1996 - The UAE announced the first three-month amnesty for expatriates who have overstayed in the UAE following the expiry of their residence permits, visit visas or entry passes. The Ministry of Interior said in a statement that it has been decided to exempt all expatriates who have overstayed from paying the Dh100 per day fine. “The move is an indication of the Interior Ministry’s appreciation and understanding of the circumstances that led some of the expatriates to stay in the country after the expiry of their residence permits,” it said. “To allow these violators to leave the country without having to shoulder a financial burden, it has been decided to exempt all of them from the fine, provided they present themselves to an immigration officer at the port of exit,” it said.
Other important events
1863 - The First National Bank of Davenport, Iowa, opens for business, becoming the first national bank in the US.
1864 - A train falls through an open swing bridge into the Richelieu River, Quebec, after failing to stop at a signal, killing 99 people.
1913 - Bulgarian forces attack Serbian and Greek troops in Macedonia, sparking the Second Balkan War.
1939 - The first commercial flight from the US to Europe is completed when the Dixie Clipper lands in Lisbon, Portugal.
1943 - US forces land on New Guinea in the Pacific during the Second World War.
1949 - South Africa begins implementing apartheid.
1956 - With a leap of 7 feet, 5/8 inch, Charles Dumas becomes the first high jumper to clear the 7-foot barrier.
1974 - Isabel Peron is sworn in as the first woman President of Argentina.
1976 - Seychelles gains independence from the United Kingdom.
1985 - Italian President Sandro Pertini resigns nine days before the end of his seven-year term.
1992 - Mohammad Boudfiaf, head of the Algerian ruling council, is assassinated.
1995 - Lisa Clayton becomes the first British woman to sail single-handedly and non-stop around the world.
1999 - A pre-dawn fire sweeps through a three-storey summer camp in Hwasung, South Korea, killing 23 schoolchildren.
2000 - An overloaded ship carrying almost 500 people goes missing in remote eastern Indonesia.
2001 - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is unanimously re-elected to a second term.
2002 - A North Korean navy vessel sinks a South Korean naval patrol boat in an exchange of fire in the Yellow Sea.
2006 - Female voters in Kuwait cast ballots in parliamentary elections for the first time.
2007 - India’s Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first batsman to score 15,000 One-Day International runs.
2008 - Spain’s football team wins the Euro championship, the first time in 44 years.
2015 - The UAE Federal Supreme Court issues a death sentence to Al Reem Island killer Ala’a Al Hashemi for killing an American teacher.
