WorldCom and MCI Communications announced their merger which at $37 billion was the largest merger in the history of the US. In 2002 Worldcom filed for bankruptcy after a series of accounting scandals that plagued the company, in one of the biggest bankruptcy to ever occur in the US.

Premier of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, died at the age of 76.

British author, Dennis Wheatley, died at the age of 80. He was one of the world's best-selling authors in the 1950s and 1960s, best known for his occult nonels.

Race car driver, Eddie Irvine, was born in Conlig, Northern Ireland.

Germany invaded Vichy France.

Turkish, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, died at the age of 57. He was the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey.

American actor, Roy Scheider, was born in New Jersey.

Italian composer, Ennio Morricone, was born in Rome. He is one of the best known names in film music, having composed the music for over 500 movies.

Welsh actor, Richard Burton, was born in the village of Pontrhydyfen. He is considered as one of the greatest and most successful actors of the 1950's and 1960's.

Russian aircraft designer, Andrei Tupolev, was born in Pustomazovo, Russia. He was one of the foremost aviation pioneers of the 20th century who designed over one hundred different air planes.

Construction of the White House began.