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Hyundai fires its US boss

Hyundai fired U.S. CEO Dave Zuchowski for failing to meet internal sales targets. The news was reported by Automotive News. Dave Zuchowski joined Hyundai in 2007 as U.S. sales boss and became U.S. CEO in 2014.

Eminem and Rihanna are at #1 on the US singles chart

Upon release, the song was met with positive reviews from music critics, who compared the song to Love the Way You Lie. The Monster has successfully charted worldwide, topping the charts in 12 countries including Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States' Billboard Hot 100.

The first YouTube video to reach one billion views

"Gangnam Style" is the 18th K-pop single by the South Korean musician Psy. "Gangnam Style" became the first YouTube video to reach one billion and two billion views. The song's music video has been viewed over 3 billion times on YouTube.

Capital Gate is opened

Capital Gate, also known as the Leaning Tower of Abu Dhabi, is a skyscraper in Abu Dhabi that is over 160 meters tall, 35 stories high, with over 16,000 square meters of usable office space. Capital Gate is one of the tallest buildings in the city and was designed to incline 18° west. The building is owned and was developed by the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company.

Ireland injects €5.5bn into its three main banks

The Irish government decided to inject its 3 banks, namely the Anglo Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks. In return, the banks agreed to provide more help to small business and individuals and to give mortgage-holders more time in case they fall behind their payments.

Elton John and David Furnish become the first gay celebrities in civil partnership

John and Furnish were amongst the first couples in the UK to form a civil partnership, which was held at the Windsor Guildhall. After gay marriage became legal in England in March 2014, John and Furnish married in Windsor, Berkshire, on the ninth anniversary of their civil partnership.

Michael Andrews and Gary Jules are at #1 on the UK singles chart

Mad World is a song by the British band Tears for Fears. Written by Roland Orzabal and sung by bassist Curt Smith, it was the band's 3rd single release and 1st chart hit. The song's cover by Andrews and Jules reached #1 spot on the UK chart where it remained for 3 consecutive weeks.

Ace of Base release 'The Sign' in the US

"The Sign" is a song by the Swedish band Ace of Base. It was an international hit, reaching number 2 in the UK and spending 6 non-consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US. More prominently, it became the top song on Billboard's 1994 Year End Chart. It appeared on the band's album Happy Nation.

Commonwealth of Independent States

Commonwealth of Independent States was established after a dissolution of the Soviet Union, which was among other things caused by the decentralization reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev. Since then, the former Soviet republics have been governed independently with some adopting liberal policies and some keeping its relationship with Russia.

Queen start a 5-week run at #1 on the UK singles chart

"Bohemian Rhapsody" became a commercial success, selling more than a million copies. The single reached number one again for 5 weeks when the same version was re-released, as double A-side single with "These Are the Days of Our Lives", following Mercury's death. It eventually became the UK's third-best-selling single of all time.

Lockerbie bombing

Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via London and New York. The aircraft operating the transatlantic leg of the route was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew – a disaster known as the Lockerbie bombing. Large sections of the aircraft crashed onto residential areas of Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 11 people on the ground.

Lionel Richie is at #1 on the US singles

Say You, Say Me is a song written and recorded by Lionel Richie for the film White Nights, starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines. The single hit number 1 in the US and on the R&B singles chart. It became Richie's ninth number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

Elvis Presley meets US President Richard Nixon in the White House

Presley engineered a meeting with President Richard Nixon at the White House, where he expressed his patriotism and explained how he believed he could reach out to the hippies to help combat the drug culture he and the president abhorred. He asked Nixon for a Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs badge, to add to similar items he had begun collecting and to signify official sanction of his patriotic efforts.

The Supremes make their last TV appearance with Diana Ross

"Someday We'll Be Together" is a song written by Johnny Bristol, Jackey Beavers, and Harvey Fuqua. It was the last of 12 American number-one pop singles for Diana Ross & the Supremes on the Motown label. The girl group made their final of several performances singing this song with Diana Ross singing lead on the finale of The Ed Sullivan Show that aired live Sunday on CBS.

'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' has its world premiere

Snow White premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre, followed by a nationwide release on February 4, 1938. It was a critical and commercial success, and with international earnings of $8 million during its initial release briefly assumed the record of the highest-grossing sound film at the time.

New element is discovered

Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium. They extracted it from the Uraninite from Jáchymov in what is today the Czech Republic. Later Marie and Pierre Curie and André-Louis Debierne isolated the element in its metallic state using electrolysis. Radium has 33 isotopes. All are highly radioactive.

1891

The first game of basketball

The first ever game was played in the YMCA gymnasium in Albany, New York with 9 players. The game ended at 1–0; the shot was made from 25 feet, on a court just half the size of a present-day Streetball or National Basketball Association court.

The foundation of oceanography

British research vessel HMS Challenger sailed from Portsmouth for her famous expedition. The former warship was equipped by laboratories instead of cannons. She traveled nearly 70,000 nautical miles. She returned four years later. The reports from the voyage were published for 18 years in 50 volumes.

Phileas Fogg completes his round the world trip in 80 days

Phileas Fogg is the main protagonist in the Jules Verne novel Around the World in Eighty Days. Fogg made a wager of £20,000 with members of London's Reform Club that he can circumnavigate the world in 80 days or less. During his journey, he saved a princess Aouda and later they got married.

Anniversaries of the (in)famous