This day in history

Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin sign two frameworks for peace in Washington, D.C.

Negotiated at U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s Camp David retreat, it was the first peace accord between Israel and one of its Arab neighbours. Six months later, a formal peace treaty was signed at the White House, ending three decades of hostilities between Egypt and Israel and establishing diplomatic and commercial ties. For their achievement, Sadat and Begin were awarded a joint Nobel Peace Prize.

However, Sadat’s peace efforts were not so highly acclaimed in the Arab world and he was assassinated in 1981 by Muslim extremists in Cairo. Egyptian-Israeli peace continues today.

The Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev claims responsibility for organising the Beslan school siege in which at least 320 hostages were killed.

In England, the British National Party wins its first council seat in East London.

NASA publicly unveils its first space shuttle, the Enterprise, during a ceremony in Palmdale, California.

King Hussian of Jordan launches an attack against Palestinian guerrillas all across Jordan in what becomes known as Black September.