Today in History
March 22
1790 - Thomas Jefferson becomes America’s first secretary of state. 1873 - Spain abolishes slavery.
1934 - The first Masters Tournament is held at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, US. 1945 - Arab League is founded in Egypt. 1946 - Britain signs a treaty granting independence to Jordan.
1960 - Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser.
1967 - Muhammad Ali knocks out Zora Folley in seventh round for the heavyweight boxing title in New York.
1978 - Karl Wallenda, the 73-yearold patriarch of The Flying Wallendas high-wire act, falls to his death in Puerto Rico.
1989 - Delegates from 105 countries adopt a draft UN treaty to control international transport of dangerous wastes.
1990 - The Dh28 million Souq Al Markazi is inaugurated in Ajman. 1992 - USAir Flight 405 crashes shortly after take-off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 27 people.
1993 - Intel launches its first Pentium microprocessor. 1994 - A Russian Airbus A-310 crashes in Siberia en route to Hong Kong. 1995 - Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov returns to Earth after spending 438 days on the Mir space station.
1996 - Goran Persson becomes Prime Minister of Sweden.
1998 - Albanians in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo hold elections for a shadow government.
2000 - A powerful blast heavily damages a rail bridge in northern Kosovo.
2004 - Hamas leader Shaikh Ahmad Yassin is killed in an Israeli helicopter strike in Gaza.
2005 - Israel completes the handover to the West Bank town of Tulkarem to Palestinian control. 2007 - Egypt appoints 31 women judges for the first time.
2008 - Taiwan’s opposition candidate Ma Ying-jeou crushes his rival in presidential elections. 2013 - Lebanese Prime Minister Najeeb Mikati resigns.
2016 - A series of bombings rip through Brussels airport and a subway train, killing around 35 people.
2017 - Four people are killed when a lone assailant launches an attack near the parliament in London. 2003 - Fernando Alonso (above left) roared into the Formula One records as the youngest driver ever to seize pole position as Renault took advantage of new rules to stun their rivals in Malaysia. Alonso’s flying lap made the 21-year-old, who will share today’s front row at Sepang with Italian teammate Jarno Trulli, the youngest to start on pole by six months and also the first Spaniard. “To get a pole in the second race (with Renault) is an amazing feeling. At the moment I am dreaming,” said Alonso. Brazilian Rubens Barrichello previously held the record with a pole for Jordan in Belgium aged 22 in 1994. Alonso took pole in only his 19th race, having failed to score any points in his career until the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago.