Today in History: Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans killing thousands of people

The following are some of the major events to have occurred on August 29:

1916 – General Paul von Hindenburg became German chief of staff during World War One.

1995 – Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze survived an assassination attempt when a car exploded near his motorcade.

1996 – A Tupolev 154 chartered by a Russian mining company crashed on the way to the remote Arctic island of Spitzbergen, killing all 129 passengers and 12 crew.

1998 – A Cubana de Aviacion Tupolev crashed after taking off from Quito, Ecuador, killing 81 people.

2002 – Ethiopia, Eritrea release all prisoners of war in detention following 1998-2000 border conflict.

2003 – In Iraq, a car bombing killed 83 Iraqis, including top Shi’ite Muslim leader Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim, in an apparent assassination at the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf.

2004 – Greece staged an exuberant closing ceremony to bring the curtain down on the Athens Games, which took the Olympics back to their roots and provided drama right down to the last gold medal.

2005 – Hurricane Katrina rammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast with 140 mph (225 kph) winds and a 30-foot (9-metre) storm surge, devastating the city of New Orleans and killing 1,330 people across the region.

2007 – Britain honours Nelson Mandela by unveiling a bronze statue of South Africa’s first black president alongside those of statesmen such as Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln.

2012 – Samsung launches world’s first smart phone using Microsoft Corp’s latest mobile software, days after losing a crucial patent battle with Apple Inc..

2015 – Ashton Eaton of the U.S. breaks world record with decathlon win.

(Reuters)