Queen Elizabeth I. established the East India Company. This laid the foundations of the English colonial empire.
In 1638 the French King Louis XIV is born. He was also known as the Sun King. The objectives of his foreign policy were France's dominance in Europe and to stop the Habsburg forces.
In 1929 Russian astronaut Andrijan Grigorievich Nikolayev is born.
In 1972, a group of Palestinian commandos at the Olympic Games in Munich attacks the Israeli sports team. In the Olympic Village they kill two athletes, while others are held hostage. The tragedy that followed at the airport saw another 18 people killed.
In 1995, France launched underground nuclear tests on Mururoa Atoll, which was sharply condemned by the world's public.
In 1997, in Calcutta, India, Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa dies. She was born in Skopje. In Calcutta, in 1950 she founded the organisation of the Missionaries of Charities. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
MUSIC HISTORY
1954 - Kitty Kallen takes the top spot on the British charts with the song 'Little Things That Mean A Lot'.
1964 - The Animals are No. 1 on the American singles chart with 'House Of The Rising Sun'.
1981 - Soft Cell is at the top of the British singles chart with 'Tainted Love.'
1998 - Aerosmith is No. 1 on the American singles chart with 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing'.
1998 - Manic Street Preachers take the top spot on the British charts with 'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next'.
BORN ON THIS DAY
1939 - John Stewart, singer in The Kingston Trio, for The Monkees he wrote ‘Daydream Believer’.
1945 - Al Stewart, singer (1977 'Year Of The Cat').
1946 - Freddie Mercury, singer in the group Queen (1975 'Bohemian Rhapsody).
1966 - Terry Ellis, singer in the group En Vogue (1992 'My Lovin').
