1991 - Kidnappers freed two western hostages, setting the stage for what could be the end of the kidnap nightmare for foreigners held as political pawns in Lebanon. While freed American Edward Tracy arrived in Frankfurt from Damascus, United Nations secretary-general Javier Perez de Cuellar received a sealed message carried by former hostage John McCarthy from the kidnappers, who held him for five years. The message had been thought to offer a swap of the 10 remaining western hostages for Arabs held by Israel. The release of Tracy, the first American to be freed in 15 months, left five Americans, two Britons, two Germans and an Italian in the hands of kidnappers in Lebanon. Tracy was freed in Beirut by the Revolutionary Justice Organisation.
Other important events
1711 - The first Royal Ascot race meeting is held in England.
1772 - The Papandayan volcano erupts in Java, Indonesia, killing 3,000 people.
1860 - The United States’ first silver mill begins operations near Virginia City, Nevada.
1863 - French establish protectorate over Cambodia.
1906 - Eugene Augustin Lauste patents the first talking motion picture.
1948 - Summer Olympics open in London.
1952 - Prince Hussain is proclaimed King Hussain of Jordan on termination of King Talal’s reign.
1966 - A treaty is signed in Jakarta, ending three years of hostilities between Malaysia and Indonesia.
1980 - Iran’s parliament approves Mohammad Ali Rajai as Prime Minister.
1985 - Rudolf Povarnitsin of the Soviet Union sets a new world high-jump record of 7 feet, 10 inches.
1998 - American adventurer Steve Fossett becomes the first person to cross the South Atlantic in a balloon.
2003 - Liberian President Charles Taylor resigns and is exiled to Nigeria.
2004 - At least five people are killed and 55 injured when two trains collide near the Turkish city of Istanbul.
2007 - Sierra Leone holds its first presidential elections since UN peacekeepers withdrew two years ago.
2008 - Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra wins first individual gold medal for India in Beijing Olympics.
2009 - Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a member of the Kennedy clan and founder of the Special Olympics in the 1960s, dies at 88.
2010 - The world’s largest clock becomes operational at Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
2012 - A 6.4 magnitude earthquake in northern Iran kills more than 300 people.
2013 - Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg reveals that he had gone undercover as a taxi driver for an afternoon, in a bid to find out the real concerns of voters.
2015 - Renowned Egyptian actor Nour Al Sharif dies at the age of 69 after fighting a long-term illness.
