1625 - Giovanni D Cassini, Perinaldo, France, discoverer (4 moons of Saturn)
1652 - William Dampier, English explorer/pirate
1695 - Christian Huygens, inventor/astronomer (ring of Saturn), dies at 66
1783 - Laki Volcano in southern Iceland begins 8-month eruption
1949 - Siam changes name to Thailand
1965 - USSR launches Luna 6; it missed the Moon by 99,000 miles
1966 - Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer (b. 1890)
1966 - Topeka, Kansas is devastated by a tornado.
1994 - 7.8 earthquake strikes North Bolivia
WORLD OCEANS DAY