First successful human powered attempt to circumnavigate the world
Englishman Jason Lewis set out on the journey, also called Expedition 360 on July 12, 1994, from Greenwich, London. The over 46,000-mile expedition around the world took him 4,833 days, during which he used only human-powered modes of transportation including bicycles, roller blades, and a pedal powered boat.
First exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star discovered
Swiss astronomers Didier Queloz and Michel Mayor announced the discovered the exoplanet called 51 Pegasi B or Bellerophon. The Jupiter-like exoplanet orbits a star called 51 Pegasi, which has a magnitude of 5.49. 51 Pegasi B takes 4.23 Earth days to orbit around its star.
Assassination of Anwar Sadat
The third president of Egypt, Sadat was killed by members of the terrorist group Takfir Wal-Hajira during a parade held to commemorate the 8th anniversary of Operation Badr. The assassination is thought to be a result of Sadat’s efforts to bring peace to the region which started with the Camp David Accords in 1978.
Coup in Thailand
Admiral Sangad Chaloryu staged a coup ousting the civilian government of Seni Pramoj.
- 1985 Mitchell Cole
English footballer
- 1955 Tony Dungy
American football player, coach
- 1930 Hafez al-Assad
Syrian general, politician, 20th President of Syria
- 1846 George Westinghouse
American engineer, inventor
- 1992 Bill O’Reilly
Australian cricketer
- 1989 Bette Davis
American actress
- 1981 Anwar Sadat
Egyptian politician, 3rd President of Egypt, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1892 Alfred, Lord Tennyson
English poet