1949 – Mid’hat bej Frashëri, an Albanian diplomat, writer and politician, dies. Among others, he was among the fathers of Albanian nationalism. In his youth he was a clerk of the Ottoman Empire, activist of the National Renaissance and participant and chairman of the Congress of Bitola, after the declaration of independence of Albania he was a minister, diplomat of the Albanian state, chairman of the National Front and the “Free Albania” Committee. In the world of letters, he has his contribution as a publicist, writer, translator and albanologist. (known as Lumo Skëndo and Mali Kokojka), wrote the biography of Naim Frashëri, the summary “Hi dhe shpuzë”, the study on Albanians and their future baptized as “The Reception of Albania”, sociopolitical and ethnic essays “Wounds” ours” (1924) etc. Mit’hat Frashëri has also published several works in French: “L’affaire de l’Epire (1915),” La population de l’Epire “(1915),” Les Albanais chez eux et à l’étranger “(1919), “Albanais et Slaves” (1919). Mit’hat Frashëri translated into Albanian the works “Guillaume Tell” by Lamartine (1898), “Do good without throwing into the sea” by Franc Hoffmann (1900), “Robinson Crusoe” by Defoe (1909) and “Psychology of education” and G. Le Bon (1923).
1952 – Britain successfully tests its first atomic bomb. Also codenamed Operation Hurricane, this test was performed in the Monte Bello Islands, Western Australia. With a strike force of 25 kilotons, the British nuclear bomb would become the third in the world, after the American and Soviet one. But unlike the two global superpowers, Britain would not get involved in the feverish nuclear arms race.
1963 – A coup takes place in Honduras, Central America. Military leader Oswaldo Lopez Arellano ousts legitimate President Ramon Villeda Morales. Hundreds of people would be arrested, imprisoned, and executed during this coup, typical of Latin American countries. Two years later the Honduran army will assist the US Marines in intervening militarily in the Dominican Republic.
1981 – Famous Swedish footballer of Bosnian origin Zlatan Ibrahimovic is born in Malmo. Ibrahimovic would make his debut with a number of well-known European teams such as Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, Milan, and Manchester United. Throughout his 20-year career he has won nearly 100 cups and individual awards as one of the best footballers in the world. While the Swedish national team, has undoubtedly declared her as its most successful player over the years.
1990 – The state of the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany as it is known, ceases to exist. After the fall of the Berlin Wall a few months ago, the communist East German government declared its union with the West into a single state. In what is today called Federal Germany. The unification of the two Germanys would pave the way for the overthrow of all communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. Helmut Kohl would be its first chancellor.
1991 – South African writer Nadine Gordimer becomes the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. She would be one of the most powerful voices against the apartheid system. During her career, she would win 31 international awards in her dramatic novel genre. Two of her works, My Son Story, and Crimes of Conscience, would give her this important award because they described the difficult lives of people of color in South Africa.
1993 – US Navy fails to capture Somali militant leader Mohamed Farrah Aidi. Also known as the Battle of Mogadishu, 19 US Marines were killed and 75 wounded in the operation. Include two international peacekeepers. On the part of the Somali rebels there would have been nearly 500 killed. Mohamed Farrah Aidit would be killed by his rivals three years later, during a shootout.
2013 – Famous Russian basketball player Sergey Belov dies at the age of 69. Belov, would debut with the CSKA Moscow team where he would win 11 national championships and two cups. He would also be worthily represented on the national basketball team of the Soviet Union, where in the 60s and 70s he would win a number of European and world championships (including the gold medal in Munich 1972). He would be ranked by FIBA as one of the 50 best basketball players of the twentieth century.
