This day in history

A Bolivian guerrilla force led by Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara is defeated in a skirmish with a special detachment of the Bolivian army. Guevara was wounded, captured and executed soon after.

Born in Argentina, Guevara believed that a man of action could revolutionise a people. He played a pivotal role in the Cuban Revolution of 1956-59 and encouraged Fidel Castro to pursue his communist, anti-American agenda.

After holding several positions in Castro’s government, he disappeared from Cuba in 1965. He secretly travelled to the Congo, where he trained rebels and in 1966 resurfaced in Bolivia as leader of another guerrilla group. Since his death, Guevara has been idolised as a hero of leftist Third World revolution.

A massive earthquake hits Pakistan, northern Indian and Afghanistan. It is thought that around 73,000 people are killed as a result of the quake. 

In America, lifestyle guru Martha Stewart starts her prison term after being found guilty of conspiracy and obstruction with regard to share trading.

Britain’s first legal commercial radio station, LBC, begins broadcasting.

The North Vietnamese turn down American President Richard Nixon’s latest attempt to instigate peace talks.