1938: Kristallnacht, or “Night of the Broken Glass,” a two-day pogrom in Nazi Germany, leads to the murder of 92 Jews and the deportation, to death camps, of up to 30,000 more.
1989: The Berlin Wall falls, signaling the end of the Soviet Empire. The end of the cold war would have far-reaching consequences in the Middle East as regimes such as Iraq and the Palestine Liberation Organization would not longer be able to rely on financing and weaponry from the Soviet Union.
2005: Al-Qaeda suicide bombers attack three hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing some 60 people. The attacks trigger a massive backlash against al-Qaeda in Jordan.
2007: Six U.S. soldiers with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and three Afghan soldiers are ambushed and killed by Taliban forces in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. Eight American soldiers and 11 Afghan soldiers are also wounded. It's the highest one-day death toll for American forces since a Chinook helicopter crash in southern Zabul Province in February 2007 killed eight soldiers.
2008: Three men convicted in 2003 in the bombings of nightclubs in Bali, Indonesia, in 2002, that killed 202 people are executed by firing squad. The three men, Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Mukhlas, also known as Ali Ghufron, were members of Jemaah Islamiyah, or “Islamic Congregation,” the Islamist terrorist organization with links to al-Qaeda.
