Osama bin Laden is killed by a U.S. commando
Bin Laden was the founder of al-Qaeda, a militant group that claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks on U.S. targets on September 11, 2001.
Tony Blair becomes British Prime Minister, ending 18 years of Conservative Party reign
Blair’s Labor Party achieved a landslide victory in the general elections. Many of his early fans were bitterly disappointed when he supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The British Royal Navy sinks the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano
323 lives were lost in the attack, more than half of the total number of Argentinian casualties during the Falklands War. The British Sun tabloid newspaper commented the controversial attack with one of its most notorious headlines: “Gotcha”.
The jet age begins with the first scheduled flight of the De Havilland Comet 1
Precisely one year after the maiden flight from London to Johannesburg, a Comet 1 crashed due to structural problems, killing 43 people. A series of similar accidents soon led to the grounding of the entire Comet fleet.
- 1985 Lily Allen
English singer-songwriter - 1975 David Beckham
English footballer, coach, model - 1921 Satyajit Ray
Indian director, producer, screenwriter - 1808 Emma Darwin
English wife of Charles Darwin - 1729 Catherine the Great
Russian wife of Peter III of Russia
- 2011 Osama bin Laden
Saudi Arabian terrorist, founded al-Qaeda - 1972 J. Edgar Hoover
American 1st Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - 1957 Joseph McCarthy
American politician - 1864 Giacomo Meyerbeer
German composer - 1519 Leonardo da VinciI
talian painter, sculptor, architect