1983 Philippines opposition leader Benigno Aquino was shot dead by a lone gunman as he stepped from an airliner at Manila airport after three years of self-imposed exile and his assassin was killed by security men. The as yet unidentified gunman, wearing the uniform of an airport maintenance staff, was shot dead on the spot by guards escorting Aquino from the plane, Manila police chief Major General Prospero Olivas said. Police said the assassin fired only one shot killing Aquino. Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos who released Aquino from military jail three years ago to go to the US for heart surgery, issued a statement condemning the assassination and expressing sorrow at his death. Fearing a shooting attempt, Aquino strapped on a bullet-proof vest as the plane approached Manila. But it was of no use. His wounds were to the neck and head.
Other important events
1808 British forces defeat French at Vimiero, Portugal.
1917 German forces attack Russians on the Latvian front in First World War.
1936 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) makes its first television broadcast.
1943 Gromyko named USSR ambassador in Washington.
1959 Hawaii becomes 50th state of United States.
1963 Buddhists are arrested and martial law is imposed in South Vietnam.
1979 More than 50 people are killed in Thailand’s worst train crash in Bangkok suburb.
1986 More than 17,000 people die when toxic gas erupts from a volcanic lake in Cameroon. 1988 Nearly 1,000 people are killed and more than 10,000 are injured as earthquake rattles India and Nepal.
1995 A bomb rips apart a bus during morning rush hour in occupied Jerusalem, killing five people and injuring more than 100.
2002 Hafsa Al Ulama becomes the first Emirati woman to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest peak in Africa.
2004 A series of bombs explode at an opposition rally in Bangladesh’s capital, killing at least 14 people and injuring hundreds.
2006 At least 58 dead, 143 injured after two commuter trains collide north of Cairo
2014 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan names Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as his successor as prime minister.
