Grand Mosque seized in Mecca

November 20, 1979

Hundreds of armed Saudi militants led by Juhayman al-Otaybi seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca, declaring his brother-in-law the Mahdi. Saudi forces, after two weeks of bloody siege, retook the holy site with help from French commandos. The event pushed the Saudi royal family toward a more conservative religious posture that would reshape global Islam.