2014 Event The British government raises its terror threat level to 'severe' due to concern over the number of participants in Middle Eastern conflicts who have been traveling to and from the U.K. and who may seek to instigate terrorist actions inside the country 2013 Event Shanghai officials deliver the highest level health warning as a record level of smog shrouds the city; hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled 2013 Event Japan reports on the International Nuclear Event Scale that they've upgraded the leak of radioactive water at the Fukushima nuclear disaster site to Level 3, a 'serious incident' 2013 Event The NASDAQ hits its highest level in ten years; the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P500 close at record highs 2013 Event Unemployment in France reaches a record level of 3.22 million people 2013 Event In Japan, optimism for economic revival sparked Bank of Japan's stimulus plan, impacts Japan's stock market index; following its release, the Nikkei 225 hits its highest level in nearly five years 2012 Event The People's Republic of China economic growth rate experiences to its lowest level in three years, 7.6 per cent 2012 Event The Euro zone experiences the highest unemployment level in its history: 10.7 per cent 2012 Event The Dow Jones Industrial Average achieves its highest level at closing since May 2008 2011 Event Italy's credit rating is lowered from A+ to A by Standard and Poor's rating agency, a result of its high level of debt and the stability of its government 2011 Event Following the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, Japan raises the crisis level to 7, equal to the disaster in Chernobyl 2011 Event In China, the yuan reaches a record level against the U.S. dollar 2011 Event In Tokyo, the Metropolitan Government Bureau of Waterworks reports that radioactive iodine in city tap water is two times the recommended level for infants 2010 Event The Australian dollar reaches the highest level in 27 years against the U.S. dollar 2010 Event Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, commands Iran's atomic agency to start enriching uranium at a higher level 1986 Event Fred Markham (U.S.), unpaced and unaided by wind, is 1st to pedal 65 mph on a level course, Big Sand Flat, California 1985 Event Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 1,500 level for 1st time 1978 Event Price of gold tops $200-an-oz level for 1st time 1959 Birthday Mike Lindup, British rock keyboardist/singer, Level 42-Hot Water 1958 Birthday Mark King, bass/vocalist, Level 42-Standing in the Light, Love Games 1957 Birthday Phil Gould, rock percussionist, Level 42-Hot Water 1955 Birthday Boon Gould, rock guitarist, Level 42-Hot Water 1949 Birthday Alan Lancaster, bassist, Status Quo-Down Down, On the Level 1940 Birthday Willie Tyler, Red Level Ala, ventriloquist, Lester 1939 Birthday Seamus Heaney, born in Ireland, poet, writer, poetry professor at the University of Oxford, Nobel Prize in Literature recipient, wrote play The Cure at Troy, Seeing Things, The Spirit Level, Beowulf: A New Translation
