Space tourist Tito returns from space station
2001 - An exhilarated Dennis Tito, the world’s first space tourist, made a textbook landing on the Kazakh steppe and said he had just returned from paradise. The Russian Soyuz capsule, returning from the International Space Station, touched down right on time and was dragged 15 metres across the barren steppe as a strong sidewind caught its parachute. “It was great, best, best, best of all. It was paradise, I just came back from paradise. Great flight, great landing. A soft landing,” blurted the American millionaire as he emerged unsteadily from the capsule. Tito, who reportedly paid the hard-up Russians $20 million (Dh84.5 million) for the flight, and his fellow flyers Talgat Musabayev and Yuri Baturin were then each given an apple, a national symbol in Kazakhstan.
May 6
1757 - Prussia’s King Frederick II defeats the Holy Roman Empire forces at Prague.
1882 - United States bans Chinese immigrants for 10 years.
1889 - The Paris Exposition, with the newly-built Eiffel Tower, opens.
1902 - British SS Camorta sinks off Rangoon, 732 people die.
1941 - Josef Stalin becomes Premier of the Soviet Union.
1955 - West Germany joins Nato.
1960 - Britain’s Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong Jones, a commoner.
1967 - Zakir Hussain is elected Indian President.
1992 - Lebanese government headed by Omar Karami resigns after anti-government riots.
1994 - Channel Tunnel linking France and Britain officially opens.
1999 - The first general elections for the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales take place.
2001 - Pope John Paul makes history by becoming the first pontiff ever to enter a mosque in Syria.
2005 - The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority approves du to operate in the UAE, which ends etisalat’s monopoly.
2007 - Nicolas Sarkozy is elected French President.
2008 - The UAE capital’s bourse is renamed the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
2009 - South Africa’s parliament chooses Jacob Zuma as President.
2010 - Nigeria’s acting leader Goodluck Jonathan is sworn in as president.
2012 - Socialist Francois Hollande is elected French President.
2015 - The UAE and the European Union sign a landmark agreement allowing Emirati citizens to visit all Schengen countries without a visa.
