Maurice Gibb of Bee Gees dies
2003 - Maurice Gibb, a member of the famed disco band the Bee Gees, died at a Miami Beach hospital. He was 53. Gibb, who teamed up with his older brother and his twin to harmonise their way to becoming one of the bestselling musical groups ever, suffered cardiac arrest before undergoing emergency surgery for a blocked intestine. He was admitted to Mount Sinai Medical Centre and underwent surgery. Gibb played bass and keyboard for the group, whose name is short for the Brothers Gibb. The Bee Gees — twins Maurice and Robin, and their older brother Barry — have lived in South Florida since the late 1970s. Known for their close harmonies and original sound, the Bee Gees are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and their 1977 contributions to the Saturday Night Fever album made it the bestselling movie soundtrack ever with more than 40 million copies sold.January 12
1773 - The first US museum dedicated to the preservation of knowledge is established in Charleston, South Carolina.
1879 - British-Zulu War begins in Africa.
1932 - Hattie Caraway becomes the first elected woman US senator.
1950 - Swedish tanker rams British submarine Truculent on the Thames, killing 64.
1954 - Queen Elizabeth II opens New Zealand parliament.
1958 - Soviet Union proposes zone free of nuclear weapons from Arctic Circle to Mediterranean.
1970 - Boeing 747 makes its maiden flight.
1976 - British crime novelist, short story writer Dame Agatha Christie dies.
1990 - Romania bans the Communist Party.
1991 - US Congress grants President George H.W. Bush authority to use force to drive Iraq from Kuwait.
1992 - Algerian government cancels second round of voting in parliamentary elections that an Islamic party looks set to win.
1996 - The first Russian military contingent arrives to work alongside Americans in the Nato peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.
1997 - At least eight people die and 30 are injured when a high-speed train hurtles off the track and crashes into electricity pylons in northern Italy.
2001 - Hewlett-Packard Co co-founder William Hewlett dies at the age of 87.
2002 - Colombian peace process in crisis as President Andres Pastrana sets a deadline for leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces to meet with mediators for a truce.
2004 - Queen Mary 2 sets off on its first transatlantic voyage.
2006 - At least 346 pilgrims die in Haj stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia.
2007 - China and Russia veto a US resolution in the UN Security Council calling on Myanmar’s military junta to stop persecution of minority and opposition groups.
2010 - An estimated 200,000 people die after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti.
2012 - Myanmar’s government and ethnic rebel group Karen National Union sign a ceasefire after decades of fighting.
2014 - Shaikh Hasina is sworn in as the prime minister of Bangladesh.
2016 - A suicide bomber blows himself up in Istanbul’s tourist district, killing at least 10 people.
