EVENTS:
- 1804 – High Possil meteorite: The first recorded meteorite in Scotland falls in Possil.
- 1900 – Archaeologists in Knossos, Crete, discover a large cache of clay tablets with hieroglyphic writing in a script they call Linear B.
- 1904 – The first international rugby league match is played between England and an Other Nationalities team (Welsh & Scottish players) in Central Park, Wigan, England.
- 1923 – Firestone Tire and Rubber Company begins production of balloon-tires.
- 1949 – Fireside Theater debuts on television.
- 1957 – In India, Communists win the first elections in united Kerala and E.M.S. Namboodiripad is sworn in as the first chief minister.
- 1998 – In Japan, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge linking Awaji Island with Honshū and costing about $3.8 billion USD, opens to traffic, becoming the largest suspension bridge in the world.
- 1999 – Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.
- 2009 – North Korea launches its controversial Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 rocket. The satellite passed over mainland Japan, which prompted an immediate reaction from the United Nations Security Council, as well as participating states of Six-party talks.
- 2010 – Twenty-nine coal miners are killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia.
- 2010 – Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-131 to resupply the International Space Station.
- 2018 – Agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid a slaughterhouse in Tennessee, detaining nearly 100 undocumented Hispanic workers in one of the largest workplace raids in the history of the United States.
BIRTHS:
- 1908 – Jagjivan Ram, Indian politician, 4th Deputy Prime Minister of India (d. 1986)
- 1920 – Rafiq Zakaria, Indian cleric, scholar, and politician (d. 2005)
- 1929 – Ivar Giaever, Norwegian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1933 – K. Kailasapathy, Sri Lankan journalist and academic (d. 1982)
- 1967 – Anu Garg, Indian-American journalist and author
- 1972 – Paul Okon, Australian footballer and manager
- 1972 – Duncan Spencer, English cricketer
- 1981 – Michael A. Monsoor, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2006)
- 1987 – Max Grün, German footballer
- 1988 – Alex Valentini, Italian footballer
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:
