Madame de Pompadour, mistress of the French King Louis XV, is born.

In 1876 Catalan composer and the greatest cellist of all time Pablo Casals is born.

In 1890, American soldiers in South Dakota massacred more than 200 unarmed Indians, thus ending an uprising by Dakota Indians who left the reserves in order to escape dying from hunger.

In 1916 Russian monk and adventurer Grigory Jefimovič Rasputin dies. He was best known for his ability to heal people by the laying of hands and prophetic vision. Among other things he also described his own death. In 1916 he was poisoned, thrown into the Neva River, where he drowned.

In 1926 Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke dies. He is recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets of the 20. Century.

In 1947 English actor Ted Danson is born.

In 1972 the first Slovenian four-lane highway is officially opened. The section Vrhnika-Postojna was the first modern four-lane stretch of motorway in Slovenia and Yugoslavia.

In 1938 actor Jon Voight is born.

MUSIC HISTORY
1960 - Cliff Richard is No. 1 on the British charts with his song 'I Love You'.
1966 – On British television the Jimi Hendrix Experience presents the song 'Hey Joe'.
1973 - Jim Croce is at the top of the American charts with 'Time In A Bottle'.
1984 - Band Aid is at the top of the English charts with 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'.
1984 - Madonna is at the top of the American charts with the song 'Like A Virgin.'

BORN ON THIS DAY
1941 - Ray Thomas, singer in the group The Moody Blues ('Go Now').
1943 - Rick Danko, Canadian singer and guitarist in the group The Band.
1946 - Marianne Faithfull, British singer ('And Stay With Me').