The Earth Summit 2002 began in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The first battery operated heart was implanted inside a male patient in Britain. The man, however, died from kidney failure nine months after the operation.

Italian priest, Albino Luciani, became Pope John Paul I. He died 33 days after his ascendancy and had the shortest reign in modern papal history. He was succeeded by John Paul II, who had the second longest Papacy in history.

American aviator, Charles Lindbergh, died at the age of 72. In 1927 he became the first man to fly solo, non-stop, from New York to Paris.

The 20th Summer Olympic Games opened in Munich, Germany.

General Charles de Gaulle returned to Paris after its liberation by allied forces.

Women in the United States were given the right to vote.

Polish born doctor, Albert Sabin, was born in Bialystok, Poland. In 1921 he emigrated to America with his family where he trained in internal medicine, pathology and surgery. He is best-known for having developed the oral vaccine for polio (Poliomyelitis).

The Mount Krakatoa volcano erupted in a cataclysmic explosion. The explosion was supposedly heard as far away as Perth in Australia (almost 2000 miles away). More than 35000 people died as a result of the eruption.# 1920 - 19th amendment to U.S. Constitution gives women the right to vote.

The ship Amistad was captured off the coast of Long Island. The ship became a symbol in the movement to abolish slavery, after a group of African captives aboard revolted, and were subsequently recaptured, resulting in a legal battle over their status.