1988 - The first Afghan in space, Abdul Ahad Mohmand, 29, and his Soviet crewmate Vladimir Lyakhov, 47, two cosmonauts adrift in space with their oxygen running out, wrestled their crippled Soyuz TM-5 spacecraft back to earth by using manual controls after automatic systems failed. After they landed, officials revealed that the duo had not been trained to deal with the landing problems they had experienced. The Soviet and Afghan cosmonauts had carried out a number of geophysical experiments and photographed Afghan territory during their six-day flight together in space. The material they obtained will help develop various branches of Afghanistan’s science and economy.
Other important events
1822 - Brazil proclaims independence from Portugal.
1888 - The first baby incubator is used to care for a premature infant.
1921 - Margaret Gorman becomes the first-ever Miss America.
1923 - Interpol is founded in Vienna.
1927 - American Philo T. Farnsworth transmits an image through electronic means by using a device called an image dissector.
1985 - Afghan rebels using rockets shoot down a civilian Afghan airliner.
1986 - Desmond Tutu is installed as the first black to lead the Anglican Church in southern Africa.
1999 - Greece’s deadliest earthquake in more than 40 years strikes outside Athens, killing at least 101 people.
2005 - Egyptians vote in their first multi-candidate presidential election.
2011 - A private Russian jet carrying a top ice hockey team slams into a riverbank moments after takeoff, killing at least 43 people.
