1996 - British Airways (BA) and American Airlines announced they were forging the world’s largest airline alliance in a controversial deal that was almost certain to face regulatory hurdles. The deal, the biggest of the current wave of link-ups in the airline industry, was also likely to face fierce opposition from other airlines, with BA’s arch-rival Virgin Atlantic Airways leading the charge with a pledge to thwart the plans. British Airways said the two airlines would coordinate operations of all of BA’s 244 flights a week from Britain to its 22 US destinations and all of American’s 238 flights a week from seven US airports to 12 European destinations. They said they would remain separate entities, would not exchange equity stakes and would seek swift progress on the regulatory issues that would need to be cleared.
Other important events
1891 - Portugal assigns Barotseland, now in Zambia, to Britain and Nyasaland becomes a British protectorate.
1895 - Charles A. Duryea is granted the first US patent for a gas-powered automobile.
1901 - New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands.
1903 - The unpopular King Alexander of Serbia and his wife are murdered in a palace coup.
1940 - Princess Juliana of The Netherlands arrives in Canada as an exile during Second World War.
1951 - Mozambique becomes an overseas province of Portugal.
1955 - 77 spectators are killed in car crash during Le Mans 24 hour race.
1963 - Greek Premier Constantine Caramanlis resigns in protest of King Paul’s state visit to Britain.
1967 - UN brokers a ceasefire between Israel and Egypt, Syria and Jordan.
1969 - Soviet and Chinese troops clash on Sinkiang border.
1970 - Palestinian fighters and King Hussain’s army sign a truce in Jordan after a week of heavy clashes.
1981 - Earthquake in southeast Iran kills at least 1,500 people.
1987 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wins a third consecutive term in office.
1989 - American teenager Michael Chang rewrites the record books and produces one of the biggest sporting upsets in years when he wins the French Open title.
1990 - John Poindexter is sentenced to six months in prison for attempting to cover up the Iran-Contra scandal.
1992 - US President George H.W. Bush is forced to flee from gunfire and tear gas disrupting his visit to Panama.
1995 - A bomb explodes at an outdoor music festival in Medellin, Colombia, spraying shrapnel that kills at least 28 people.
2002 - The loya jirga elects Hamid Karzai as leader of the transitional government to serve until elections are held in Afghanistan in 2004.
2004 - The US bids a final farewell to former US president Ronald Reagan in funeral rites.
2009 - The World Health Organisation declares the H1N1 flu as pandemic, the first pandemic since 1968 as it spreads across the four continents.
2015 - Hollywood actor Sir Christopher Lee dies at the age of 93.
