bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

In Hong Kong 1949: Pan-American Airways Constellations revealed plans to take over from the Skymaster in October, making the Hong Kong-London run in 39 hours - 26 hours faster than previous runs.

1963: Advertisement. 'Now in twenties - Player's Gold Leaf - specially made for real smokers'. $1 for 20.

1967: Philips held the first public viewing of colour television in Hong Kong in the Repulse Bay Hotel. Wireless colour television broadcasts started later that year.

1974: Detectives probing the drug-smuggling racket in Stanley Prison raided a Kowloon factory workshop which was producing specially hollowed-out batons. The factory was run by a former inmate of the prison.

Around the world 1190: Richard I of England and Philip II of France started on the Third Crusade.

1631: The world's first employment agency opened in Paris.

1753: John Pierre Blanchard, French balloonist, was born. In 1785, he became the first to cross the English Channel by balloon.

1776: The American Declaration of Independence was signed.

1826: John Adams, the second US president (1797-1801), and Thomas Jefferson, the third president (1801-09), both died on this day.

1845: Thomas John Barnardo, Dublin-born philanthropist, was born. In 1870 he founded the first of the Dr Barnardo's Homes for destitute boys in London.

1847: James Anthony Bailey, US circus impresario, was born. In partnership with Phineas Barnum, he made the American circus the most successful ever.

1848: The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, was published.

1884: The Statue of Liberty was presented to America by the people of France.

1903: The first Pacific telegraph cable, between San Francisco and Manila, went into operation.

1904: Construction of the Panama Canal began.

1927: Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress, was born. She became a star in films from the 1940s, notably in Beat The Devil and Solomon And Sheba.

1927: Neil Simon, US playwright and screenwriter, was born. His hits included Barefoot In The Park and The Sunshine Boys.

1934: Marie Curie, Polish-French physicist and Nobel prize winner, died.

1946: The Philippines gained independence from America.

1976: Israel launched a commando raid on Entebbe airport in Uganda to rescue 102 hostages held by Arab and West German hijackers of an Air France plane.

1979: Former Algerian president Ahmed Ben Bella was released after 14 years detention. He was overthrown in a 1965 coup and had been under arrest ever since.

1994: French President Francois Mitterrand became the first foreigner to address South Africa's new parliament.

1997: The US Pathfinder space probe made a landing on Mars.



This day in history