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SCMP Reporter

In Hong Kong

1963: R H Hassall of HMS Tamar was crowned the fastest beer drinker in the colony. He downed three large bottles of pilsner in one minute and 36 seconds at a contest held at the State Restaurant.

1968: Alan Fung, a 19-year-old press photographer, was chosen to model for Pierre Cardin when he was spotted by the famous French designer while visiting Hong Kong. He later modelled the designer's latest collection during a charity fashion show at the Hong Kong Hilton.

1971: Ho Bing-yin, 38, survived a 30-metre fall from the eighth floor of a North Point building. He landed on a first-floor awning before bouncing onto the street. He suffered head and leg injuries.

Around the world

1321: Dante, full name Dante Alighieri, Italy's greatest poet, died. His Christian epic The Divine Comedy is regarded as one of the landmarks of literature.

1752: Britain and its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar.

1814: Francis Scott Key, witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, wrote the words which became The Star-Spangled Banner. It became the US national anthem in 1931.

1829: The Russo-Turkish War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Adrianople. Tsar Nicholas I obtained land south of the Caucasus.

1868: Golf's first recorded hole-in-one was scored by Scotsman Tom Morris at Prestwick's 166-yard eighth hole, during the Open Championships.

1901: US President William McKinley died from his wounds after being shot by an assassin on September 6. He was succeeded in office by Theodore Roosevelt.

1930: In Germany, in a stunning election triumph, Adolph Hitler's National Socialist (Nazi) Party became the second largest party in the Reichstag.

1982: Princess Grace of Monaco died in hospital after a car crash the previous day. Formerly American film actress Grace Kelly, she appeared in popular films including High Noon, Dial M For Murder and High Society.

1982: Lebanese president-elect Bashir Gemayel was assassinated in a bomb explosion at his party headquarters in East Beirut.

1990: The first gene therapy was carried out by W French Anderson at Bethesda, Maryland, on a four-year-old girl with a genetic deficiency.

1994: Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian Liberation Organisation chairman Yasser Arafat signed a declaration aimed at unblocking US$2.5 billion of aid for Palestinian self-rule territories.

1996: Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk pardoned Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary for his role in the 'killing fields' era of the 1970s.

1998: Northern Ireland's new power-sharing parliament started proceedings.

2000: Senior parliament official Cheng Kejie was executed for taking US$5 million in bribes. He was the most senior Chinese official to be executed for corruption since 1949.



Today in history