1. 1848 - Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto is published in London
2. 1916 - The Battle of Verdun, the longest and one of the bloodiest engagements of World War I, begins
3. 1952 – The British government under Winston Churchill abolishes identity cards in the UK to 'set the people free'
4. 1959 - Shirley Bassey reaches No.1 in the UK singles chart with As I Love You
5. 1964 - Ten pound notes are issued in the UK for the first time since World War II
6. 1965 - Controversial black leader Malcolm X, who once called for a 'blacks-only' state in the US, is assassinated
7. 1970 - The Jackson 5 make their TV debut on American Bandstand
8. 1972 - US President Richard Nixon arrives in China at the start of a week-long summit aimed at ending 20 years of frosty relations between the two countries
9. 1986 - Charlotte Church is born
10. 1995 - Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon, taking off from South Korea and landing in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada
11. 2003 - David Hasselhoff and his wife Pamela are injured in a motorcycle accident
Source: BBC, Wikipedia, historyorb.com, infoplease.com, history.co.uk, brainyhistory.com, on-this-day.com
image: © Civilian Scrabble
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