Today in history, November 20: Car bombs explode outside the British consulate and the offices of London-based bank HSBC in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 27 people and wounding nearly 450

Car bombs explode outside the British consulate and the offices of London-based bank HSBC in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 27 people and wounding nearly 450.

Highlights in history on this date:

1616: Cardinal Richelieu becomes France’s minister of state for foreign affairs and war.
1695: Bounty hunters kill rebel chieftain Zumbi, leader of the largest community of runaway slaves in the Americas, known as the Black Republic of Palmares.
1780: Britain declares war on Holland.
1818: Simon Bolivar formally declares Venezuela independent of Spain.
1873: Rival cities Buda and Pest are united to form the capital of Hungary.
1901: Second Hay-Pauncefoot Treaty provides for construction of Panama Canal by United States.
1910: Revolution breaks out in Mexico, led by Francisco I.
1924: Kurdish Revolt in Turkey is crushed.
1925: Death of Queen Alexandra, widow of King Edward VII.

1929: Spanish artist Salvador Dali has his first one-man show.
1941: German General Erwin Rommel with his Afrika Korps checks an advance of British armour at the battle of Sidi Rezegh in WWII.
1945: Accused Nazi World War II criminals go on trial in Nuremberg, Germany.
1947: Britain’s Princess Elizabeth marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at London’s Westminster Abbey.
1969: The US Nixon administration announces a halt to residential use of the pesticide DDT as part of a total phase-out.
1974: First crash of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet: a Lufthansa airliner crashes after takeoff at Nairobi airport in Kenya, killing 59.
1975: After nearly four decades of absolute rule, Spain’s General Francisco Franco dies.
1980: In China, Jiang Qing, widow of Mao Zedong, goes on trial on charges of treason.
1990: Saddam Hussein orders another 250,000 Iraqi troops into Kuwait.
1992: Fire sweeps through Queen Elizabeth’s residence at Windsor Castle, causing extensive damage to its ancient fabric.

1993: A Macedonian jetliner carrying 116 people crashes into a mountain, with only one survivor.
1995: BBC Television broadcasts an interview with Princess Diana, who admits being unfaithful to Prince Charles.
1996: Flames roar through a high-rise in Hong Kong, killing 39 people and injuring at least 81.
2000: Lawyers for Al Gore and George W. Bush battle before the Florida Supreme Court over whether the presidential election recount should be allowed to continue.
2003: Car bombs explode outside the British consulate and the offices of London-based bank HSBC in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 27 people and wounding nearly 450.
2008: The UN Security Council votes unanimously to impose new sanctions aimed at reducing the arms flowing into Somalia.
2009: Raging floods engulf northern England’s picturesque Lake District following the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in Britain, killing a police officer and trapping dozens in their swamped homes.

2012: The Church of England’s governing body blocks a move to permit women to serve as bishops.
2015: Jihadists kill 27 people in the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali, after holding 170 people hostage.
2018: Tim Cahill makes an emotional farewell to international football as the Socceroos beat Lebanon 3-0 in Sydney.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
“No man remains quite what he was when he recognises himself.” – Thomas Mann, German author (1875-1955).