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SCMP Reporter

In Hong Kong

1967: The colony's population at the end of June was estimated to be 3.69 million, according to the Government Gazette. The figure represented an increase of 100,000 people on the previous year.

1970: More than 1,000 young men and women in Hong Kong had found dating partners through a computer during the past six months, according to the agency ComputaDate. None had married yet.

1974: A number of British servicemen were injured in bar brawls on New Year's Eve after clashes with American Marines. One Wan Chai bar was completely destroyed.

1980: The stock market galloped out of 1979 in lavish style with the Hang Seng shooting up 27.28 points to close at 879.38, the highest level since April 25, 1973.

Around the world

1901: The Commonwealth of Australia came into being with Edmund Barton as its first prime minister.

1942: In Washington, 26 nations signed the Declaration of the United Nations, affirming their opposition to the Axis powers and confirming that no co-signatory would make a separate peace.

1956: Sudan became an independent republic.

1958: The European Economic Community, or Common Market, came into being.

1959: Communist revolutionary Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba after American-

backed dictator Fulgencio Batista fled to the Dominican Republic.

1992: The El Salvadorean government and the rebel Farabundo Marti Liberation Front reached a ceasefire accord after a 12-year civil war.

1993: The so-called 'Velvet Revolution' saw the peaceful separation of Czechoslovakia into the Czech and Slovak republics.

1995: The World Trade Organisation came into effect, succeeding the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs.

1999: The euro was introduced, giving 11 European countries a shared currency for the first time since the Roman Empire.

2001: Greece joined the European Union's single currency after a long struggle to bolster its economy and earn a place as the Euro Zone's 12th member.



Today in history