaugurates Saudi Arabia’s largest military city.
1990 Police open fire on pro-democracy demonstrators in Nepal, killing at least 35 people.
1991 Iraq accepts UN conditions for ending the Gulf War.
1992 European Community recognises Bosnia as an independent country.
1993 Two armed hijackers surrender after diverting a Chinese jetliner with 187 people aboard to Taipei.
1994 The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi are killed in a plane crash in Rwanda.
2000 Deposed Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif is sentenced to life imprisonment by an anti-terrorism court in Lahore.
2004 Lawmakers remove Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas from office in a vote.
2005 Iraq’s parliament elects veteran Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as president.
2008 Filip Vujanovic claims victory in Montenegro’s first presidential polls since the Balkan nation split from Serbia.
2009 A powerful earthquake strikes in L’Aquila, central Italy, killing more than 310 people.
2010 Maoist rebels kill 75 policemen in a jungle ambush in central India.
2011 An 85-year-old British sailor crosses the Atlantic on a raft with three friends.
2013 Moderate MP Tammam Salam is named Lebanon’s new Prime Minister.
2014 Sri Lanka wins ICC World Twenty20 Cup after beating India in the final.
2015 Italian designer Francesco Smalto dies at the age of 87.
