1942    World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces capture the Andaman Islands.

1987    South African Airways flight 295 crashes into the Indian Ocean, killing all 159 people on-board.

1996    Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 is hijacked, then crashes into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125.

2004    A 9.3 magnitude earthquake creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean, killing over 250,000 people including over 1700 on a moving train