This day in history

After 10 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam across the Nile River in Egypt is completed on 21 July, 1970.

The dam's 12 Soviet-built turbines were designed to provide enough power to make Egypt self-sufficient. It was hoped that in controlling the waters of the Nile, the massive dam would protect against drought and flooding. However, by decreasing flooding the dam actually hurt agriculture, because the Nile’s rich fertilising silt no longer was periodically deposited on farmlands.

Nevertheless, the Aswan High Dam has been a tremendous boon to the Egyptian economy, producing as much as 10 billion kilowatt-hours annually. Lake Nasser, the reservoir created by the dam, was named in honour of Egyptian president Gamal Abdal Nasser and is 300 miles long and 10 miles wide.
 

Two weeks after London is brought to a stand still by a terrorist attack, two detonators are exploded on the London underground network in a second failed terrorist attack. 

Tony Blair is elected leader of the Labour Party. 

The British Ambassador to Ireland, Christopher Ewart-Biggs, is assassinated by the IRA.

More than 10,000 Greek-Cypriots and British left-wing activists protest through the centre of London in support of an independent Cyprus. 

American astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the Moon.