2005 – The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect
The global warming pact was ratified by 191 countries to date - excluding the United States.
1987 – The first trial against John Demjanjuk begins in Jerusalem
Demjanjuk was falsely accused of being a particularly brutal Nazi guard dubbed “Ivan the Terrible”; in a separate trial in 2011he was convicted by a German criminal court as an accessory to the murder of 27,900 people.
1985 – Hezbollah is founded
The Lebanese political party and militant group is classified as a terrorist organization by several western countries.
1959 – Fidel Castro becomes Cuba's Prime Minister
Castro's rise to power came shortly after his “26th of July Movement” had overthrown dictator Fulgencio Batista in what became known as the Cuban Revolution.
1923 – The burial chamber of Pharoh Tutankhamun is opened
Howard Carter's discovery is one of archeology's best knownespecially due to the myth of the “Curse of Tutankhamun” that was sparked by the death of Lord Carnarvon who was one of the first to enter the chamber.
1979 – Valentino Rossi
Italian motorcycle racer
1954 – Iain Banks
Scottish author
1941 – Kim Jong-il
North Korean politician2nd Supreme Leader of North Korea
1898 – Katharine Cornell
American actressproducer
1831 – Nikolai Leskov
Russian authorplaywrightjournalist
2013 – Tony Sheridan
English singer-songwriterguitarist
2002 – Walter Winterbottom
England football manager
1984 – M. A. G. Osmany
Bangladeshi general
1957 – Josef Hofmann
Polish/American pianistcomposer
1932 – Edgar Speyer
American/English financierphilanthropist