Naomi Uemura becomes of the first person to reach the North Pole alone
The Japanese adventurer is also credited with the first solo ascent of Mount McKinley and the first solo rafting of the Amazon river. He disappeared in 1984 during a winter ascent of Mount McKinley.
Fidel Castro declares Cuba a socialist nation and bans elections
A month after Cuban troops had fought off a U.S. backed military invasion at the Bay of Pigs, Castro announces that “The revolution has no time for elections.”
Adolf Hitler’s death is announced on German radio
As the Soviet flag is raised over the Reich Chancellery, the German people are informed that “our leader, Adolf Hitler, has fallen for Germany, fighting to his last breath against Bolshevism.”
The world’s first adhesive postage stamp is issued in the United Kingdom
The Penny Black shows a portrait of Queen Victoria. Despite its historical significance, the stamp can be bought for around £25 as over 68 million copied were distributed.
- 1987 Shahar Pe’er
Israeli tennis player - 1967 Tim McGraw
American singer-songwriter, actor - 1924 Terry Southern
American author, screenwriter - 1923 Joseph Heller
American author, playwright - 1769 Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Irish/English field marshal, politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1994 Ayrton Senna
Brazilian race car driver - 1990 Sergio Franchi
Italian/American singer, actor - 1960 Charles Holden
English architect, designed the Bristol Central Library - 1904 Antonín Dvořák
Czech composer - 1873 David Livingstone
Scottish missionary, explorer
