November 1, 2009: Vettel wins in Abu Dhabi

2009 - Sebastian Vettel emerged victorious in the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver finished the season on a high note with a fluent victory in the newest Grand Prix on the Formula One circuit. Teammate Mark Webber clung to the second place to make it a 1-2 finish for the Red Bulls in the first-ever day-night race. The deafening roar of racing cars at the Yas Marina Circuit signalled Abu Dhabi’s arrival to the world of Formula One Grand Prix. Pole winner Lewis Hamilton was expected to dominate the race after his display in the qualifiers. The Briton led the pack in the early pit stops till a rear brake failure forced the McLaren driver to retire in the 20th lap.

1755 - Earthquake rocks Lisbon, Portugal, killing 60,000 people.

1914 - Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.

1952 - The US explodes the first hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands.

1954 - The Algerian War of Independence begins.

1961 - Eighty-five people are killed in nationalist demonstrations in Algiers.

1968 - US military halts all air, naval and artillery bombardment of Vietnam.

1981 - The Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda form an independent state.

1987 - Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping resigns from a key Communist Party post.

1989 - East Germany reopens its border with Czechoslovakia.

1990 - Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Howe resigns over the government’s policy towards Europe.

1993 - The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.

1996 - Junius Jayewardene, Sri Lanka’s first executive head of state and the driving force behind its market reforms, dies in a Colombo hospital age 90.

1997 – Indonesia moved swiftly on a sweeping economic reform programme agreed with the IMF, announcing the liquidation of 16 unhealthy banks.

1998 - The European Court of Human Rights is founded in Strasbourg, France.

2000 - Serbia joins the United Nations.

2001 - Nato member Turkey becomes the first Muslim nation to commit troops to the war against Afghanistan.

2005 - Dubai government issues a law to set up the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

2011 - China launches an unmanned craft Shenzhou VIII into space.

2012 - A fuel tanker slams into a bridge, killing 22 people and injuring more than 100 in Saudi Arabia.

2015 - Construction starts on a British naval forces facility in Bahrain.

2016 - Al Jalila Children’s Speciality Hospital, that provides state-of-the-art services to the UAE’s children and the region, inaugurated in Dubai.