In Hong Kong 1957: Halldor Kiljan Laxness, Iceland's greatest novelist, arrived in Hong Kong. The 1955 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, was on his way to Beijing at the invitation of the Chinese Government. 1964: A man whose hair gave him away because it was cut a little longer than that of an ordinary policeman, was bound over for one year and fined $250 for demanding money with menaces, simple larceny, and impersonation of a police officer. Cheung Tit-yin (20), unemployed, pleaded guilty in a North Kowloon court. 1966: Hong Kong businessman Tim Williams, who was acting as the best man at a wedding, had to run for his life after being chased by a gang of rioters through the streets of Macau. It was the second day of violence in the enclave as seven people were killed and another 35 were injured as leftists clashed with police. The Portuguese administration advised Europeans to leave for their safety. Seven Chinese gunboats were also seen in the waters near Macau in what was believed to be a form of psychological attack. 1967: Nine illegal casinos, each averaging a daily take of about $350,000, were thriving on Hong Kong Island, according to a South China Morning Post report. The casinos, situated on the coastal strip of the island from West Point to North Point, were operating around the clock. The establishments provide gamblers with free drinks, food and cigarettes. Around the world 963: Holy Roman Emperor Otto deposed Pope John XII for dishonourable conduct and for plotting an armed conspiracy. Leo VIII succeeded as pope. 1791: Britain's Observer newspaper, the oldest Sunday newspaper in the world, was first published. 1795: Scottish essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle was born; best known for his French Revolution published in 1837. 1851: Two days after a coup d'etat in France, Louis Napoleon used troops to put down a rebellion after bloody rioting. 1892: General Francisco Franco, Spanish dictator, was born. He overthrew the Republican government in the civil war of 1936-1939, kept Spain neutral during World War II and remained dictator until his death in 1975. 1947: Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire had its premiere in New York. 1977: In Malaysia, 100 people were killed when a plane hijacked by the Japanese Red Army crashed near Singapore. 1992: President George Bush ordered 28,000 US troops to Somalia to block warring gangs from intercepting food shipments. 1996: Nasa's first Mars rover headed to the Red Planet after roaring away from its Florida launch pad at Cape Canaveral. It landed successfully on the planet on July 4, 1997. 1997: A historic treaty to ban anti-personnel landmines worldwide becomes reality when 121 nations signed the accord in Ottawa; the US was among the abstainers. 1998: The last Khmer Rouge fighters surrendered to the Cambodian government, ending the group's 20-year war against the government.
