Today in History

October 4

1830 - Belgium proclaims its independence from the Netherlands.

1910 - Portugal’s King Manuel II flees to England on outbreak of revolution in Lisbon.

1957 - Soviet Union puts the first spacecraft, Sputnik, into orbit around Earth, heralding the start of the space age.

1985 - Kidnapped US diplomat William Buckley is executed in Beirut. 1988 - Brazil enacts new constitution, completing long-awaited ‘transition to democracy’.

2003 - For the first time all Omani citizens above 21 years are given the right to vote for the 83-seat advisory council.

2008 - Poland hands control of an area south of Baghdad to US troops. 2017 - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits Iran in a sign of warming ties between the two countries.