bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

In Hong Kong

1962: The original Blake Pier, a 62-year-old waterfront landmark, was demolished as the Central reclamation project continued.

1964: The Dateline Discotheque Restaurant in Wellington Street opened for business. The discotheque, a new concept in entertainment which had its origins in France, had no bands or floor show and was believed to be the first of its kind in Asia.

1965: Mandarin actress Lily Mok Chau, 26, died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital after being in a coma for more than 30 hours. The former beauty queen had made 10 films.

1967: The Quests, a popular six-member singing group, arrived from Singapore for a three-month television and nightclub engagement at the Mocambo.

Around the world

1822: Louis Pasteur, French chemist and bacteriologist, was born. He originated the heat process known as pasteurisation, used to destroy micro-organisms in certain foods and drinks.

1831: The British Admiralty survey ship HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, set out from Plymouth on its scientific voyage round the globe.

1879: Sydney Greenstreet, British actor who starred notably in The Maltese Falcon, was born.

1927: Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, marking a victory for Stalin in their power struggle.

1932: The Radio City Music Hall opened in New York.

1945: The International Monetary Fund was established in Washington.

1945: Britain, the US and the Soviet Union agreed on a plan to rule Korea for five years.

1956: After the Suez crisis between Egypt, Israel, Britain and France, a UN fleet began clearing the canal.

1965: British Petroleum's North Sea oil rig Sea Gem collapsed, killing 13.

1975: More than 400 Indian miners died after being trapped underground following an explosion and flooding in Chasnala Colliery, Bihar state.

1979: Afghan President Hafizullah Amin was executed following a coup backed by Soviet forces, who had begun their invasion two days earlier.

1985: Fifteen people were killed when four Palestinian terrorists attacked the El Al check-in counter at Rome's Fiumicino airport. A similar attack at Vienna's Schwechat airport left four dead, including one gunman.

1989: Egypt and Syria resumed full diplomatic relations after a 12-year break.

1995: France staged the fifth in a series of bitterly disputed nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific.

1995: Ukraine-born Shura Cherkassky, one of the world's last great romantic pianists, died.

1997: Billy Wright, one of the leading Protestant extremist guerillas in Northern Ireland, was killed inside the top-security Maze jail.

1998: Iraq said it did not recognise Western-imposed no-fly zones over its territory, beginning a series of clashes with US forces.



Today in history