TODAY: Friday August 20, 2021 ON THIS DAY
34 years ago (1987)
Our front page chronicled the terrifying massacre carried out by gunman Michael Ryan who shot dead 14 people in the sleepy town of Hungerford, Berkshire before turning the gun on himself.
Described as a loner and gun fanatic, unemployed former labourer Ryan’s day of carnage began in the early afternoon and ended when he was cornered in a school, surrounded by armed police.
The death toll would eventually reach 16 in what remains one of Britain’s deadliest firearms incidents.
43 years ago (1978)
An air stewardess died when a bus carrying staff from Israeli airline El Al was attacked in central London.
The terrorists opened fire as the bus pulled up outside the Europa Hotel in Grosvenor Square where the crew were due to stay.
One of the terrorists also died in the attack.
23 years ago (1998)
US President Bill Clinton ordered cruise missile strikes against al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical weapons plant in Sudan in retaliation for the August 7 bombings of the American embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.