In Hong Kong 1964: Hong Kong people put a total of $266.63 million in savings banks in 1963, the highest annual deposit of this type. Total deposits of all descriptions in local banks at the end of December, stood at $5,425 million, four times that of the amount of 10 years previous. 1967: British Labour MP James Johnson, who had recently visited Hong Kong, launched a bitter attack on the colony's wealthy white officials and Chinese tycoons in the House of Commons. He said the working conditions in the colony were so fantastic, that they could not be reconciled with the principals on which the Labour government had come to power. 1974: Financial Secretary Philip Haddon-Cave unleashed a Year-of-the-Tiger belt-tightener in the 1974-1975 Budget. Firstly, more than $205 million had been lopped-off government spending. Secondly, the man on the street was hit hard as increases in the prices of beer, spirits, tobacco, parking and vehicle licences were deemed necessary to raise $175 million in extra revenue. Around the world AD280: Generally recognised as the birthdate of Constantine the Great, Roman emperor who turned the empire into a Christian state. 1861: In the 'Warsaw Massacre', Russian troops fired on a crowd demonstrating against Russian rule. 1881: The Boers defeated the British at the Battle of Majuba Hill, South Africa. On the same date in 1900, British troops commanded by Lord Kitchener defeated the Boers at the Battle of Paardenberg. 1900: The British Labour Party was founded. 1933: The German parliament building, the Reichstag, was destroyed by fire. Alleging a communist conspiracy, the Nazis used it as a pretext to crush its opponents. A Dutchman, Marius van der Lubbe, was executed for starting the fire. 1939: Britain and France recognised General Francisco Franco's rebel government in Spain. 1942: In the first phase of the Battle of the Java Sea, the Japanese sank three Allied destroyers and a cruiser. 1951: The 22nd amendment to the US constitution was finally ratified, limiting presidential terms of office. 1952: The United Nations held its first meetings in its new permanent headquarters in New York. 1973: Militant Indians began an occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in a siege that lasted until May. 1975: In West Germany, Baader-Meinhof guerillas kidnapped opposition politician Peter Lorenz. 1990: Nelson Mandela arrived in Zambia on his first foreign trip since his release from 27 years in South African jails. 1995: Mafia superboss Salvatore 'Toto' Riina and 47 other suspected members of the crime organisation went on trial on charges of complicity in 48 murders in Sicily. 1996: The United Nations suspended sanctions against the Bosnian Serbs.
