Shimla, Sept. 16 Keekli Bureau
2016
American dramatist Edward Albee, an innovative writer of raw, stringent plays who was perhaps best known for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), died at age 88.
1998
The Basque separatist organization ETA announced an indefinite cease-fire after 30 years of terrorist guerrilla attacks in Spain that were blamed for 800 deaths; the peace lasted 14 months.
1993
The sitcom Frasier—a spin-off of Cheers, starring Kelsey Grammer—debuted on NBC and became one of the most popular American television shows of the late 20th century.
1978
Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq was proclaimed president of Pakistan.
1977
American-born Greek operatic soprano Maria Callas, who revived classical coloratura roles in the mid-20th century with her lyrical and dramatic versatility, died in Paris at age 53.
1975
Papua New Guinea achieved full independence from Australia.
1970
King Ḥussein of Jordan declared martial law following the hijacking of four international airliners by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
1919
The U.S. Congress granted a national charter to the American Legion, an organization of U.S. war veterans.
1810
A local revolt in Mexico was sparked by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a parish priest in Dolores, who uttered the Grito de Dolores (“Cry of Dolores”), calling for the end of rule by Spanish peninsulars, for equality of races, and for redistribution of land.
1380
Charles V, who was king of France from 1364 and led the country in a miraculous recovery from the devastation of the first phase of the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453), died at age 42.
