In 2003 Saddam Hussein was discovered hiding in a hole
Saddam Hussein became President of Iraq on the 16th of July 1979 and remained in power for more than 30years. His oppressive regime and attempted invasion of Kuwait caused conflict with the international community on several occasions. His frequent and vicious attacks on his own people made him hated by many in Iraq
In 2003 Erroneous intelligence claimed that Saddam was making Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD’s) and both the United Kingdom’s and United States leaders claimed that he would be able to launch a strike on western targets within minutes. While the majority of the international community wanted to continue with checks and diplomacy the U.K. and U.S. wanted to take a less diplomatic approach giving Saddam 48 hours to leave Iraq. When the deadline passed the US and UK began to bomb sites in Iraq and shortly after the deployment of troops Saddam went into hiding. He was discovered hiding in a cramped hole on the 13th of December 2003 and was later tried and executed by the new Iraqi regime.
In 1972 humans set foot on the moon for the last time. Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt were astronauts on NASA’s last manned mission to the moon, Apollo 17
In 1577 Sir Francis Drake began his voyage around the world
The first expedition around the world was undertaken by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (the Magellanic penguin and a group of neighbouring galaxies, the Magellanic cloud, were named after him) in the name of the Spanish. They set sail from Seville on the 10th of August 1519 and travelled south west towards South America following the shoreline and around to the pacific. When they encountered the Philippine islands the Battle of Mactan took place with the locals and Magellan was killed with a wooden spear. Spanish explorer Juan Sebastian Elcano completes the expedition by sailing back to Spain via Southern Africa.
Sir Francis drake had been sailing from a young age and made his first trip to America at the age of 23. In 1572 he set sail with a plan to attack Spanish out post which was part of the land route used to transport gold from Peru to the Caribbean. He and his crew successfully stole too much to carry and so buried it to take later. His success in sailing led to Queen Elizabeth I of England to request he set sail on his own voyage to circumnavigate the Earth. He set sail initially on the 15th of November 1577 from Plymouth but was forced back to England shortly after when weather damaged the ship. He attempted a second time on the 13th of December 1577 and set off south west towards South America. He had great success returning home to Plymouth on the 26th of September 1580 not only the first captain to successfully circumnavigate the globe but with huge amounts of Spanish treasure he had captured from Spanish Galleon on the way.
A few years later, in 1588, Drake lead the Royal Navy against the Spanish Armada – destroying many ships of the much larger Spanish fleet, forcing them to retreat and saving England from invasion.
