EVENTS
- 1874 – General Postal Union Created. The precursor the Universal Postal Union, a specialized agency of the United Nations, was formed after 22 countries signed the Treaty of Bern. The treaty regulated international mail and postage. 4 years later, in 1878, the union changed its name to the Universal Postal Union to reflect the growing international membership of the group.0 Leif Ericson becomes the first known European to set foot in North America.
- 1888 – The Washington Monument is officially opened
- 1962 – Uganda achieved independence after nearly 70 years of British rule.
- 1970 – Cambodia declared itself the Khmer Republic following the abolishment of the monarchy by the legislature.
- 1986 – ‘Phantom of Opera’ makes its theatrical debut. The musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London’s West End. The plot of the musical was inspired by French author Gaston Leroux’s novel Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, which follows the life of Erik or the Phantom, a disfigured musical genius. The musical is the longest running show on Broadway.
- 1992 – A meteorite lands in a residential driveway destroying the family’s car
- 2004 – Democratic elections held for the first time in Afghanistan.
- 2012 – Assassination attempt on Malala Yousafzai. The Pakistani education activist was shot at and injured while going back home from school. Malala survived the attack and has since gone on to become one of the leading voices for the education of girls in the world. In 2014, at the age of 17, she received the Nobel Peace Prize along with Kailash Satyarthi, making her the youngest recipient of the prestigious award.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1888 – Nikolai Bukharin (Russian politician)
- 1940 – John Lennon (Singer with the Beatles)
- 1953 – Tony Shaloub (Actor)
- 1958 – Mike Singletary (Football player)
- 1966 – David Cameron (English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom)
- 1969 – PJ Harvey (English singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer)
- 1970 – Annika Sorenstam (Golfer)
- 1981 – Zachary Ty Bryan (Actor)
- 1993 – Scotty McCreery (Singer)
DEATHS
- 1958 – Pope Pius XII.
- 1967 – Che Guevara (Argentine/Cuban physician, author, intellectual, diplomat, theorist)
- 1974 – Oskar Schindler (Czech/German businessman)
- 1978 – Jacques Brel (Belgian singer-songwriter, actor)
- 2004 – Jacques Derrida (French philosopher)