Italian composer Giacomo Puccini is born. His best known operas are La Boheme, Tosca and Madam Butterfly.

In 1892, rocket engineer of Slovenian descent, Herman Potočnik, one of the founders of space technology, is born. His nickname was Noordung.

In 1861, Bucharest becomes the capital of Walachia and Moldova, which took on the joint name of Romania

In 1979, Slovenian cross-country skier Petra Majdic is born.

In 1989 the Romanian President Ceausescu Nicolaj falls from power. In a secretly expedited court process he and his wife Elena were sentenced to death and executed.

In 1989, in Berlin after almost thirty years the Brandenburg Gate is opened. This ended the division of East and West Germany to the entrance and west.

In 1989, Irish playwright Samuel Beckett dies. His best known work is Waiting for Godot.

MUSIC HISTORY
1963 - The Dave Clark Five is at the top of the American singles chart with 'Over And Over'.
1972 - Little Jimmy Osmond takes the No.1 spot on the British singles chart with 'Long Haired Lover From Liverpool.' Aged 10 he was the youngest performer to reach the highest spot on the charts. The song was the best sold song in 1972.
1973 - Elton John takes the top spot on the British albums chart with 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'. On the album is 'Candle in the Wind' and 'Bennie and the Jets'.
1984 - Madonna is at the No.1 spot on the American singles chart with 'Like A Virgin', which is her first No.1 hit in American.
2002– Joe Strummer, singer in the group Clash, dies of a stroke.

BORN ON THIS DAY
1946 - Rick Nielsen, singer in Cheap Trick (1979 'I Want You To Want Me').
1949 - Robin and Maurice Gibb, members of the Bee Gees (1975 'Jive talkin'').