Today in History: Benin (formerly Dahomey) proclaimed its independence

The following are some of the major events to have occurred on August 1:

1914 – Germany declared war on Russia and shots were fired between French and German border patrols. Italy declared its neutrality.

1944 – The 63-day Warsaw Uprising began when Poles rebelled against Nazi occupation.

1960 – Benin (formerly Dahomey) proclaimed its independence.

1973 – Walter Ulbricht, long-time leader of East Germany’s Communist Party and head of state from 1960 to 1971, died, having helped to establish a socialist state in Soviet-occupied eastern Germany after World War Two.

1990 – A five-day coup attempt in Trinidad and Tobago ended with the surrender of Muslim rebels and the release of their captives.

1999 – The European Union lifted an export ban imposed on British beef in 1996 at the height of an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalitis, or ‘mad cow disease’.

2000 – Guerrillas in Kashmir carried out seven massacres, killing at least 90 people and injuring dozens, most of them Hindu pilgrims and labourers.

2001 – Tony Blair began the first visit to Argentina by a British prime minister since the 1982 Falklands War and said it was time to recognise that “the past is the past”.

2005 – Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd died and Crown Prince Abdullah was pronounced his successor.

2008 – Intercity Beijing-Tianjin express train begins operating ahead of Olympics.

2017 – Attack on Shi’ite mosque in Herat kills at least 29.

(Reuters)