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SCMP Reporter

In Hong Kong

1963: Wanted, Shanghai wash amah for Shek O. Wages $250.

1965: Prolific novelist Barbara Cartland arrived in Hong Kong. She took up residence at the Mandarin, the same hotel in which British entertainer Max Bygraves was performing.

1968: The 800-room President Hotel, Kowloon's largest and the colony's second biggest, was offered for sale by tender at a minimum reserve price of US$12.5 million.

1975: Helen Reddy was appearing at the Lee Theatre. The Australian singer had worldwide hits with Delta Dawn and I Am Woman.

Around the world

1285: Philip III of France died of the plague and was succeeded by Philip IV (the Fair).

1511: Pope Julius II formed the Holy League between Aragon, Venice and the Papacy. Its stated aim was to defend the unity of the church, but it also wanted to drive the French out of Italy.

1796: Spain declared war on Britain in the Napoleonic Wars.

1813: An American force defeated the British and their Indian allies at the Battle of Thames River, Ontario.

1883: The first Orient Express train left Paris for Constantinople, now Istanbul. It was Europe's first transcontinental rail express.

1908: Bulgaria proclaimed its independence from the Ottoman Empire.

1910: Portugal was declared a republic after a successful revolt against King Manuel II.

1914: In one of the earliest air battles, French and German planes exchanged fire at the start of World War I.

1930: The British airship R101 crashed on its first flight at Allonne in France, killing 48 of its 54 passengers.

1970: Anwar Sadat was nominated to succeed Gamal Abdel Nasser as president of Egypt.

1974: Five people were killed and 35 injured by Irish nationalist guerilla bombs in two bars in Guildford, England.

1983: Poland's Solidarity leader Lech Walesa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1988: A new constitution came into effect in Brazil, replacing one imposed by the military during their 1964-85 rule.

1988: Chilean voters in a referendum rejected a proposal to extend President Augusto Pinochet's term of office.

1989: The Dalai Lama, exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1991: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev pledged to match the US in scrapping tactical nuclear weapons.

1995: US envoy Richard Holbrooke clinched a ceasefire agreement among warring factions in Bosnia.

1998: The US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee approved launching a formal impeachment inquiry against President Bill Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky affair.

1999: Two trains packed with commuters burst into flames after colliding in central London, killing 31 people.



Today in history