Iraqi poet Jawahiri dies
1997 - Mohammad Mahdi Al Jawahiri (above left) the prominent Iraqi poet, died in Damascus only two days after his 98th birthday. Al Jawahiri was widely considered to be one of the greatest men of letters in contemporary Arabic literature. The son of a noted religious scholar in the Iraqi city of Najaf, Al Jawahiri did not enter any school or college, but received his education at mosques and religious Kuttab. Al Jawahiri wrote his first poem in 1911 and in 1921 he became an adviser at the court of King Faisal I, the first king to rule Iraq in modern history. He was the publisher of many newspapers in Iraq. Al Jawahiri was widely known in the Arabic world for his patriotic poems and unique mastery of Arabic.
July 27
1795 - Spain signs peace treaty with France, ceding its part of Santo Domingo.
1839 - Opium War between China and Britain begins.
1866 - The first successful trans-Atlantic telegraph cable between England and the US is completed.
1909 - Orville Wright tests the US Army’s first airplane.
1922 - International Geographical Union formed in Brussels.
1940 - Bugs Bunny makes his first appearance in the Warner Bros cartoon A Wild Hare.
1949 - The world’s first jet-propelled airliner, the British De Havilland Comet, makes its maiden flight.
1954 - Britain and Egypt agree on terms to end 72 years of British control of the Suez Canal.
1955 - After 17 years of occupation by troops belonging to four countries, Austria regains its sovereignty.
1976 - Former Japanese prime minister Tanaka Kakuei is arrested and later convicted for accepting bribes from America’s Lockheed Corporation.
1980 - The deposed Shah of Iran dies at a military hospital outside Cairo at the age of 60.
1985 - Uganda President Milton Obote’s civilian government is ousted in a swift military coup.
1990 - Belarus declares its independence from Soviet Union.
1996 - A pipe bomb explodes during the Atlanta Olympics, killing one and injuring more than 100.
1999 - Some 120 passengers go on the inaugural journey of the new Amman-Damascus train service.
2000 - Kuwait signs a deal for the purchase of natural gas from Qatar’s giant North field.
2002 - At least 78 people are killed when a Ukrainian airforce Sukhoi Su-27 jet smashes into crowds watching the finale of an air show in Ukraine.
2005 - India’s financial capital Mumbai shuts down amid the strongest rains recorded in Indian history.
2008 - Egyptian filmmaker Yousuf Shaheen dies at the age of 83.
2012 - A giant bell rings out to start an unusual opening ceremony for the London Olympics 2012 Games.
2015 - Former Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam dies of a heart attack in Shillong.
