West Germany wins World Cup
1990 - Andreas Brehme gave West Germany its third World Cup success in the most controversial and ill-disciplined final in the competition’s 60-year history. If there had been a worse final than this no-one in the Olympic Stadium in Rome could remember it. The Argentinians had Pedro Monzon sent off after 68 minutes and then with two minutes left, Gustavo Dezotti joined him in the dressing room. Monzon became the first man to be sent off in a World Cup final. The Argentinian defence cracked six minutes from time. Lothar Matthaus sent Rudi Voller marauding into the Argentinian penalty area where he was brought crashing down by Roberto Sensini. Mexican referee Edgardo Codesal then pointed to the penalty spot.
July 8
1709 - Russian forces defeat Swedish forces at Poltava, Ukraine.
1792 - France declares war on Prussia.
1853 - US Commodore Matthew Perry arrives in Tokyo Bay with two armed frigates to force Japan to open up to the West after more than 200 years of isolation.
1858 - The British proclaim victory after a year of bitter fighting to put down the Indian Mutiny.
1885 - The Wall Street Journal is first published.
1895 - Opening of Delagoa Bay Railway gives Transvaal (now in South Africa) an outlet to the sea.
1937 - Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan sign the Treaty of Saadabad.
1976 - 9,000 people are killed in earthquake in New Guinea.
1986 - Kurt Waldheim is sworn in as Austria’s President.
1988 - More than 300 people are killed when a speeding express train plunges into a lake in Kerala.
1991 - The Dubai Cargo Village is officially opened.
1996 - The first Islamist-led government in Turkey narrowly wins a vote of confidence.
1997 - Nato invites three Eastern European countries of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to join.
2000 - Venus Williams becomes only the second black women’s singles champion in Wimbledon history.
2003 - Sudan Airways Flight 39, with 116 people on board, crashes in Sudan.
2007 - An Indian train arrives in Bangladesh on the first trial run upon resumption of rail services between the two nations, that were suspended 42 years ago.
2010 - The first solar-powered plane, a Swiss-led project, completes its 24-hour test flight and lands in Berne, Switzerland.
