Reuters historical calendar - September 18

London, Sep 17 (Reuters) Following are some of the major events to have occurred on September 18 in history: 1914 - General Paul von Hindenburg was named commander-in-chief of the German armies on the Eastern Front in World War One.

1931 - Japan laid siege to Mukden and began the military occupation of Manchuria, an act of aggression that marked the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War.

1961 - Dag Hammarskjold, Swedish secretary-general of the United Nations, was killed in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia.

1964 - Sean O'Casey, Irish playwright whose works included ''Juno and the Paycock'' (1924), died. He was 80.

1970 - The US rock singer and guitarist Jimi Hendrix died of a drug overdose, aged 27.

1981 - The French parliament voted to abolish capital punishment and the guillotine.

1982 - Lebanese Christian militias carried out a massacre in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Beirut in which at least 800 were killed.

1989 - Israel and Hungary restored full diplomatic ties after a 22-year break.

1989 - The Indian government agreed to suspend military operations against the Tamil Tigers and remove troops from Sri Lanka by the end of the year.

1990 - Winnie Mandela, wife of ANC leader Nelson Mandela, was charged with kidnap and assault after a black teenager was found with his throat slit in a Soweto ditch.

2000 - Ivory Coast's military ruler, General Robert Guei, escaped an assassination attempt at his residence. Two of his bodyguards were killed.

2001 - U S President George W Bush signed a congressional resolution authorising military action against those behind the attacks on New York and Washington, saying he was ''unalterably committed to a direct, forceful and comprehensive response''.

2004 - Iraq's national carrier Iraqi Airways resumed international flights after 14 years of being grounded.

2005 - Voters in Afghanistan braved threats from Taliban to vote in their first legislative elections in decades.

REUTERS LL HT1102