1993 - World motor racing champion Nigel Mansell stormed to a remarkable victory in his debut Indycar Grand Prix. The British driver set a blistering pace during the 65-lap race through the streets of a subtropical holiday resort to cross the line 5.11 seconds ahead of Brazilian veteran Emerson Fittipaldi. Mansell, on the pole after setting a track record during the qualifying session, is only the second Indycar “rookie” to win his first race. The first to achieve that accolade in 1966 was the late great of motor racing Graham Hill, whom Mansell has said is his idol. Mansell, who had to make three pit stops during the one hour 52 minute race, said he was close to running out of fuel at the finish. It was the reigning Formula One title holder’s first victory on Australian soil.
Other important events
1934 - Fire destroys Hakodate, Japan, killing about 1,500.
1935 - Persia officially renamed Iran.
1939 - Germany annexes Memel from Lithuania.
1945 - After bombing the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, British RAF planes mistakenly bomb the French school killing 86 children and 10 nuns.
1953 - Sudan achieves self-government.
1960 - At least 69 Africans are killed in the Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa.
1963 - Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay is emptied of its last inmates at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
1975 - Ethiopia abolishes monarchy after 3,000 years.
1977 - Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi resigns after losing her seat in parliamentary polls.
1990 - Namibia gains independence in South Africa, Sam Nujoma becomes first president.
1991 - A Saudi transport plane crashes as it tries to land at Ras Al Mushab airport near the Kuwaiti border, killing 92 Senegalese soldiers and six Saudi crew members.
1992 - American sailors stage a farewell ceremony at the Subic Naval Base in Olongapo, Philippines.
1997 - US President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin hold summit in Helsinki, and agree to slash their nuclear arsenals.
1999 - Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov escapes an assassination attempt.
2000 - Taiwan approves direct links between part of its territory and mainland China for the first time in 50 years.
2001 - Saudi Arabia and Qatar sign the final border agreement in Doha.
2006 - The social media website Twitter is launched with the first tweet by co-founder Jack Dorsey.
2012 - The project of Dubai Modern Art Museum and Opera House District is launched.
2013 - The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby is enthroned, taking over the leadership of 80 million Anglicans worldwide.
2015 - Kiwi cricket Martin Guptil hits the highest score in World Cup history with 237 not out against West Indies.
2016 - American president Barack Obama arrives in Cuba in the first visit by a US president in 88 years.
