NOW & THEN

0 On this day in 1967 a federal soldier stood guard as the worst race riots in US history broke out in Detroit

1967: Worst race riots in United States history began in Detroit. They lasted four days and left 38 people dead and parts of the city in ruins. Similar trouble flared in several other US cities including Boston and New York.

1991: Communist leaders overwhelmingly approved Mikhail Gorbachev’s new party platform, abandoning decades of Marxist dogma.

1993: the robotic space probe Mars Observer took its first photo of Mars from 5 billion kilometres.

1994: The National Audit Office reported that construction of the Trident submarine complex on the Clyde had overshot its budget by £800 million.

1996: Scottish appeal judges overturned an earlier ruling and allowed a severely disbaled boy to be adopted into the family of two gay men.