Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the leg by an assailant in Detroit. This clubbing escalated into an international scandal when it was revealed that the attack was orchestrated by the ex-husband of Kerrigan's rival, Tonya Harding.

English musician, Syd Barrett, was born in Cambridge, England. He is best remembered as having been one of the founding members of the music band, Pink Floyd.

Porky Pig was first introduced in the animated short, 'I Haven't Got a Hat'.

Mother Teresa arrived in Calcutta where she began her life's work amongst the poor and diseased people of India.

German mathematician, Georg Cantor, died at the age of 73. He is considered as one of the great mathematicians of the 19th century. He developed the 'Set Theory'.

New Mexico was admitted as the 47th U.S. state.

Maria Montessori opened her first school and day care centre in Rome.

Austrian scientist, Gregor Johann Mendel, died at the age of 62. He is considered as the father of genetics whose work gained widespread recognition many years after his death, well into the 20th century.

French, Louis Braille, died at the age of 41. He wad blinded due to an accident by the age of 4. He is the inventor of the Braile system which he adapted from a military code writing and is the system by which it is made possible for blind people all around the world to read.

German archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, was born in Nebukow, Germany. He was one of the most celebrated archaeologists of all time known throughout history for his excavations at Troy and Mycenae.

Roman Catholic Saint, Joan of Arc, was presumably born on this date.