Today’s Highlight

1993: Avril Phaedra Douglas “Kim” Campbell becomes Canada’s first female prime minister.

Other Notable Events

323 BC: Alexander the Great dies of a fever at age 33 in Babylon. He leaves no heir, and his empire dissolves.

1886: Bavaria’s insane King Louis II drowns himself. His psychiatrist also drowns trying to save him.

1953: A military coup led by Colombia’s Gen Gustavo Rojas Pinilla overthrows unpopular government of President Laureano Gomez. Rojas Pinilla voluntarily steps down in 1957 when Colombia returns to democratic rule.

1956: Last British troops leave Suez Canal base, turning the waterway over to Egypt after operating it for 74 years.

1971: New York Times begins publishing the Pentagon Papers, a top secret study on US involvement in Vietnam that strengthens domestic opposition to the war.

1973: US, North Vietnam, South Vietnam and Viet Cong sign new pact in Paris designed to reinforce Vietnam ceasefire.

1974: Army in Republic of Yemen seizes power in bloodless coup.

1982: Saudi Arabia’s King Khaled dies and Crown Prince Fahd assumes the throne.

1988: Turkish Premier Turgut Ozal visits Athens in an historic bid to improve ties between Greece and Turkey.

1992: The UN begins to demobilise the armies of the Cambodian factions, but the Khmer Rouge refuses to comply.

1994: Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela sign a free trade pact.

1997: Timothy J McVeigh is sentenced to death for bombing a US government building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people.

2000: Italy pardons Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981.

2001: One of Mexico’s most-wanted alleged drug traffickers, Ramon Alcides Magana, is arrested.

2002: The US Conference of Catholic Bishops meets in Dallas, Texas, to discuss how churches should handle future and past cases of sexual abuse of minors by priests.

2003: The 105-delegate European Convention completes 16 months of work by endorsing a new draft constitution for the European Union.

2004: Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s Social Democratic party slumps to its worst nationwide showing in post-World War II Germany.

2006: East African nations try to bolster a largely powerless government in Somalia, imposing sanctions against warlords and threatening measures against their rival Islamic militiamen.

2007: Hamas launches a battle for control of the entire Gaza Strip, pounding Gaza City’s three main security compounds with mortars, grenades and assault rifles and calling on beleaguered Fatah forces to surrender.

2008: Three armed robbers steal two Pablo Picasso prints from a Sao Paulo art museum in a rapid strike in which they bypass more valuable works to grab the stolen pieces.

2009: Opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clash with police in the heart of Iran’s capital, pelting them with rocks and setting fire in the worst unrest in a decade. They accuse the hardline president of using fraud to steal an election victory from a reformist candidate.

Today’s Birthdays

Richard Barnfield, English poet (1574-1627); James Clerk Maxwell, British physicist (1831-1879); William B Yeats, Irish poet (1865-1939); Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese writer (1888-1935); Ralph Edwards, This Is Your Life host (1913-2005); Siegfried, magician with Siegfried & Roy (1939-); Malcolm McDowell, British actor (1943-); Tim Allen, actor/comedian (1953-); Ally Sheedy, US actress (1962-); Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, US actresses (1986-); David Gray, British folk/rock singer/songwriter (1968-).