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Ed Sheeran is at #1 on the US singles chart with 'Shape Of You'

The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, selling 240,000 downloads and gaining 20 million streams in its debut week in the US, becoming Sheeran's first number one song in the country. Sheeran also became the first artist to debut two songs in the top 10 the same week in the history of the Hot 100, with "Castle on the Hill" also debuting at number six.

'The Humans' opens on Broadway

The Humans is a one-act play written by Stephen Karam. The Humans opened Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre, and officially on October 25 in a limited run produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company, with positive reviews. Directed by Joe Mantello, the Off-Broadway cast featured Cassie Beck, Reed Birney, Jayne Houdyshell, and Sarah Steele.

Crime series 'The Mentalist' ends after seven years on the air

The Mentalist is an American drama television series that ran from 2008 until 2015, broadcasting 151 episodes over seven seasons, on CBS. Created by Bruno Heller, who was also its executive producer, the show follows former "psychic" Patrick Jane, who is a consultant to the California Bureau of Investigation, using the highly developed observational skills he previously employed to "read" people's minds.

Clashes between police and demonstrators

Relatively calm anti-government demonstrations in Kiev, Ukraine abruptly turned into chaos, when protesters clashed with police during their advance on Ukraine’s parliament. This started a series of violent events which eventually culminated in the overthrow of the government. 113 people were reported dead after the conflict.

Tomorrowland 2013 sells out in seconds

Full madness passes sold out in 35 minutes, and the remainder of tickets sold out in a reported one second. Tomorrowland again offered its Global Journey packages with Brussels Airlines which had 140 additional flights from 67 different cities around the world transporting festival goers with 214 different nationalities to Boom, Belgium.

Kelly Clarkson is at #1 on the US singles chart

In the United States, "Stronger" became her third song to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three non-consecutive weeks, surpassing "A Moment Like This" and "My Life Would Suck Without You" as her longest-running number one single on the chart. It also topped fifteen other Billboard charts, including Adult Pop Songs, Adult Contemporary, Hot Dance Club Songs, and Pop Songs charts, more than any other song Clarkson has ever released.

The 29th Brit Awards are held

The Brit Awards ceremony took place at Earls Court in London and was broadcast live on ITV. It was hosted by James Corden, Mathew Home, Kylie Minogue and watched by 5.49 million people. Duffy became the 1st female artist to ever win 3 awards in the same year. Kings of Leon won 2 awards.

Fantasy author Terry Pratchett receives a knighthood

Terry Pratchett was an English author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He formally received the accolade at Buckingham Palace. Afterwards, he said, "You can't ask a fantasy writer not to want a knighthood. You know, for two pins I'd get myself a horse and a sword."

Samjhauta Express bombings

A terrorist attack occurred on the Samjhauta Express, a twice-weekly train service that connected Delhi, India and Lahore, Pakistan. Bombs exploded in 2 carriages after the train passed Diwana. The attack claimed the lives of 68 people and left 50 with non-fatal injuries. Groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Abhinav Bharat were accused of the attack.

UK bans hunting with dogs

Using dogs for the hunting of wild mammals was banned by an Act of the Parliament of the UK. It does not affect the process of flushing out mammals to be shot, nor using the dogs to follow scent which is still allowed. It was an animal welfare law, as hunting with dogs has been considered cruel.

Daegu Subway Fire

The Daegu subway fire was a mass murder that killed 192 people and injured 151 people. An arsonist set fire to a train stopped at the Jungangno Station of the Daegu Metropolitan Subway in Daegu, South Korea. The fire then spread to a second train that had entered the station from the opposite direction a few minutes later.

2001

Dale Earnhardt is killed on the last lap of the Daytona 500

Dale Earnhardt was killed in a three-car crash on the final lap of the race. He collided with Ken Schrader after making small contact with Sterling Marlin and hit the outside wall head-on. Earnhardt died immediately of blunt force trauma to his head. His public funeral service was held 4 days later at the Calvary Church in Charlotte.

Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested, accused of spying for Russia

Hanssen was arrested at Foxstone Park near his home in Vienna, Virginia after leaving a package of classified materials at a dead drop site. He was charged with selling U.S. intelligence documents to the Soviet Union and subsequently Russia for more than US$1.4 million in cash and diamonds over a 22-year period. To avoid the death penalty, he pleaded guilty to 14 counts of espionage and one of conspiracy to commit espionage. He was sentenced to 15 life terms without the possibility of parole.

'Pitch Black' is released

Pitch Black is an American science fiction action horror movie co-written and directed by David Twohy. The film stars Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Keith David. Dangerous criminal Richard B. Riddick is being transported to prison in a spacecraft. Pitch Black was the final movie credit of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, which merged with Universal Pictures during production. It was shot on a modest budget of US$23 million.

'The Mineola Twins' opens on Off-Broadway

The Mineola Twins is a play by Paula Vogel, a satirical story that examines women’s experience and the women’s movement over decades in post-WW II America, seen through the life of identical twins, Myra and Myrna. The Off-Broadway production ran for a bit over 3 months and was directed by Joe Mantello.

Space shuttle orbiter is tested in flight for the first time

American space shuttle Enterprise was tested for two hours on the the top of a modified 747 jumbo jet. It was the first of five flights in the nine-month-long Approach and Landing Test testing program. Enterprise lacked engines and functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of spaceflight.

1960

The VIII Olympic Winter Games open in Squaw Valley

The Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California attracted 665 athletes, 521 men, and 144 women, representing 30 countries, who participated in 4 sports and 27 events. Women's speed skating and biathlon made their Olympic debuts. For the 1st and only time, bobsled was not on the Winter Olympic program.

Ray Charles records 'What’d I Say'

What'd I say is a rhythm and blues song written and recorded by Ray Charles. The song broke Charles into mainstream pop music and itself sparked a new sub-genre of R&B titled soul. It also earned him his 1st gold record. For the rest of his career, Charles closed every concert with the song.

Irish prime minister, Eamon de Valera, resigns after 16 years

In the 1948 election, de Valera lost the outright majority he'd enjoyed. It initially looked like the National Labour Party would give Fianna Fáil enough support to stay in office as a minority government, but National Labour insisted on a formal coalition agreement—something de Valera was unwilling to concede.

Dwarf planet Pluto is discovered

American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh spotted a moving point when comparing two photographic plates taken six days apart the previous month. He realized that it is probably the Planet X that astronomers were searched for nearly 30 years. Later it was named Pluto, after an ancient god of the underworld.

Anniversaries of the (in)famous

born 1954

John Travolta

born 1965

Dr. Dre

born 1996

Pan Yen-hsin