2002 - Removing the biggest obstacle to the post-Cold War dream of European integration, Irish voters backed the European Union’s eastward expansion in a resounding 63-to-37 referendum vote, keeping on track plans to push the Union to the borders of Russia. Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and leaders across western and eastern Europe welcomed the referendum result after warnings that another Irish “no” could have derailed the EU’s growth plans. Nearly 50 per cent of Ireland’s 1.9 million registered voters turned out to vote. Final results showed 906,292 people voted ‘yes’ and 534,887 voted ‘no, ‘ making Ireland the last of the 15 EU nations to endorse an expansion treaty that Ahern and his 14 EU colleagues signed in Nice, France.
Other important events
1728 - A huge fire destroys most of Copenhagen, Denmark.
1883 - Peru cedes territory to Chile with Peace of Ancor treaty.
1921 - Franco-Turkish agreement is signed at Ankara.
1944 - Yugoslav cities of Belgrade and Dubrovnik are liberated during the Second World War.
1945 - Arab League is formed.
1955 - Egypt and Syria sign a mutual defence treaty, pledging to support each other in any conflict against Israel.
1964 - Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the United States, dies at the age of 90 in New York City.
1973 - Sydney Opera House in Australia is opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
1977 - Civilian government in Thailand is ousted in a bloodless coup by military junta.
1979 - The most modern police station in the Middle East opens in Dubai.
1980 - Greece rejoins Nato’s military wing.
1991 - More than 1,000 people are killed and thousands rendered homeless across the Himalayan foothills after a powerful earthquake jolts large parts of northern India.
1995 - Nato Secretary-General Willy Claes resigns to face corruption charges in his native Belgium.
2004 - Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri resigns and dissolves the cabinet.
2008 - Taliban gunmen kill Christian aid worker Gayle Williams, a British-South African national, in Kabul, Afghanistan.
2009 - United States and India sign historic defence and civilian nuclear energy pacts.
2010 - The rebuilt Naif Souq officially opens in Dubai.
2011 - Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s dictator for 42 years, is killed in his hometown of Sirte.
2012 - The flying licence of India’s Kingfisher Airlines is suspended after the debt-laden carrier fails to satisfy the aviation regulator.
2014 - The UAE Space Agency signs an agreement to build the first Arab Islamic probe to reach Mars.
2015 - Justin Trudeau, 43-year-old son of Canada’s iconic prime minister Pierre Trudeau, wins an overall majority in the federal parliament.
