Venezuelan politician, Hugo Chavez Frias, was elected president of Venezuela.

An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale struck Afghanistan killing more than 5,000 people.

The music band, Fleetwood Mac, releases their, Rumours, album. It is the third highest selling album of all time (2006).

The 12th Winter Olympic Games opened in Innsbruck, Austria.

An All Nippon Airways passenger jet went down into Tokyo Bay, resulting in the death of 133 people.

The Yalta Conference began. It was a meeting between the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, where the political playfield that would govern the world after the second world war was set.

American director, George Romero, was born in New York City. In 1968, along with a few of his friends, he produced one of the most successful horror films of all time, the 'Night of the Living Dead'.

The 3rd Winter Olympic Games opened in Lake Placid, New York.

The Bacardi company was founded in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.

Slavery was abolished throughout the French Republic.

George Washington was elected to a second term as President of the United States by the US Electoral College.

George Washington was elected to be the first President of the United States by the US Electoral College.

Roman Emperor Julian instituted freedom of religion and equal rights among its followers within the Roman Empire.