India executes a series of nuclear weapons tests
The detonations raised fears of a nuclear conflict in the area and sparked international protests. On May 13, 1998, India officially declared itself a nuclear power.
ValuJet flight 592 crashes into the Florida Everglades shortly after takeoff
All 110 people on board lost their lives in the crash that was caused by a fire in the cargo compartment.
56 football fans die in a stadium fire
During a match against Lincoln City, the wooden stands at Valley Parade football ground went up in flames. The exits were locked. A burning cigarette thrown into a waste bin has been determined as the probable cause of the disaster.
The earliest surviving dated printed book is produced in China
The “Diamond Sutra” is one of the most important texts in Mahayana Buddhism. The British Library in London presently houses the copy.
- 1918 Richard Feynman
American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate - 1904 Salvador Dalí
Spanish painter - 1888 Irving Berlin
American composer - 1861 Frederick Russell Burnham
American soldier, adventurer - 1838 Walter Goodman
English painter, illustrator, author
- 2001 Douglas Adams
English/American author, playwright - 1988 Kim Philby
British spy, Soviet double agent - 1981 Bob Marley
Jamaican/American singer-songwriter, guitarist - 1778 William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - 1760 Alaungpaya
Burmese king
