EVENTS:
- 1851 – Library of Congress burns.
- 1871 – Aida opens in Cairo, Egypt.
- 1924 – Albania becomes a republic.
- 1951 – Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya.
- 1953 – Tangiwai disaster: In New Zealand’s North Island, at Tangiwai, a railway bridge is damaged by a lahar and collapses beneath a passenger train, killing 151 people.
- 1968 – Apollo program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed ten lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures.
- 1969 – The oil company Phillips Petroleum made the first oil discovery in the Norwegian sector of North Sea.
- 1979 – The first European Ariane rocket is launched.
- 1999 – Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacked in Indian airspace between Kathmandu, Nepal, and Delhi, India; aircraft eventually landed at Kandahar, Afghanistan. Ordeal ended on December 31 with the release of 190 survivors (one passenger killed).
- 2008 – Lord’s Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, begins a series of attacks on Democratic Republic of the Congo, massacring more than 400
BIRTHS:
- 1924 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian actor and singer (d. 1980)
- 1925 – Roy Hollis, English footballer (d. 1998)
- 1942 – Indra Bania, Indian actor, director, and playwright (d. 2015)
- 1944 – Oswald Gracias, Indian cardinal
- 1947 – Kevin Sheedy, Australian footballer and coach
- 1948 – Stan Bowles, English footballer
- 1959 – Anil Kapoor, Indian actor, singer, and producer
- 1978 – Warren Tredrea, Australian footballer and sportscaster
- 1981 – Shane Tuck, Australian footballer
- 1991 – Wasim Tareen, Pakistani footballer
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:
