Vikash ks
3rd July 2009, 11:25 AM
1988: U.S. warship downs Iranian passenger jet
In the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy cruiser Vincennes shoots down an Iranian passenger jet that it mistakes for a hostile Iranian fighter aircraft. Two missiles were fired from the American warship, the aircraft was hit and all 290 people aboard were killed. The attack came near the end of the Iran-Iraq War, when U.S. vessels were in the gulf defending Kuwaiti oil tankers. Minutes before Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down, the Vincennes had engaged Iranian gunboats that shot at its helicopter. Iran called the downing of the aircraft a barbaric massacre, but U.S. officials defended the action, claiming that the aircraft was outside the commercial jet flight corridor flying at only 7,800 feet, and were on a descent toward the Vincennes. However, one month later, U.S. authorities acknowledged that the airbus was in the commercial flight corridor, flying at 12,000 feet, and not descending. The U.S. Navy report blamed crew error caused by psychological stress on men in combat for the first time.
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Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie, the ‘butcher of Lyon’, is jailed for life for crimes against humanity.
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Jim Morrison, lead singer of the band The Doors, dies in Paris aged 27.
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1940
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In America, Idaho is admitted to the Union as the 43rd state.
1866
Prussia defeats Austria in the Battle of Koniggratz in Austria.
1863
American Civil War: The end of the battle of Gettysburg with defeat for the Confederate Army by the Union Army commanded by General Meade.
1775
During the American Revolution, General George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1767
Pitcairn Island in the southern Pacific Ocean is discovered by the crew of the British ship HMS Swallow.
1608
French explorer Samuel Champlain founds the city of Quebec.
324 AD
Constantine I defeats Licinius at the Battle of Adrianople near Byzantium.
1951
New Zealand Test cricketer Richard Hadlee.
1943
Australian singer Judith Durham - a member of The Seekers.
1937
Writer and playwright Tom Stoppard.
1927
Film director Ken Russell.
1883
Czech novelist Franz Kafka is born in Prague.
1728
Scottish architect Robert Adam born in Kirkcaldy.
1982
English actor Edgar Harrison aged 75 - famous as the voice of Dan Archer in the BBC Radio serial The Archers since 1979.
1971
Doors' singer Jim Morrison, reportedly from a heart attack, in Paris.
1969
Rolling Stones' guitarist Brian Jones is found drowned in his swimming pool after a drug overdose.
1908
American writer and journalist Joel Chandler Harris - author of Uncle Remus.
1904
Hungarian-born Zionist leader Theodor Herzl. Became first President of the World Zionist Organisation in 1897.
In the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy cruiser Vincennes shoots down an Iranian passenger jet that it mistakes for a hostile Iranian fighter aircraft. Two missiles were fired from the American warship, the aircraft was hit and all 290 people aboard were killed. The attack came near the end of the Iran-Iraq War, when U.S. vessels were in the gulf defending Kuwaiti oil tankers. Minutes before Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down, the Vincennes had engaged Iranian gunboats that shot at its helicopter. Iran called the downing of the aircraft a barbaric massacre, but U.S. officials defended the action, claiming that the aircraft was outside the commercial jet flight corridor flying at only 7,800 feet, and were on a descent toward the Vincennes. However, one month later, U.S. authorities acknowledged that the airbus was in the commercial flight corridor, flying at 12,000 feet, and not descending. The U.S. Navy report blamed crew error caused by psychological stress on men in combat for the first time.
Also on thsi Day
2006
Asteroid labeled as 2004 XP14 flies 432,308 km (268,624 miles) by Earth.
2005
The national law legalizing same-sex marriage takes effect in Spain.
2004
Maria Sharapova becomes the first Russian to win the Wimbledon tennis tournament by defeating Serena Williams in the final.
1987
Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie, the ‘butcher of Lyon’, is jailed for life for crimes against humanity.
1971
Jim Morrison, lead singer of the band The Doors, dies in Paris aged 27.
1970
A flight from Manchester to Barcelona goes missing. The next day the wreckage of the plane is found having crashed into the Montseny mountains in Northern Spain. All 105 people onboard were killed.
1966
A protest outside the American embassy in London against the Vietnam War turns violent with police making 31 arrests.
1957
Nikita Khrushchev secures his leadership in the Soviet Union by removing most of his serious opponents from positions of authority in the government.
1956
In England, Jawaharlal Nehru of India and Sir Sidney Holland of New Zealand are made Freemen of the City of London.
1940
The Second World War: British warships destroy the French fleet in Mers-el-Kebir, a port in Algeria, to prevent their ships from falling into German hands.
1890
In America, Idaho is admitted to the Union as the 43rd state.
1866
Prussia defeats Austria in the Battle of Koniggratz in Austria.
1863
American Civil War: The end of the battle of Gettysburg with defeat for the Confederate Army by the Union Army commanded by General Meade.
1775
During the American Revolution, General George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1767
Pitcairn Island in the southern Pacific Ocean is discovered by the crew of the British ship HMS Swallow.
1608
French explorer Samuel Champlain founds the city of Quebec.
324 AD
Constantine I defeats Licinius at the Battle of Adrianople near Byzantium.
1951
New Zealand Test cricketer Richard Hadlee.
1943
Australian singer Judith Durham - a member of The Seekers.
1937
Writer and playwright Tom Stoppard.
1927
Film director Ken Russell.
1883
Czech novelist Franz Kafka is born in Prague.
1728
Scottish architect Robert Adam born in Kirkcaldy.
1982
English actor Edgar Harrison aged 75 - famous as the voice of Dan Archer in the BBC Radio serial The Archers since 1979.
1971
Doors' singer Jim Morrison, reportedly from a heart attack, in Paris.
1969
Rolling Stones' guitarist Brian Jones is found drowned in his swimming pool after a drug overdose.
1908
American writer and journalist Joel Chandler Harris - author of Uncle Remus.
1904
Hungarian-born Zionist leader Theodor Herzl. Became first President of the World Zionist Organisation in 1897.