On This Day in History

Fernando Rios, a Mexican tour guide in New Orleans, was killed in an instance of gay bashing.

Whaam!, now considered one of Roy Lichtenstein's most important works, debuted at an exhibition held at the Leo Castelli Gallery, New York City.

Against the backdrop of the Cold War, the Canadian ice hockey team defeated the Soviet team in the Summit Series.

An attempted robbery of Spaghetti House, a restaurant in Knightsbridge, London, turned into a six-day hostage situation.

Pope John Paul I died only 33 days after his papal election due to an apparent myocardial infarction, resulting in the first year of three popes since 1605.

Typhoon Xangsane passed Manila on its way to causing more than 300 deaths, mostly in the Phillippines and Vietnam.

A protest held by 50,000 people in Conakry, Guinea, was forcefully disrupted by the military junta, resulting in at least 157 deaths and over 1,200 injuries.

War in Somalia: Somali National Army forces and their AMISOM and Raskamboni allies launched an offensive against Al-Shabaab in the latter's last major stronghold of Kismayo.

The Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland, England, was illegally felled.