Airbus launches A380 superjumbo project
2000 - Europe’s Airbus Industrie launched its A380 superjumbo project as the world’s largest passenger jet. The path is now clear for Airbus to begin working in earnest on bringing the 555-plus seat aircraft into production, with a view to first deliveries to airlines in early 2006. The plane has been touted for years under its A3XX codename, but Airbus renamed it the A380 in line with the nomenclature of all the other aircraft it has built since the late 1960s — the A300, A310, A320, A330 and A340. The break in sequencing this time around is because the ‘8’ in A380 is supposed to represent the double-deck cross section of the plane’s tubular hull. At a cost of $10.7 billion (Dh39.35 billion), Airbus and its shareholders must hope that interest in the plane does not fade.
December 19
1907 - A coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania, kills 239 workers.
1909 - Civil war erupts in Honduras.
1946 - War breaks out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launch widespread attacks against the French.
1951 - New Treaty of Friendship is signed between Oman and Britain, recognising full independence of the sultanate.
1955 - Sudan’s parliament declares independence.
1963 - The Berlin Wall is opened for the first time, allowing West Berliners to visit family members in East Berlin during the Christmas season.
1978 - Indian parliament ousts former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
1980 - Two major power generating sets are inaugurated in the village of Hatta, Dubai.
1984 - Britain signs agreement with China, handing Hong Kong over to Peking’s Communist rulers in 13 years.
1994 - Russian forces bomb Chechnya’s capital Grozny and edge closer to the city in the fiercest fighting.
1995 - The first Russian soldiers arrive in Bosnia for a Nato-led peacekeeping mission.
1996 - Former Indian prime minister Narasimha Rao steps down from his last government post after corruption charges.
1999 - China regains Macau after 442 years of Portuguese rule.
2010 - Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first batsman to score 50 Test Centuries.
2011 - Kim Jong-un is named successor to his father Kim Jong-il as North Korean leader.
2012 - Park Geun-hye is elected first woman President of South Korea.
