The fire at the World Trade Centre site was extinguished. The fire was the result of the September 11, 2001 airplane attacks, three months earlier.

Portugal transferred sovereignty of Macau to China. The Portuguese had settled in Macau in 1535.

A Silkair passenger flight crashed near Palembang in Indonesia resulting in the death of 104 people.

The film Titanic was released. It is to date (2006) the most successful (financially) movie ever made.

Italian actor, Marcello Mastroianni, died at the age of 72. He was one of the most popular Italian actors of the 20th century who was able to achieve international fame by starring in several hit movies. He also stared in Federico Fellini's 'La Dolce Vita', and '8 1/2'.

Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt was officially presumed dead. He disappeared while swimming in a beach south of Melbourne and was never seen again.

Lithuanian basketball player, Arvydas Sabonis, was born in Kaunas. He is widely considered as one of the most talented centers in the history of basketball.

Zanzibar became independent, becoming a constitutional monarchy under Sultan Hamoud bin Mohammed.

King Constantine I of Greece was restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander I.

German psychiatrist and neurologist, Alois Alzheimer, died at the age of 51. He was the first to identify the symptoms of what is now known as Alzheimer's Disease.

Premier of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, was born in Kamenskoye, Ukraine. He was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until his death in 1982.

British author, Emily Bronte, died at the age of 30. She only wrote one novel, Wuthering Heights, although it is considered as one of the classics of English literature.