The President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, dies in a plane crash
Several high-ranking officials, senior members of the Polish clergy, as well as relatives of the Katyn massacre victims were killed. The accident was blamed on pilot error and bad weather.
Mercy killings become legal in the Netherlands
In a controversial decision the Dutch senate approved a bill legalizing euthanasia for patients with unbearable, terminal illness.
The Beatles break up as Paul McCartney leaves the band
In their ten years of existence, the British rock group became one of the most successful bands of all time, selling over a billion albums, according to EMI. McCartney’s announcement came a week before the release of his debut solo album, the starting point of a successful solo career.
Mount Tambora explodes in one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history
At least 71,000 people were killed by the eruption. The explosion was heard up to 2000 km (1200 mi) away.
- 1987 Hayley Westenra
New Zealand soprano - 1951 David Helvarg
American journalist, activist - 1932 Omar Sharif
Egyptian actor - 1847 Joseph Pulitzer
Hungarian/American politician, journalist, publisher, founded Pulitzer, Inc. - 1778 William Hazlitt
English critic, painter
- 1966 Evelyn Waugh
English author, journalist - 1965 Linda Darnell
American actress - 1955 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
French/American priest, palaeontologist, philosopher - 1931 Kahlil Gibran
Lebanese/American poet - 1919 Emiliano Zapata
Mexican general
