1942 – Born in Bury, the famous British actor, Bob Hoskins. Over the course of his 40-year career, Hoskins has debuted in films, Pennies from Heaven, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Nixon, and Enemy at the Gates. Hoskins received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival, the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and the Golden Globe Award for his Moto Picture drama and his role in the Mona Lisa. In 2009, Hoskins won an international Emmy Award for his performance in the BBC drama One the Street. Bob Hoskins died in 2014.
1955 – After the last American and Soviet Allied troops leave Austrian territory, they pledge to follow the provisions of the Austrian Independence Treaty. Under this treaty, official Vienna declared that it would never join a military alliance. Be it the military alliance of western or eastern countries. This treaty was signed on May 15 in Vienna, between the allied powers, on the one hand, and the Austrian government, on the other. Austria still respects the points of this treaty.
1957 – Nobel laureate Nikos Kazantzakis dies at the age of 74 in Freiburg, Germany. Kazantzakis will be classified as one of the greatest Greek writers, journalists, and novelists of all time. Some of his most notable works are, Zorba the Greek, Christ Recrucified, Captain Michalis, and The Last Temptation of Christ. He also wrote plays, travel books, memoirs and philosophical essays, such as The Saviors of God. His fame spread to the English-speaking world due to the cinematic adaptations of Zorba the Greek, and The Last Temptation of Christ.
1979 – Park Chung-hee, South Korea’s third president, is assassinated during a dinner hosted by the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) inside Seoul’s Gangjeong-dong Blue House presidential complex. Kim Jae-gyu, the KCIA director and the president’s security chief, was responsible for the assassination. Park was shot several times, in the chest and head, and died almost immediately. Four bodyguards and a presidential driver were also killed. The incident is often referred to as “10.26” or “10.26 incident” in South Korea.
1989 – A China Airlines Flight 204 civilian plane crashes after taking off from Taiwan’s Hualien Airport, killing all 54 people on board. Airlines 204 departed from Hualien Airport on a short flight to Taipei Sungshan Airport, on the island of Taiwan. There were 47 passengers and 7 crew on board the Boeing 737. Ten minutes after taking off, after reaching an altitude of 2,200 m, it collided with a mountain, part of the Chiashan mountain range, 5.5 km, north of the airport. All 54 passengers and crew on board were killed.
1991 – After eight days of fierce fighting between the Slovenian Territorial Defense Forces and the Yugoslav People’s Army, the last Yugoslav soldier officially leaves Slovenian territory. During this war, Slovenia briefly lost 44 soldiers, while Yugoslavia, about 20 soldiers. The injured would be over 100 from both sides. After this conflict, Slovenia would be recognized by Belgrade and the international community as an independent and sovereign state. Its capital would become Ljubljana.
2002 – One of the most tragic terrorist attacks in the history of this country takes place in the Russian capital Moscow. Also known as the Moscow Theater Hostage Crisis, it consisted of the hijacking of a crowded theater, with 40 to 50 armed Chechen extremists. In this kidnapping, 850 hostages were involved and ended with the death of at least 170 people. All the kidnappers were killed, and up to 204 hostages died during the siege, including nine foreigners, due to gas poisoning. This hostage-taking took place during the Second Russo-Chechen War.
