British marines landed on South Georgia and recaptured the Falklands dependency from Argentine troops, who ran up the white flag of surrender. British forces have successfully taken control of Grytviken, the islands’ main port on its north-east coast. No British casualties had been reported so far. At present we have no information on the Argentine casualty positions. The British forces landed by helicopter and had met only limited resistance. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher turned to reporters and said, “Rejoice at that news, and congratulate our forces and the marines.” Earlier in the day Britain announced that its naval task force went into action against Argentina, badly damaging an Argentine submarine. The Defence Ministry said British helicopters attacked the submarine, identified as American-built Santa Fe, when it was detected at first light near Grytviken. Eight hours after reporting the attack, the ministry said the submarine was still smoking, leaking oil.
Other important events:
1809 Britain concludes treaty of friendship with Sikhs at Amritsar in India.
1859 Construction of the Suez Canal begins in Egypt.
1881 French troops occupy Algeria and Tunisia.
1898 United States declares war on Spain.
1901 New York becomes the first US state to require automobile licence plates.
1920 Poland launches offensive against Soviets in the Ukraine.
1942 A coal mine disaster in Benxi, Japanese-occupied China, kills 1,549 workers.
1950 Chuck Cooper becomes first black to play in the NBA.
1957 US Sixth Fleet sails for eastern Mediterranean as King Hussain proclaims martial law in Jordan and seals frontiers after a Palestinian coup attempt.
1974 Portugal’s bloodless ‘Revolution of the Carnations’ ends 48 years of rightist dictatorship.
1982 Egypt regains Sinai after 15 years from Israel.
1989 Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita resigns over the country’s biggest political scandal in decades.
1990 Violeta Barrio de Chamorro is inaugurated President of Nicaragua.
1992 Italian President Francesco Cossiga resigns.
1993 Russian President Boris Yeltsin wins vote of confidence in Russia’s referendum.
1994 Tsutomu Hata is elected Prime Minister of Japan.
1996 Pakistan cricket hero Imran Khan launches political front of Tehreek-e-Insaf.
1998 Millions of Nigerians boycott legislative elections billed by the ruling junta as a first step toward democracy.
2001 Former Philippines President Joseph Estrada is arrested in Manila in plunder case.
2005 A crowded Japanese commuter train derails and slams into an apartment building, killing at least 57 people.
2006 A suicide bomber blows herself up in front of a car carrying Sri Lanka’s top ranking general, killing eight people and wounding the officer.
2010 Two tourists are killed as hot air balloon crash lands in Al Ain.
2011 More than 100 prisoners escape from a south Afghanistan prison through a 1,000-foot long tunnel dug by Taliban insurgents.
2012 Pakistan successfully launches an intermediate-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile.
2013 Godolphin handler Mahmoud Al Zarouni is banned for eight years by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), London.
2015 A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.8 strikes Nepal, killing more than 8,000 people.
2016 Saudi Arabia unveils the details of the kingdom’s new economic plan dubbed ‘Saudi Vision 2030’.
