Birthdays |
| 1786 | Davy Crockett, US frontiersman killed at the Alamo |
| 1892 | Mae West, American film actress |
| 1926 | George Melly, English jazz singer |
| 1943 | Robert De Niro, American film actor |
| 1951 | Alan Minter, British middleweight boxer |
| 1957 | Robin Cousins, British Olympic ice skater |
Events |
| 1836 | The registration of births, deaths and marriages was introduced in Britain |
| 1896 | Gold was discovered in the Yukon Territory, Canada |
| 1943 | Allied forces took control of the island of Sicily |
| 1958 | Britain announced plans to continue nuclear testing on Christmas Island |
| 1970 | Venus 7 was launched; it became the first spacecraft to soft land on Venus |
| 1976 | Earthquakes and tidal waves struck the Philippines, killing thousands |
| 1978 | The first successful trans Atlantic balloon crossing was made |
| 1982 | Ruth First, a member of the ANC, was killed by a letter bomb |
| 1983 | Ira Gershwin, the famous American lyricist, died |
| 1986 | Sudan rebels shot down a civilian aircraft, killing 60 |
