March 21, 1996: Ground-breaking ceremony for Dubai Metro

1996: The official ground-breaking ceremony of the Dh15.5 billion Dubai Metro project was performed by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice- President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The first phase of the Dubai Metro called the Red Line will be ready by September 2009, ensuring ultra-modern public transport facilities. The second phase called the Green Line will be operational in 2010. The project is a fully automated and driverless system running on two lines red and green with a total length of 69.7km. “Now onwards, construction of the Dubai Metro will be in full swing all over the city as preparations have already been made to start construction work at various places simultaneously,” said Mattar Al Tayer, Executive Director of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), while speaking at the grand ceremony. He said one of the main objectives of the RTA is to put in place a much needed world-class public transport system and to encourage people to use it.

1907 US invade Honduras.

1919 Soviet Republic is proclaimed.

1935 Persia officially renamed Iran.

1939 Germany annexes Memel from Lithuania.

1945 After bombing the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, British RAF planes mistakenly bomb the French School killing 86 children and 10 nuns.

1953 Sudan achieves self-government.

1963 Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay is emptied of its last inmates at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

1960 At least 69 Africans are killed in Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa.

1975 Ethiopia ends monarchy after 3,000 years.

1977 Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi resigns after losing her seat in parliamentary polls.

1990 Namibia gains independence in South Africa, Sam Nujoma becomes first president.

1991 A Saudi transport plane crashes as it tried to land at Ras Al Mushab airport near the Kuwaiti border, killing 92 Senegalese soldiers and six Saudi crew members.

1992 American sailors staged a farewell ceremony at the Subic Naval Base in Olongapo, Philippines.

1997 US President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin held summit in Helsinki, and agree to slash their nuclear arsenals.

1998 Dubai Heritage Village is officially opened in Shindagha.

1999 Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov escapes an assassination attempt.

2000 Taiwan approves direct links between part of its territory and mainland China for the first time in 50 years.

2001 Saudi Arabia and Qatar sign the final border agreement in Doha.

2005 A teenage student goes on a shooting rampage at the school in the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota, gunning down nine people before committing suicide.

2006 The social media website Twitter is launched with the first tweet by co-founder Jack Dorsey.

2012 The project of Dubai Modern Art Museum and Opera House District is launched.

2013 The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby is enthroned, taking over the leadership of 80 million Anglicans worldwide

2014 Russia completes the annexation of Crimea.

2015 Kiwi cricket Martin Guptil hits the highest score in World Cup history with 237 not out against West Indies.