Dag
Hammarskjöld

United Nations, Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld , and 15 others died in 1961 when their aircraft exploded before landing in Zambia, killing them instantly with only one surviving crew member. At the time of his death he was trying to bring peace between Congo (present-day Democratic Republic of Congo and formerly known as Zaire) and the breakaway province of Katanga , which was striving for independence. Hammarskjöld was awarded the Peace Nobel Prize posthumously in 1961 for his untiring efforts towards world peace.

Click here to read a previous entry for ‘This day in History' about TRC documents revealing a South African plot to kill the UN Secretary-General

Click here to read more about the CIA's alleged involvement in the plot to assassinate Hammarskjold.

Source

Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar , Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau.

www.andibradley.com/whatya/sep18.htm

Link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/18/newsid_3790000/3790079.stm