Brig. Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera, dictator of Panama, is killed in a plane crash. By 1983 Col. Manuel Antonio Noriega, a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) informant, will be the strong-arm de facto leader of Panama.

19 Aug.

After they are attacked in air space above the Gulf of Sidra, two U.S. Navy planes shoot down two Soviet-made Libyan air-force planes.

30 Aug.

Several top Iranian officials, including President Muhammad Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Mohammad Javar Bahonar, are killed by a bomb in the prime minister's office.

11 Sept.

A grenade attack kills Ayatollah Assadolah Madani, an aide to Iranian cleric and Islamic revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini.

21 Sept.

British Honduras, renamed Belize, becomes an independent state and member of the British Commonwealth of Nations.

22 Sept.

The 236 MPH high-speed train, the TGV, begins service from Paris to Lyon, France.

6 Oct.

In Cairo, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat is assassinated by Islamic...