On This Day in History

South Vietnamese junta leader Nguyễn Cao Kỳ fired his rival Nguyễn Hữu Có while the latter was overseas on a diplomatic visit.

Idi Amin seized power from Ugandan president Milton Obote in a coup d'état, beginning eight years of military rule.

Avianca Flight 52 ran out of fuel on approach to John F. Kennedy International Airport and crashed into the village of Cove Neck, New York, resulting in the deaths of 73 people.

Pakistani national Mir Aimal Kansi shot five people outside the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia, killing two.

A team of Norwegian and American scientists launched a Black Brant XII sounding rocket, which was mistaken by Russian forces for a Trident missile.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam detonated a truck bomb at the sacred Buddhist Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, killing 17 people.

Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity landed on Mars and rolled into Eagle crater, a small crater on the Meridiani Planum.

Three independent observing campaigns announced the discovery of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, a super-Earth 21,500 ± 3,300 light-years away from Earth near the center of the Milky Way.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, en route to Addis Ababa, crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after takeoff from Beirut, Lebanon, killing all 90 people on board.

Avatar, a science-fiction film directed by James Cameron, became the highest-grossing film of all time.

Arab Spring: The Egyptian revolution began with protests on the "Day of Anger", eventually leading to the removal of President Hosni Mubarak after nearly 30 years of rule.