1877 – An earthquake struck northern Chile, leading to the deaths of 2,385 people, mostly victims of the ensuing
tsunami, as far away as Hawaii and Fiji.
1938 – During an exercise to demonstrate air power,
United States Army Air Corps bomber aircraft intercepted the Italian ocean liner
SS Rex(pictured) 620 nautical miles (1,100 km) off the US Atlantic coast.
2000 – An explosion(aftermath pictured) at a fireworks factory in
Enschede, Netherlands, resulted in 23 deaths and approximately €450 million in damage.
1987 – An Iraqi jet aircraft fired two Exocet missiles at the American frigate
USS Stark leaving 37 personnel of the warship dead and 21 others injured.
1936 – In a crime that captivated Japan, Sada Abe(pictured) strangled her lover, cut off his genitals, and carried them around with her for several days until her arrest.
1816 – A riot broke out in
Littleport, England, over high unemployment and rising grain costs, spreading to
Ely the next day before being quelled by troops.
1986 – A
stationary front began over the central Caribbean Sea, leading to severe floods that over two weeks killed dozens of people in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.
1987 – Mathias Rust, a West German aviator, flew his
Cessna 172 from Helsinki, Finland, through Soviet air defences, landing illegally near
Red Square in Moscow.
1963 – Buddhist crisis: A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination was held outside
South Vietnam's National Assembly, the first open demonstration against President
Ngô Đình Diệm.
1998 – An earthquake registering 6.5
Mw struck northern Afghanistan, killing at least 4,000 people, destroying more than 30 villages, and leaving 45,000 people homeless.