2008 - President Pervez Musharraf brought the curtain down on nine years of turbulent rule, saying he did not want to prolong the political uncertainty in Pakistan. In the face of impeachment by parliament, the 65-year-old president announced his resignation in an address broadcast live. Senate Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro took over as acting president in accordance with the constitution. He will hold the office until a new president is elected within two months. Without naming anyone, but apparently referring to the Pakistan Muslin League-Nawaz leadership, he said certain elements were engaged in a “vendetta” and confrontation.
Other important events
1868 - French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium.
1914 - Germany declares war on Russia.
1986 - Sudanese rebel group claims responsibility for shooting down Sudan Airways passenger plane in which all 60 people aboard were killed.
1989 - In Colombia, leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galan is assassinated outside Bogota.
1993 - Bosnia’s warring factions agree to put their capital under UN control for up to two years.
1994 - A powerful earthquake rips through northwest Algeria, killing at least 150 people.
1995 - Flash floods in the Marrakesh region of Morocco kill at least 73 people.
2001 - At least 78 people are killed and 41 others injured in a pre-dawn fire at a Philippines hotel.
2005 - Russia and China launches their first-ever joint military exercises.
2013 - Former rebel leader Michel Djotodia sworn in as president of the Central African Republic.
2015 - A bomb on a motorcycle explodes outside a Hindu shrine in Bangkok, killing 27 people.
