In 1993 the headquarters of the ‘Davidian’ sect was surrounded by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) near the town of Waco. The ATF were trying to arrest their Leader David Koresh for illegal firearms when the cult members began firing. The Agents returned fire and a bloody gun battle began. Two of the cult members were killed as well as four agents and another 15 agents were injured. This was the beginning of the long siege which continued until a fire started by the cult killed all but 11 members (some children were among the dead) on the 19th of April 1993. This became known as the Waco (pronounced Wake O) incident.
In 1986 Swedish Prime Minister, Olof Palme, was assassinated while leaving a cinema in Stockholm. While walking home he was shot twice in the stomach and his wife was shot in the back. Mr Palme died on arrival to hospital and his wife was seriously injured. As a social democrat and man of the people the Prime Minister liked to dress informally and shunned security, often seen in public with just his wife. The Swedish people were proud of the fact that their leader could be safe without the security other countries heads of state used. A 42 year old drug addict was imprisoned for the crime in July 1989 but he was cleared and released from prison just three months later. No one has been charged with the murder since.
In 1953 the structure of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) was discovered at Cambridge University, England. The discovery was hailed as one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th Century. Molecular biologists James D. Watson (American) and Francis Crick (English) were attempting to discover the shape of DNA in the hope of uncovering how it replicates itself. They received x-ray images from Maurice Wilkins of DNA in early February allowing them to make the discovery and model of the double helix. Maurice Wilkins was working with Rosalind Franklin to study DNA using x-ray diffraction at Kings College London. The discovery would not be announced until the 25th April 1953 when it was published in the Journal Nature and would later earn Watson, Crick and Wilkins the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Unfortunately Rosalind Franklin died in 1958 before the Prize was awarded. In January 2013 scientist working at Cambridge University discovered the presence of the ‘Quadruple Helix’ in some human cells. Published in the Journal nature the scientists believe that it may be linked to cancer and controlling the structure may prove a new way to fight the disease.
In 1922 Egypt gained Independence from the United Kingdom. Great Britain took control of the country in 1882 in an attempt to bring stability to the region but continued t control the country until 1914 when Egypt became a British protectorate. It was not until this day in 1922 that Egypt gained its independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
