Nelson Mandela, was released from prison after having been a political prisoner for 27 years in South Africa.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran. He was a Shi'a Muslim cleric and marja, and was the political leader of the Iranian Revolution.

The Seabed Treaty was signed. According to the terms of the treaty, the placing of nuclear weapons in international waters was outlawed.

The Beatles music band performed their first live concert in the United States.

Russian film director, Sergei Eisenstein, died at the age of 49. He is widely considered as one of the most influential directors of all time. His movie, Battleship Potemkin, has been labelled as one of the most important and influential films of all time.

Panamanian dictator, Manuel Noriega, was born in Panama City. Although he was initially a strong ally of the United States, by the mid 1980's his relationship with the United States deteriorated and eventually led to his being overthrown when the US invaded Panama in 1989.

American actor, Burt Reynolds, was born in Georgia, USA. He was an all star American football athlete in college, whose career in football was cut short due to a car accident. He started taking acting lessons while he was recuperating from the accident.

Canadian actor, Leslie Nielsen, was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. He is best known for his role in the spoof comedies Airplane! and The Naked Gun series.

French physicist, Leon Foucault, died at the age of 48. He is best known for having invented the Foucault pendulum. He also invented the gyroscope and discovered eddy currents.

The University of London was founded.

Greek politician, Joannis Capodistrias, was born in Corfu. He was the first head of state of Greece after its war of independence against the Otoman empire.

French philosopher, Rene Descartes, died at the age of 53. He is considered as one of the most influential philosophers and mathematicians of all time. He was also known as Cartesius and the geometry & algebra, Cartesian coordinate system, is named after him.