October 12th, 2008

Today in History

1999:
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif tries to dismiss Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf, who is returning to Pakistan from abroad in a commercial airliner. Sharif orders the Karachi airport to not allow the plane to land. Army leaders refuse to accept the dismissal and, in a coup, oust Sharif's administration and take over the airport. The plane lands with only a few minutes of fuel to spare, and Musharraf assumes control of the country.

1984:
Brighton hotel bombing: Margaret Thatcher survives an IRA bomb, which shredded her bathroom barely two minutes after she had left it

1970:
Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas

1962:
Infamous Columbus Day Storm strikes the U.S. Pacific Northwest with record wind velocities; 46 dead and at least U.S. $230 million in damages

1582:
Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.