NASA launched its Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers mission (AMPTE) from the Cape Canaveral launch pad.
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More than 1,200 tin homes were destroyed after a fire broke out in the Chalantika slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Julian Assange, who founded WikiLeaks, was given political asylum by Ecuador.
Michael Phelps won the 100-meter butterfly swim in a record 50:58 at the Beijing Olympic finals.
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The Junkers Ju 287, the first jet with forward-swept wings, made its first flight.
