American musician, Frank Zappa, died at the age of age 52 from prostate cancer. He released more than sixty albums in his 33 year career in music and is widely considered as one of the most influential musicians of the rock era of music.

American journalist, Terry Anderson, was released after 7 years as a hostage of Hezbollah in Beirut.

US airline Pan Am ceases its operations. Pan Am was once America's largest air carrier.

Members rock group Led Zeppelin officially announced the band's breakup.

A Malaysia Airlines passenger jet was hijacked and later crashed resulting in the death of 100 people.

American actress, Marisa Tomei, was born in New York. She was one of the stars of the soap opera As the World Turns and got her break into movies with her performance in 1992's 'My Cousin Vinny', for which she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

American actor, Jeff Bridges, was born in Los Angeles, California.

Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, was born in El Ferrol, Spain. He emerged as Spain's leader after Spanish Civil War and remained its de facto leader until his death. For most his era is considered as a dark chapter of Spanish history, although a few historians credit him with keeping Spain neutral during the Second World War.

Russian-born painter, Wassily Kandinsky, was born in Moscow. He is one of the most famous artists of the 20th century.

The first issue of UK newspaper, The Observer, was published. It was the world's first Sunday newspaper and is still published today (2006).