The US Supreme Court ended public bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama (1956). Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit Mars (1971). President George W. Bush allowed military courts to prosecute foreign suspects (2001). The AK-47 assault rifle was completed (1947). Cyclone Bhola hit Bangladesh, resulting in 500,000 deaths (1970). Iraq accepted UN Resolution 1441 but was invaded by British and US forces (2002). David Gray killed 13 people in New Zealand’s deadliest shooting (1990). Great Britain won the first Rugby League World Cup (1954). Duk Koo Kim’s death led to changes in boxing regulations (1982). The Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted, killing 23,000 people (1985).
The US Supreme Court upheld a decision that ended public bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama. (1956) The decision in Browder v. Gayle was taken in the US District Court and ruled that laws in Alabama requiring public bus segregation were illegal. The case ended the Montgomery bus boycott, which protested segregation laws.
NASA’s Mariner 9 space probe was the first to orbit another planet. (1971) The spacecraft successfully entered orbit around Mars on this day and was able to send back photos of the planet’s surface during its mission. Two Soviet probes reached the same orbit about a month later.
US President George W. Bush has signed an order allowing military courts to prosecute foreign suspects for the first time since World War II. (2001) The order was in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The military prison facility at Naval Base Guantanamo Bay opened shortly thereafter, and the first prisoners were incarcerated there on January 11, 2002.
The development of the AK-47 assault rifle has been completed. (1947) The rifle was developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov in the Soviet Union and was one of the first assault rifles to be created. Today it is the most widely used assault rifle in the world – more AK-47 models have been made than all other assault rifle models combined.
A tropical cyclone hit Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan, resulting in an estimated 500,000 deaths in one night. (1970) Cyclone Bhola was the deadliest in world history and is considered the most devastating natural disaster of the 20th century.
Iraq has accepted the terms of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 requiring the country to abide by the ceasefire agreement and to dispose of any weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and other prohibited weapons. (2002) Iraq allowed weapons inspectors to return shortly thereafter, and their reports led the United States to conclude that Iraq continued to violate settlement agreements. That highly controversial conclusion led to an invasion of Iraq by British and US forces in March 2003.
David Gray indiscriminately shot and killed 13 people in New Zealand’s deadliest shooting. (1990) Gray’s shooting began with an argument with his neighbor and became known as the “Aramoana Massacre.” He was hunted down the following day and killed by the New Zealand Special Tactics Group.
The first RugLeague World Cup has been won. (1954) France was defeated by Great Britain in the first international rugby match, held in Paris that year.
Duk Koo Kim lost a boxing match to Ray Mancini and died four days later from injuries sustained in the match. (1982) Kim’s death led to several major changes in boxing, including reducing title fight rounds to 12 from 15 and adding a sixth rope around the ring to better prevent boxers from falling out of the ring . The changes also include increasing pre-fight medical checkup procedures, which eventually included brain tests, lung tests and electrocardiograms.
The Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted, burying the city of Armero, Colombia and killing an estimated 23,000 people. (1985) Magma from the eruption melted a glacier and caused a devastating mudflow that buried the city. The high death toll is due in part to the fact that scientists failed to accurately predict when the volcano would erupt. It was also partly because officials refused to “scare” citizens because officials felt they lacked adequate scientific warnings of impending danger.
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