EVENTS:
- 1817 – The independent government of Venezuela is established by Simón Bolívar.
- 1905 – Czar Nicholas II of Russia grants Russia’s first constitution, creating a legislative assembly.
- 1920 – The Communist Party of Australia is founded in Sydney.
- 1947 – The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which is the foundation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), is founded.
- 1960 – Michael Woodruff performs the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
- 1961 – Nuclear testing: The Soviet Union detonates the hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya; at 50 megatons of yield, it remains the largest explosive device ever detonated, nuclear or otherwise.
- 1970 – In Vietnam, the worst monsoon to hit the area in six years causes severe floods, kills 293, leaves 200,000 homeless and virtually halts the Vietnam War.
- 1985 – Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off for mission STS-61-A, its final successful mission.
- 2013 – 45 people die after a bus fuel tank catches fire in the Indian city of Mahbubnagar.
- 2014 – Sweden is the first European Union member state to officially recognize the State of Palestine.
- 2015 – At least 56 people are killed and more than 155 injuries after a fire in a nightclub in the Romanian capital Bucharest.
- 2020 – A magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, triggering a tsunami. At least 119 people die mainly due to collapsed buildings.[10]
- 2022 – A pedestrian suspension bridge collapses in the city of Morbi, Gujarat, leading to the deaths of at least 135 people.
BIRTHS:
- 1887 – Sukumar Ray, Indian-Bangladeshi author, poet, and playwright (d. 1923)
- 1895 – Gerhard Domagk, German pathologist and bacteriologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)
- 1895 – Dickinson W. Richards, American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
- 1900 – Ragnar Granit, Finnish-Swedish physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
- 1908 – U. Muthuramalingam Thevar, Indian politician (d. 1963)
- 1909 – Homi J. Bhabha, Indian-French physicist and academic (d. 1966)
- 1928 – Daniel Nathans, American microbiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
- 1939 – Leland H. Hartwell, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1941 – Theodor W. Hänsch, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1973 – Michael Oakes, English footballer and manager
- 1983 – Trent Edwards, American football player
- 1987 – Ali Riley, New Zealand footballer
- 1989 – Ashley Barnes, Austrian-English footballer
- 1993 – Marcus Mariota, American football player
- 1997 – Tage Thompson, American ice hockey player
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:
