October 15, 1995: Juppe elected party president

Juppe elected party president

1995 - French Prime Minister Alain Juppe was elected president of the neo-Gaullist Rally for the Republic. He immediately pledged to turn a new page after recent political and corruption troubles. The 50-year-old politician, who was the only candidate for the post, moved clearly to make a fresh start after a housing scandal and continuing attacks on his handling of the economy. “I want to be the president who rallies all Gaullists,” he told some 20,000 militants who gathered for the meeting in a huge marquee outside the Disneyland Europe theme park east of Paris. His election was seen as a much needed show of support after recent reverses. Juppe, who had been interim party president since November, was approved by 92.61 per cent of the delegates.

October 15

1529 - Sulaiman I, Sultan of Turkey, is forced to end siege of Vienna.

1915 - Britain declares war on Bulgaria during First World War.

1917 - Mata Hari, a Dutch dancer who spied for the Germans, is executed by firing squad outside Paris.

1946 - Former head of the Nazi air force, Hermann Goering, commits suicide by poison hours before his scheduled execution.

1968 - Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia sign a treaty allowing Soviet troops to remain in Czechoslovakia.

1969 - Somalia’s President Abdul Rashid Ali Shermarke is assassinated.

1970 - Anwar Sadat is elected President of Egypt.

1981 - The 13th World Armed Services Parachuting Championships open in Dubai.

1982 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s closest aide Ayatollah Ashrafi Esfahani is assassinated in Iran.

1989 - South African government releases eight political prisoners including Walter Sisulu.

1990 - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1994 - The President of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, returns to complete his term in office after three years in exile in South Africa.

1999 - Pakistan’s army chief, General Pervez Musharraf, declares a state of emergency and names himself chief executive.

2004 - Australian bowler Shane Warne claims the world record of 534 wickets in test cricket in Chennai.

2008 - Syria and Lebanon sign a joint document announcing the start of diplomatic relations in Damascus.

2009 - Thirty-nine people die when gunmen attack three police compounds in Lahore, Pakistan.