This Day in History (1968): Helipad in Service

From the Jan. 17, 1968, edition of the Arabian Sun and Flare

Dhahran's new helipad, located behind the Administration Building parking lot, was officially opened Wednesday, Jan. 10 1968, when the Bell Jet-Ranger helicopter operated by Petroleum Helicopters Inc. made its first landing at 8:55 a.m.

The helicopter, a turbine-powered model, is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers, and is used mainly to carry technicians and equipment to Aramco's offshore facilities.

Also on this date

2017 — Authorities announced the suspension of the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

2013 — Lance Armstrong confesses to doping during an airing of the show "Oprah's Next Chapter"

1998 — Matt Drudge breaks the story of the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair on his Drudge Report website

1991 — Crown Prince Harald V of Norway becomes King Harland V, following the death of his father, King Olav V

1977 — Capital punishment in the U.S. resumes after a 10-year hiatus with the execution of Gary Gilmore by firing squad in Utah

1966 — A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratobanker over Spain, killing seven airmen and dropping three 70-kiloton nuclear bombs near the town of Palomares and a fourth bomb into the sea

1961 — U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his televised farewell in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the military-industrial complex

1946 — The UN Security Council hosts its first meeting

1920 — With the enactment of the Volstead Act, Prohibition begins in the U.S.

1811 — In the Battle of Calderon Bridge, a mere 6,000 Spanish troops defeat nearly 100,000 Mexican revolutionaries

1773 — Captain James cook leads the first expedition to sail south of the Antarctic Circle

1377 — Pope Gregory XI reaches Rome after deciding to move the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon