1997: Hong Kong returned to China
Hong Kong reverts back to Chinese rule in a midnight ceremony attended by a host of British and Chinese dignitaries. Few on the island city protested the
turnover. Britain gained control of
Hong Kong at the end of the First Opium War in 1841. The colony flourished as an East-West trading center, and in 1898, Britain was granted an additional 99 years of rule. In 1984, after years of negotiations, the British and Chinese communists approved the 1997 turnover of the island. The chief executive under the new Hong Kong government, Tung Chee Hwa, formulated a policy based upon the concept of one country, two systems, thus preserving Hong Kong's role as a principal capitalist center in Asia.
1994
PLO leader Yasser
Arafat enters Gaza for the first time since his exile 27 years earlier.
1991
In Prague, the formal ending of the
Warsaw Pact, the defence agreement between countries under Soviet influence in Eastern Europe.
1977
British tennis player Virginia Wade wins the Women's Singles Championship at Wimbledon in its' Centenary Year and during Queen Elizabeth II's Jubilee year1969
Prince Charles is invested Prince of Wales by his mother, Queen
Elizabeth II, at Caernarvon Castle in north Wales.
1967
Colour television comes to Europe with a seven hour transmission on
BBC 2 in
Britain from the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships.
1942
World War II: Following an eight month siege, Sevastopol in the Crimea falls to
German forces.
1941
World War II: In North Africa, the German advance under the command of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is halted at El Alemein.1940
World War II: The French collaboration Government is established at
Vichy. 1937
The 999 telephone emergency service comes into operation in Britain1929
In the United States, the
cartoon character
Popeye the Sailor is created by Elzie Segar.
1916
World War I: At least 20,000 British soldiers are killed and a further 40,000 are injured on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. It is the greatest number of British casualties in a single day's fighting in modern history.1912
In London, the first Royal Variety Command Performance.1911
Introduction of the British Copyright Act - protecting an author's works for 50 years after their death.1908
Beginning of the first Tour De
France cycle race.
1904
Start of the 3rd modern Olympic Games at St Louis, Missouri, USA. The United States win 80 gold medals.1898
Britain is given a 99 year lease on
Hong Kong on the southern coast of
China. 1867
The Dominion of
Canada is established by the British North American Act comprising four million people and four provinces - Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. July 1st is now Canada's National Day.
1863
American Civil War: Start of three day Battle of
Gettysburg with Confederate troops, led by General Robert E.Lee, launching the first attack.
1858
Charles Darwin presents his Theory on Evolution and Natural Selection to the Linnaean Society in London.1837
Compulsory registration of births, marriages and deaths comes into effect in England and Wales. 1961
American athlete Carl Lewis - winner of four gold medals for in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.1961
Diana Spencer, the future Diana,Princess of Wales, wife of Prince Charles and mother of Prince William and Prince
Harry. 1916
American film actress Olivia de Havilland.1902
German-born American film
director William Wyler.
1899
American film
actor James Cagney.
1872
French aviation pioneer Louis Bleriot is born in Cambrai. Becomes the first person to arrive in
Britain without travelling across the sea.
