1839 – In Humen, China, Lin Tse-hsü destroys 1.2 million kg of
opium confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a
casus belli to open hostilities, resulting in the First Opium War.
1956 – British
Railways renames 'Third Class' passenger facilities as 'Second
Class' (Second Class facilities had been abolished in 1875, leaving just First Class and Third Class).
1979 – A blowout at the
Ixtoc
I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 600,000 tons (176,400,000 gallons)
of oil to be spilled into the waters, the worst oil spill to
date.