Emirates makes a good start
1985 - Emirates airline, Dubai’s own airline, took to the skies from Dubai International Airport bound for Karachi. The aircraft, an Airbus 300, left the tarmac at 11.45am. On board the flight, the world’s newest airline, was Maurice Flanagan, managing director of Dnata, and a number of Dubai Civil Aviation officials. It was a jubilant day for all the 11 crew members, headed by Captain Junadi, smiling and eager to greet their first passenger. Emirates’ second flight of the day and the first into Dubai arrived just after 5.00pm from Karachi with a number of excited passengers who felt extremely privileged to have been among the first to fly the new airline. On his return to Dubai, Flanagan commented that Emirates was off to a good and promising start.
October 25
1616 - Dutch mariner Dirk Hartog discovers Australia.
1760 - Britain’s King George III succeeds his late grandfather, George II.
1874 - Britain annexes Fiji islands.
1900 - Transvaal is annexed formally by Britain at Pretoria, South Africa.
1909 - Murder of Japan’s Prince Ito by Korean fanatics leads to Japanese dictatorship in Korea.
1936 - Germany and Italy form Rome-Berlin Axis.
1940 - Benjamin Davis becomes the first African-American general in the US Army.
1956 - Egypt, Jordan and Syria form a unified military command.
1980 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat inaugurates the Ahmad Hamdi tunnel, connecting mainland Egypt with the Sinai desert.
1983 - US forces invade Marxist-ruled Grenada.
1985 - British actor and singer Gary Holton dies.
1987 - Deng Xiaoping steps down from all, but China’s top military post.
1990 - American boxer Evander Holyfield knocks out Buster Douglas in three rounds to win the undisputed world heavyweight title.
1995 - Israel begins to pull out troops from Jenin after 28-year occupation.
1999 - UAE and India sign an extradition treaty in New Delhi.
2003 - Faisal Al Fayez is sworn in as new Jordan prime minister.
2007 - The first commercial Airbus A380 Superjumbo flight touches down at Sydney after a flight from Singapore.
2009 - Twin suicide car bombings devastate the heart of Baghdad, killing at least 147 people.
