June 14
1841 The first Canadian parliament opens in Kingston.
1846 A group of US settlers in Sonoma proclaim the Republic of California.
1923 Aleksandur Stamboliysky, popular Bulgarian political leader, is assassinated after a military coup.
1900 Hawaii becomes US territory.
1949 Vietnamese state is established at Saigon under former emperor Bao Dai.
1951 The world’s first commercial computer, designed for the US Census Bureau, is unveiled.
1959 United States agrees to provide Greece with nuclear information and supply ballistic missiles.
1962 European Space Research Organisation is established in Paris.
1967 US Mariner spacecraft is launched toward Venus to determine if the planet can support life.
1980 US rejects European call for participation of Palestine Liberation Organisation in Middle East peace talks.
1982 Argentine forces on the Falkland Islands surrender to the British, ending a 10-week war.
1985 Militants who hijacked a TWA flight 847 to Algiers released 18 passengers and then ordered it flown to Beirut.
1991 US soldiers begin withdrawing from Dohuk in northern Iraq.
1993 Tansu Ciller becomes Turkey’s first woman prime minister.
1998 UAE’s first six national judges are sworn in.
1999 Thabo Mbeki becomes President of South Africa, succeeding Nelson Mandela.
2001 Syrian troops based in Beirut and surroundings, begin pulling out.
2002 A car bomb explodes outside the US consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 12 people.
2004 British tycoon Richard Branson breaks a French-held record for crossing the English Channel between Britain and France in an amphibious vessel.
2005 South African President Thabo Mbeki dismisses his deputy Jacob Zuma after he was caught up in a corruption scandal.
2006 More than 1,000 Indonesian villagers are forced to flee Mount Merapi’s slopes after searing hot gas and debris erupt from the volcano.
2007 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declares an emergency after Hamas effectively takes control of the Gaza Strip.
2008 A 7.2 magnitude earthquake rips across Japan, killing 6 people.
2013 Voters in Iran go to the polls to pick the next president.
2014 Separatists shoot down an army transport plane in east Ukraine, killing 49 servicemen.
2016 UN rights chief asks US to adopt “robust gun control measures” to protect its citizens.
HIGHLIGHT
1987
Bell wins Le Mans for fifth time
Derek Bell of Britain and Hans-Joachim Stuck of West Germany piloted Porsche to a seventh straight victory in the Le Mans 24-hour race after they cracked the challenge of Jaguar. Bell achieved his fifth Le Mans triumph alongside Stuck and their US co-driver Al Holbert - his winning partners last year too - and extended the West German manufacturer’s Le Mans record to 12 wins. But the 1987 achievement had a special savour, accomplished after the other leading Porsches were eliminated early and the three Works Jaguars had pursued the lone surviving quarry for hours before it slipped their clutches for good. A Porsche, a Cougar-Porsche and another Porsche filled second to fourth places, the first arriving 20 laps behind Bell. Only 12 of the 48 starters survived the course - the lowest figure since 1969. Jaguar, first in all four previous races in this season’s world sportcar championship, came to Le Mans with high hopes of claiming the prestigious prize for the first time in 30 years.
