Today is Liberation Day in Kuwait. This holiday marks the day when Kuwait was liberated from Iraqi occupation in 1991.
Kuwait was first established as a small fishing village during the seventeenth century. In 1899 Kuwait became a British Protectorate. In 1961, Kuwait became independent with the end of the British protectorate and sheikh Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah becoming the Emir.
On August 2nd 1990, following a dispute over revenue from an oil field, Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait and Iraq started bombing Kuwait City. By August 8th 1990, the Kuwaiti government had been replaced by an Iraqi governor.
International outrage at the invasion was widespread. Making no progress by diplomatic means, the UN Security Council gave Iraq a deadline of January 15th 1991 to withdraw from Kuwait. The deadline passed and the U.S. led coalition forces began their assault on the Iraqi forces on January 17th 1991, known as Operation Desert Storm. The Iraqi forces proved unable to resist the coalition forces, the ground war only lasted four days and the Iraqi tanks left Kuwait on February 26th 1991.
Faces in the crowd…
SIGNZZZ
Today is the birthday, in 1945, of Bob “The Bear” Hite, vocalist and harmonica player with Canned Heat who had the 1968 US No.11 single with ‘Going Up The Country’ and a 1970 UK No.2 single with ‘Let’s Work Together’. Hite performed with Canned Heat at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. On 5 April 1981, during a break between sets at The Palomino Club in North Hollywood, Hite was handed a vial of heroin by a fan. He snorted it and fell into a coma, after which others unsuccessfully attempted to revive him with a large dose of cocaine. A group of roadies put Hite in a van and drove him to bandmate Fito de la Parra’s home, where he died age 38. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QexOuH8GS-Y
