The Black Saturday bushfires in Australia
The worst natural disaster in Australian history, claiming the lives of 173 people and causing widespread damage to homes, businesses, and infrastructure. The bushfires also resulted in significant environmental damage, with more than 1,200 homes destroyed and nearly 7,500 square kilometers of land burned.
British sailor Ellen MacArthur set a new record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the world by sailboat
MacArthur, who was just 27 years old at the time, completed the feat in 71 days, 14 hours, and 18 minutes, smashing the previous record by more than five days.
The European Union is established as the Maastricht Treaty is signed
NASA astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart made history by taking the first untethered spacewalk
- 1978 Ashton Kutcher
American model, actor, producer - 1962 Eddie Izzard
Yemeni/English actor, comedian - 1962 Garth Brooks
American singer-songwriter, guitarist - 1906 Oleg Antonov
Soviet aircraft designer, founded the Antonov Aircraft Company - 1812 Charles Dickens
English author
- 2015 Dean Smith
American basketball player, coach - 1994 Witold Lutosławski
Polish composer, conductor - 1986 Cheikh Anta Diop
Senegalese historian, anthropologist, physicist - 1959 Nap Lajoie
American baseball player - 1938 Harvey Samuel Firestone
American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire, Rubber Company
