Facts

1816: During a storm at his villa in Geneva, Lord Byron reads horror stories to his companions. 19-year-old Mary Shelley is inspired by Frankenstein.

1913: The Second Balkan War begins, with the attack of Bulgaria against Serbia and Greece.

1948: Marks the first recorded hijacking in the history of civil aviation. Two Chinese hijack a Cathay Pacific seaplane with 27 people on board, operating the Macau – Hong Kong route, with the intention of robbing or kidnapping some of its wealthy passengers. The plane will eventually crash and only one hijacker will survive.

1963: Soviet Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman to travel in space.

1976: A peaceful demonstration by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa provokes a reaction from the Apartheid regime. Police open fire, killing 23 young protesters according to authorities, more than 200 according to protesters.

1998: Four F16 fighters and two C130 transports of the Greek Air Force land for the first time in Paphos, within the framework of the doctrine of the single defense area. Turkey, which claims that the Athens-Nicosia military cooperation now threatens not only the Turkish Cypriots, but directly Turkey as well, reacts by sending six F16 fighter jets to Lefkonikos airport in the Occupied Territories.

Births

1723: Adam Smith, Scottish philosopher and economist, who laid the foundations of modern economic theory with his work “The Wealth of Nations”. (D. 17/7/1790)

1890: Stan Laurel, stage name of Arthur Stanley Jefferson, English comedian. (“Fat and Lean”) (D. 23/2/1965)

1952: George Papandreou, Greek politician, former president of PASOK and prime minister, current president of KIDISO.

Deaths

1686 BC: Hammurabi, king of the Babylonians and great legislator. (Born 1728 BC)

1858: John Snow, English physician, who introduced the use of ether as an anesthetic. He is considered by the fathers of epidemiology. (Born 15/3/1813)

1977: Wernher Von Braun, German engineer, “father” of rocketry and space exploration. (Born 23/3/1912)