This Day In History

• 1934- Dr Frederick Banting co-discoverer of insulin, is knighted

• 1935• French liner SS Normandie sets Atlantic crossing record of four days, three

• hours and 14 minutes on her maiden voyage

• 1940- Last British/French troop leave Dunkirk

• 1943- United Nations Relief & Rehabilitation Administration forms

• 1944-Nazis pull out of Rome

• 1946- International Military Tribunal opens in Tokyo against 28 Japanese war

• criminals

• 1947-British Viceroy of India Lord Mountbatten visits Pakistan

• 1948- 200" (5.08 m) Hale telescope dedicated at Palomar Observatory

• 1950- French expedition reaches top of Himalayan peak of Annapurna in Nepal

• 1959 - Singapore adopts constitution

• 1965 - Gemini 4 launched; 2nd US 2-man flight (McDivitt & White)

• 1966 - Gemini 9 launched; 7th US 2-man flight (Stafford & Cernan)

• Event of Interest

• 1971 - Test Cricket debut of Imran Khan, v Englandl at Edgbaston (5, 0-36, 0-19)

• 1974 - Yitzhak Rabin forms a new Israeli government

• 1977 - Belgium government of Tindemans forms

• 1977 - US & Cuba talk about diplomatic relations

• 1980 - Crew of Soyuz 36 returns to Earth aboard Soyuz 35

• 1986 - Battles in Beirut; 53 killed

• 1989 - Beginning of the Tiananmen Square Massacre as Chinese troops open fire on pro-democracy supporters in Beijing

• 1992 - World's largest environmental summit opens in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

• 2001- Iraq announces that it will halt crude oil exports in response to the UN's resolution that extends the oil-for-food program by only 1 month, instead of the normal 6-month period

• 2006 - The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence