HISTORY AT A GLANCE
TODAY is Saturday, February 18, the 49th day of 2017. There are 316 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date: 1947 – First Indochina War: The French gain complete control of Hanoi after forcing the Viet Minh to withdraw to mountains. 1955 – Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot “Wasp” is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots in the Teapot series. 1957 – Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is executed by the
British colonial government. 1970 – The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. 1977 – The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on
its maiden “flight” on top of a Boeing 747. 1978 – The first Ironman Triathlon competition takes place on
the island of Oahu and is won by Gordon Haller. 1979 – Snow falls in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for
the only time in recorded history. 1983 – Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in US history. 1991 – The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at
Paddington station and Victoria station in London. 2001 – FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. 2001 – Inter-ethnic violence between Dayaks and Madurese breaks out in Sampit, Indonesia, that will ultimately result in more than 500 deaths and 100,000 Madurese displaced from their homes. 2003 – Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in
South Korea. 2004 – Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near Nishapur in Iran when a runaway freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertilizer catches fire and explodes. 2007 – Terrorist bombs explode on the Samjhauta Express in
Panipat, Haryana, India, killing 68 people. 2013 – Armed robbers steal a haul of diamonds worth $50
million during a raid at Brussels Airport in Belgium. 2014 – At least 76 people are killed and hundreds are injured in clashes between riot police and demonstrators in Kiev, Ukraine.