Today in history
October 6
1866 John and Simeon Reno stage the first train robbery in US history.
1889 The Moulin Rouge in Paris opens its doors to the public.
1918 French occupy Beirut in the Ottoman Empire.
1928 Chiang Kai-shek becomes Chairman of the Republic of China.
1937 Japanese aggression in China is condemned by League of Nations.
1949 Japanese-American broadcaster Iva Toguri D’Aquino, known as Tokyo Rose, is sentenced to 10 years in prison for treason.
1953 Britain sends forces to British Guiana to prevent coup by communists.
1972 Train derails and catches fire near Saltillo, Mexico, killing 208.
1973 Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack on Israel as it observes Yom Kippur.
1976 Military coup in Thailand.
1979 Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit the White House.
1981 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is assassinated during a military parade.
1986 Soviet nuclear-powered submarine sinks in Atlantic following an explosion.
1987 Fiji becomes a republic.
1987 Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak wins a thumping 97 per cent referendum vote to lead the nation for the next six years.
1989 Typhoon Angela kills 118 people on northern coast of Luzon, Philippines.
1991 An Indonesian air force plane crashes into a government building in Jakarta, killing 102 people and injuring more than 5,000.
1996 Yao Wenyaun, the last surviving member of China’s Gang of Four, is freed from prison.
1997 Freed Hamas founder Shaikh Ahmad Yassin returns in triumph to Palestinian-ruled Gaza.
1999 Overwhelmed by the rising waters of the Niger River, officials open the floodgates of two major dams.
2000 Vojislav Kostunica is elected as president of Yugoslav.
2003 Israel attacks Syria, the first air raid in 30 years deep inside the country.
2005 UAE and Turkey sign a $5 billion joint cooperation agreement in Istanbul.
2008 Wall Street joins in a worldwide cascade of despair over the financial crisis, driving the Dow Jones industrials to their biggest loss ever during a trading day.
2009 Greece’s new socialist Prime Minister George Papandreou is sworn into office.
2012 Algeria’s former president Chadli Bendjedid dies of cancer, aged 83.
2013 At least 15 people are killed when Islamists clashes with police in Egypt.
HIGHLIGHT
1985
Alain Prost is world champion
Alain Prost calmly secured the 1985 world driver’s title and Nigel Mansell delighted his home British fans by scoring his first Formula One victory at the Grand Prix of Europe. Prost, benefitting from the late retirements of Marc Surer and Jacques Laffite, finished fourth and gained three points which put him out of reach of championship rival Michele Alboreto with two races remaining to the season. “I feel wonderful, but it hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Prost, who finally became world champion after being runner-up the past two years. Returning to the track after changing a blown tyre, Rosberg blocked leader Ayrton Senna, allowing his Williams teammate Mansell to sneak through and go on to an unchallenged victory. Prost, meanwhile, worked his way up the field and on the eighth lap overtook Alboreto, who stopped for a tyre change. Four laps later, the turbocharger on Alboreto’s Ferrari blew and Prost thereafter needed only to finish fifth to take the title. “I had a difficult race because of the start, everything went so badly at the beginning but so well afterwards”, said Prost.
