1981 - Saeed Ahmad Saeed won the under-14 World Chess Championship in Mexico. Saeed beat Pakistan’s Asad Rizvi in the 10th round to take an unassailable lead of 9 1/2 points. His last match against a Colombian being of no consequence ended in a draw — Saeed’s second in the nine-nation tournament. Congratulating the UAE people, the Chess Federation and the champion’s father, on “the world acclaim earned by the gifted young son of the land”, Sultan Saqr Al Suwaidi, assistant secretary-general of the Higher Council for Youth and Sports, said. “We are going to offer the maximum facilities so that we can produce more [champions like]Saeed, honour the country with more and more achievements and inspire others to emulate them,” Al Suwaidi said.
Other important events
1609 - Italian astronomer Galileo demonstrates his telescope for the first time.
1833 - Britain abolishes slavery in its colonies around the world.
1838 - The first American women’s college, Mount Holyoke, holds its first graduation ceremony.
1839 - Hong Kong is taken by British in war with China.
1908 - Abdul Aziz of Morocco is defeated at Marrakesh by Mulai Hafid, the new sultan.
1913 - The statue of The Little Mermaid is unveiled in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1938 - English cricketer Len Hutton sets a world record for the highest individual Test innings of 364, during a Test match against Australia.
1942 - Francisco Segura of Ecuador becomes the first South American player to win a major US grass-court tennis tournament.
1954 - Twenty-one people are killed when a KLM airliner, en route to New York, crashes in the North Sea.
1987 - Iraqi warplanes bomb key Iranian petrochemical complex of Bandar Khomeini.
1991 - The World Wide Web is opened up to new users.
1992 - Lebanese in the north and east cast ballots in the first general elections in 20 years,
2000 - A Gulf Air Airbus A320 crashes with 143 people on board in Bahrain International Airport.
2001 - Nato troops pour into Macedonia, preparing to collect weapons from ethnic Albanian militants as part of a precarious peace plan.
2002 - The US signs a deal for the consolidation and restructuring of a $3billion (Dh11 million) debt owed by Pakistan.
2007 - Sudan expels European and Canadian diplomats for interfering in Sudanese affairs.
2009 - England claims the Ashes with a 197-run victory at The Oval against Australia.
2010 - A 12-hour hostage stand-off on a bus in the Philippines ends in bloodshed with the death of at least eight tourists.
2011 - Libyan opposition fighters capture Muammar Gaddafi’s Bab Al Aziziya compound and headquarters in Tripoli.
2015 - Lewis Hamilton wins Belgian F1 Grand Prix.
