1998
The European Court of Human Rights was founded in Strasbourg .
1993
The Maastricht Treaty came into effect, formally establishing the European Union.
1989
East Germany reopened its border with Czechoslovakia
1988
Death of Louis Johnson, New Zealand poet .
1982
Death of King Vidor, American film director
United States
1979
Death of Mamie Eisenhower, First Lady of the United States (195361)
1959
The first stretch of the M1 motorway was opened. Britains first motorway service station also opened that day, at Watford Gap
1959
Canadian ice hockey goalkeeper Jacques Plante became the first player to wear a protective mask in a professional game, after being struck in the face
1948
6,000 people were killed off the coast of southern Manchuria when a Chinese merchant ship exploded and sunk.
1939
The first animal (a rabbit) born after being conceived by artificial insemination was shown to the world
1907
Terence Cuneo born 1907 (died 1996). Painter of railway trains and of portraits.
1757
Birth of Antonio Canova, Italian sculptor (One of the greatest exponents of Neoclassicism)
1755
Lisbon Earthquake
Great Britain
1611
The Tempest first presented
1609
Birth of Sir Matthew Hale, English legal scholar and Lord Chief Justice
Great Britain
1604
Othello first presented