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SCMP Reporter

In Hong Kong 1949: Three armed men robbed the Kapok Bakery in Wan Chai of about $10. The robbers first asked for a loaf of bread and then took out their revolvers.

1960: Vivien Cheung, Miss Hong Kong 1960, said she had no ambition to be an actress. The daughter of actor Cheung Ying said she wanted to be an interior decorator.

1966: More than 100 members of the Pat Boone fan club greeted the American singer at Kai Tak prior to his show at the Kingsland Theatre. Actress Geraldine Chaplin also arrived for the premiere of Doctor Zhivago.

1974: 'Hong Kong's forest of high-rise buildings could soon become a devastated area of slums,' said Secretary for Housing, Ian Lightbody.

1979: The Governor, Sir Murray MacLehose, arrived in London and told the British press that 'the number of people coming out of Vietnam is straining the humanity of other countries nearby to breaking point'.

Around the world 323BC: Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia and one of history's greatest military leaders, died in Babylon.

1381: The Peasants' Revolt, a popular uprising led by Wat Tyler sparked by the implementation of a poll tax, began in Britain.

1865: William Butler Yeats, the Irish poet and playwright, was born. He won the Nobel Literature Prize in 1923.

1893: The first women's golf tournament was held at Royal Lytham, England.

1897: Paavo Nurmi, the Finnish long-distance runner and winner of nine Olympic gold medals, was born.

1898: The Yukon was separated from the Northwest Territories in Canada and given separate territorial status.

1900: The Boxer Rebellion began in China. The secret society was dedicated to ending the domination and exploitation of the country by foreigners.

1911: Petrushka, one of the earliest works of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, was first performed in Paris.

1917: Fourteen German Gotha bombers carried out the first large-scale bombing raid by aeroplanes on London, killing 162. Previous aerial bombs were dropped from zeppelins.

1951: Joseph Benedict Chifley, Australian prime minister (1945-49) and leader of the Australian Labour Party (1945-51), died.

1964: Nelson Mandela arrived on Robben Island to begin his life sentence.

1971: Geraldine Brodrick gave birth to nine babies in Australia, one of the few recorded instances of nonuplets.

1982: King Khalid ibn Abul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia died. He was succeeded by his brother, Prince Fahd.

1986: Benny Goodman, American clarinettist, died. He was one of the first bandleaders to break the colour bar by hiring black musicians.

1994: North Korea announced it was withdrawing from the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency and would not permit inspectors into the country.

1996: The longest siege in US federal history ended when 16 anti-government Freemen surrendered in Montana after 81 days.



This day in history