Armed Sikhs take over Golden Temple
1986 - Thousands of Sikhs with swords and shotguns packed the Golden Temple to support militant leaders who called for a social boycott of Hindu opponents and threatened a fresh confrontation with New Delhi. The gathering in the Sikhs’ holiest shrine was convened as troops in the northern states of Punjab and Haryana were alerted to prevent possible violence over a hitch in New Delhi’s plans to implement its peace pact with moderate Sikhs. For the first time since army troops stormed the Golden Temple in June 1984 to flush out armed Sikh extremists, militants took over the glittering Golden Temple complex for a mass gathering known as a “Sarbat Khalsa”. Scores of submachine gun-toting paramilitary troops in riot gear were deployed outside the shrine.
January 26
1699 - Venice, Poland and Austria sign peace treaty with Turkey.
1778 - Australia is settled by the British.
1788 - First fleet of ships bringing convicts from Britain arrive in Australia to establish penal colonies.
1802 - Congress passes an act calling for a library to be established within the US Capitol, paving the way for the Library of Congress.
1837 - Michigan becomes the 26th US state.
1841 - Britain occupies Hong Kong.
1885 - Mahdist forces take Khartoum after a nine-month siege.
1930 - Mahatma Gandhi begins a march across India against British occupation.
1934 - Germany signs 10-year non-aggression pact with Poland.
1947 - Sweden’s crown prince Gustav Adolf is killed in a plane crash in Denmark.
1950 - India becomes an independent republic, with Rajendra Prasad as its first president.
1952 - Famed Shepherd’s Hotel in Cairo, Egypt, is burned during riots by mobs demanding British withdrawal from the Suez.
1957 - Kashmir Constitution for incorporation with India goes into effect.
1978 - Mario Soares forms Portuguese government.
1989 - Soviet and Afghan forces launch artillery bombardment.
1993 - Vaclav Havel is elected president of the new Czech Republic.
1998 - US President Bill Clinton denies sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky.
2001 - A powerful earthquake kills more than 30,000 people in Bhuj, Gujarat, India.
