On this day - 21 December

Pan Am flight 103 was bombed on December 21st 1988, shortly after taking off, and all passengers and crew died. The disaster became known as the Lockerbie bombing due to the flight being brought down near to the Scottish town of Lockerbie. Chunks of the aircraft killed more people as they landed in residential streets.

Libya accepted responsibility for the attack in order to lift UN sanctions laid against them for the attack. The Libyan leader Gaddafi denied giving the order for the attack at any point. Libyan Intelligence Officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted and jailed for the murders.