1936 – Radio Prague, now the official international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic, goes on the air. 1939 – Nazi Germany mounts a false flag attack on the Gleiwitz radio station, creating an excuse to attack Poland the following day, thus starting World War II in Europe. 1940 – Pennsylvania Central Airlines Trip 19 crashes near Lovettsville, Virginia. The CAB investigation of the accident is the first investigation to be conducted under the Bureau of Air Commerce act of 1938. 1941 – World War II: Serbian paramilitary forces defeat Germans in the Battle of Loznica. 1943 – , the first U.S. Navy ship to be named after a black person, is commissioned. 1949 – The retreat of the Democratic Army of Greece into Albania after its defeat on Gramos mountain marks the end of the Greek Civil War. 1950 – TWA Flight 903 crashes near Itay El Barud, Egypt, killing all 55 aboard. 1957 – The Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) gains its independence from the United Kingdom. 1959 – A parcel bomb sent by Ngô Đình Nhu, younger brother and chief adviser of South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm, fails to kill King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia. 1962 – Trinidad and Tobago becomes independent. 1963 – Crown Colony of North Borneo (now Sabah) achieves self governance. 1972 – Aeroflot Flight 558 crashes in the Abzelilovsky District in Bashkortostan, Russia (then the Soviet Union), killing all 102 people aboard. 1986 – Aeroméxico Flight 498 collides with a Piper PA-28 Cherokee over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground. 1986 – The Soviet passenger liner sinks in the Black Sea after colliding with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev, killing 423. 1987 – Thai Airways Flight 365 crashes into the ocean near Ko Phuket, Thailand, killing all 83 aboard. 1988 – Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 crashes during takeoff from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, killing 14. 1988 – CAAC Flight 301 overshoots the runway at Kai Tak Airport and crashes into Kowloon Bay, killing seven people. 1991 – Kyrgyzstan declares its independence from the Soviet Union. 1993 – Russia completes removing its troops from Lithuania. 1994 – Russia completes removing its troops from Estonia. 1996 – Saddam Hussein's troops seized Irbil after the Kurdish Masoud Barzani appealed for help to defeat his Kurdish rival PUK. 1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales, her partner Dodi Fayed and