The US Commerce Department decided that hurricane names would no longer be only female.
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National Hospital Day was first observed.
The first-ever quadraphonic concert was held.
Juan María Fernández y Krohn tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II with a bayonet.
More than 69,000 people lost their lives to a magnitude 8.0 earthquake in Sichuan, China.
The first-ever cricket County Championship started, finishing with Yorkshire beating Gloucestershire.
