Pakistani actor Sultan Rahi shot dead
1996 - Pakistan’s “Clint Eastwood”, top movie star Sultan Rahi, was shot dead by two unidentified assailants. Rahi, 56, was near the town of Gujranwala in Punjab province, about 200 kilometres from Islamabad, when assailants sprayed him and a friend with bullets as they stopped to change the wheel of their car. The friend, a film director, was injured. Rahi, who was on his way from Islamabad to his hometown Lahore, was the best-paid Pakistani actor and had performed leading roles in 300 Punjabi films in his 28-year career. He was often described as Pakistan’s “Clint Eastwood”. The state-run Pakistan Television said the attackers were bandits who tried to rob him. They opened fire when Rahi tried to resist, killing him on the spot and injuring his friend.
January 9
1719 - France declares war on Spain.
1792 - Russia ends war with Turkey with Treaty of Jassy.
1799 - Income tax is introduced in the United Kingdom.
1878 - Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
1945 - US forces invade Luzon in the Philippines during the Second World War.
1951 - The United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, is officially opened.
1957 - British Prime Minister Anthony Eden resigns due to ill health.
1970 - France agrees to sell Mirage jets to the revolutionary regime in Libya.
1970 - Constitution of Singapore is enacted.
1978 - Islamic revolution erupts in Iran.
1979 - India and East Germany sign a six-year agreement on economic, technical, industrial and scientific co-operation.
1981 - Francisco Balsamao is elected the President of Portugal.
1982 - North and South Yemen agree to merge into a single state.
1986 - British Defence Minister Michael Heseltine resigns.
1990 - The space shuttle Columbia blasts off on a critical satellite-rescue mission, the first manned US space launch of the new decade.
1992 - Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina proclaim their own state.
2005 - Mahmoud Abbas is elected President in Palestinian elections.
2012 - Dubai launches Dh12 billion Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park to generate 1,000 megawatts of power.
2015 - Maithripala Sirisena is sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new President.
