17 Aban 1387 | Friday 7 November 2008

This day in four calendars

1861 (165 years ago) American Civil War: Battle of Belmont: In Belmont, Missouri, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant overrun a Confederate camp but are forced to retreat when Confederate reinforcements arrive.
1941 (85 years ago) World War II: Soviet hospital ship Armenia is sunk by German planes while evacuating refugees and wounded military and staff of several Crimean hospitals. It is estimated that over 5,000 people died in the sinking.
1956 (70 years ago) Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for the United Kingdom, France and Israel to immediately withdraw their troops from Egypt.
1975 (51 years ago) In Bangladesh, a joint force of people and soldiers takes part in an uprising led by Colonel Abu Taher that ousts and kills Brigadier Khaled Mosharraf, freeing the then house-arrested army chief and future president Major General Ziaur Rahman.
1987 (39 years ago) The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system in Singapore opens for passenger service.
1987 (39 years ago) In Tunisia, president Habib Bourguiba is overthrown and replaced by Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
2004 (22 years ago) Iraq War: The interim government of Iraq calls for a 60-day state of emergency as U.S. forces storm the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
2020 (6 years ago) Joe Biden is confirmed elected as the 46th president of the United States, defeating incumbent Donald Trump.

1728 (298 years ago) James Cook, English captain, navigator, and cartographer (died 1779)
1867 (159 years ago) Marie Curie, Polish chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1934)
1878 (148 years ago) Lise Meitner, Austrian-Swedish physicist and academic (died 1968)
1879 (147 years ago) Leon Trotsky, Russian theorist and politician, founded the Red Army (died 1940)
1888 (138 years ago) C. V. Raman, Indian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1970)
1903 (123 years ago) Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1989)
1913 (113 years ago) Albert Camus, French novelist, philosopher, and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1960)
1967 (59 years ago) David Guetta, French DJ, record producer, remixer, and songwriter

1627 (399 years ago) Jahangir, Mughal emperor (born 1569)
1862 (164 years ago) Bahadur Shah II, Mughal emperor (born 1775)
1913 (113 years ago) Alfred Russel Wallace, Welsh-English biologist and geographer (born 1823)
1962 (64 years ago) Eleanor Roosevelt, American humanitarian and politician, 39th First Lady of the United States (born 1884)
1980 (46 years ago) Steve McQueen, American actor and producer (born 1930)
1992 (34 years ago) Alexander Dubček, Slovak soldier and politician (born 1921)
2011 (15 years ago) Joe Frazier, American boxer (born 1944)
2016 (10 years ago) Leonard Cohen, Canadian singer-songwriter and poet (born 1934)