On This Day in History

Indian independence movement: India became a republic under a new constitution, with Rajendra Prasad as president and Jawaharlal Nehru as prime minister.

Spontaneous anti-British riots erupted in Cairo following the killings of 50 Egyptian auxiliary police officers the previous day.

The three Beaumont children disappeared from a beach in Glenelg, South Australia, resulting in one of the country's largest-ever police investigations.

JAT Flight 367 exploded in mid-air over Czechoslovakia; the only survivor of the 28 on board, flight attendant Vesna Vulović, fell 10,160 m (33,330 ft), setting the record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute.

Turkish Airlines Flight 301 crashed while taking off from İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport, killing 67 people.

Somali Rebellion: Factions led by the warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid and his rebel group, the United Somali Congress, ousted President Siad Barre.

In a nationally televised press conference, U.S. president Bill Clinton denied having "sexual relations" with intern Monica Lewinsky.

An earthquake in the Indian state of Gujarat killed at least 20,000 people, injured 167,000 others and destroyed nearly 400,000 homes.

Rioting broke out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that led to the deposal of President Marc Ravalomanana.

A jet fighter crashed at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.

A Sikorsky S-76 helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California, killing all nine people on board, including former basketball player Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna.