2003 - The Kuwaitis headed for the polls to elect a new 50-seat parliament in their 40-year-old democracy, the first since the fall of Saddam Hussain’s regime in Iraq. Unfazed by sweltering daytime temperatures of almost 50 degrees Celsius, Kuwaiti men eligible to vote cast their ballots from 8am to 8pm in the nation’s 25 electoral constituencies. A total of 136,715 men were qualified to choose a parliament out of a local population of 898,000. Women are barred from voting or running for political office. The assembly, the first elected parliament in the Gulf, has legislative powers and serves as a forum to discuss government performance.
July 5
1811 - Venezuela declares independence from Spain.
1922 - First general elections held in the Netherlands.
1954 - B-52A bomber makes its maiden flight.
1969 - Kenyan politician Tom Mboya is assassinated in Nairobi.
1970 - An Air Canada DC-8 crashes near Toronto, killing 109.
1975 - Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win a Wimbledon singles title.
1977 - Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, General Zia-ul-Haq, seizes power from Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
1980 - Zimbabwe Prime Minister Robert Mugabe breaks diplomatic ties with South Africa.
1991 - The Bank of Credit and Commerce International is shut down after the discovery of fraud.
1994 - Palestine leader Yasser Arafat returns to the West Bank after 27 years.
1997 - Martina Hingis becomes the youngest Wimbledon singles champion in 110 years.
2004 - The first Indonesian presidential election is held.
