2002 - At least nine Israelis were killed in a bus bombing at a northern junction, and three more died in an occupied Jerusalem shooting incident and a rash of other strikes that left more than 70 injured. Overall, 14 people were killed in the violence in the far north of Israel, where a suicide bomber blew apart a civilian bus near Safad after a Palestinian was shot dead in a failed raid on a coastal Jewish colony in the Gaza Strip. The massive eruption of violence appeared to be the bloody vengeance threatened after an Israeli air raid killed Hamas’ military chief and 14 other people, nine of them children, on July 22. Israel has vowed strong retaliation for the bus bombing.
Other important events
1578 - Portugal’s King Sebastian is killed when his forces, on a crusade to Morocco, are overwhelmed by a larger Moroccan army.
1902 - The Greenwich foot tunnel under the River Thames opens.
1906 - Central Railway Station in Sydney opens.
1907 - French fleet bombards Casablanca, northwest Morocco, following anti-colonial demonstrations.
1914 - Britain declares war on Germany.
1916 - Denmark sells Danish Virgin Islands to the United States for $25 million (Dh91.8 million).
1922 - Fighting breaks out between fascists and socialists in Italian cities.
1957 - Argentine racing driver Juan Fangio wins the German Grand Prix.
1971 - US Apollo 15 spacecraft heads back to Earth after a six-day mission exploring Moon.
1977 - US President Carter establishes Department of Energy.
1990 - Twelve nations of European Community ban oil imports, embargo arms and suspend most trade with Iraq after invasion of Kuwait.
1991 - The Greek cruise ship Oceanos sinks off South Africa’s rugged eastern coast.
1994 - Yugoslavia withdraws support for Bosnia’s Serbs.
1995 - Croatia launches a massive attack on breakaway Serbs, bombarding rebel towns and shelling UN peacekeepers.
1997 - Australia’s Cathy Freeman becomes the first aboriginal athlete to capture a world or Olympic track title in the 400-metres at the World Championships.
2002 - In an electoral tie, Bolivia’s Congress selects Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, a wealthy mining magnate and former president, as the country’s next president.
2007 - The Turkish parliament dominated by the Islamic-oriented party of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is sworn in.
2012 - American swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the most decorated Olympian ever with 22 Olympic medals.
2013 - A horrific crash in Saudi Arabia leaves 14 people dead and three injured.
2014 - An overloaded ferry sinks in rough conditions in central Bangladesh, at least 120 people are killed.
