American guitarist, Johnny Ramone, died from prostate cancer at the age of 56. Along with his brother, Joey, he was one of the founding and lifelong members of the rock and roll group, The Ramones.

The merger of telecommunications companies, WorldCom and MCI Communications, was completed. The resulting company was MCI WorldCom, later be renamed to WorldCom. It would later become the largest bankruptcy United States history.

The first issue of USA Today was published by the Gannett Corporation. It is the paper with the widest circulation in the United States and second in the world, after The Times of India.

Under a mandate of the United Nations Eritrea joins Ethiopia as part of a federation. Eritrea later gained its Independence from Ethiopia after a thirty year long war which ended on May 29, 1991.

United States armed forces landed at Incheon, Korea.

The television series The Lone Ranger premiered on the ABC channel. It was a continuation of the immensely popular radio show by the same name which had first aired in 1933 and had run for almost 3000 episodes. The radio show run parallel to the television series up until 1954 when it was finally cancelled.

American actor, Tommy Lee Jones, was born in San Saba, Texas. He attended Harvard University on a scholarship, and was roommates with former Vice President Al Gore and fellow actor John Lithgow.

American film director, Oliver Stone, was born in New York City. He is a veteran of the Vietnam War. His blockbuster movie, Platoon, is supposedly a semi-autobiographical film about his experiences during the war.

Scottish biologist and pharmacologist, Sir Alexander Fleming, noticed a bacteria-killing mould that had grown in his laboratory. This discovery later formulated into what is known as penicillin.

During the course of World War I, tanks are used for the first time ever in a battle, the Battle of the Somme. The battles took place along the River Somme in northern France. Over one million soldiers died in the battle which lasted over four months and resulted in a stalemate.

English writer, Agatha Christie, was born in Devon, England. She was the best-known mystery writer in history and is probably the best-selling author of all time. Her books have sold over 3 billion copies and have been translated in 103 languages. She published over 90 novels and also authored a multitude of theatrical plays. Her stage play, 'The Mousetrap' premiered in 1952 and is still running at Ambassadors Theatre in London, making it the longest running theatre play.

Italian automobile engineer and designer, Ettore Bugatti, was born in Milan, Italy. He founded one of the most prestigious car companies in history. Although he was Italian he had setup his company if France. The factory was destroyed during the Second World War and the company eventually fell into decline. In 1987 an Italian entrepreneur, Romano Artioli, acquired the Bugatti name, but the company closed in 1995. In 1998 automotive giant Volkswagen AG purchased the rights to produce cars under the Bugatti brand name.

Charles Darwin reached the Galapagos Islands aboard the HMS Beagle.

The countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua jointly declared their independence from Spain.

The French army of Napoleon reached the Kremlin in Moscow. Though Napoleon had hoped that the taking of Moscow would ultimately bring him victory in his Russian campaign, it never did. The Russians, under the orders of Alexander I, had retreated past Moscow and had ordered the city burned. At the end of the campaign Napoleon retreated in defeat with approximately only 40,000 of his initial 650,000 soldiers.