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A firebomb is thrown into a restaurant in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, killing 17 people.
Islamic insurgents kill three state police at a traffic circle before taking an empty school and a "press house" in Grozny. Ten state forces die with 28 injured in gun battles ending with ten insurgents killed.
Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the government to allow universal and equal suffrage.
The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.
Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.
Terry A. Anderson is released after seven years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut; he is the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon.
Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill 107-150 civilians in Mannar.
The People's Republic of China adopts its current constitution.
South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).
The Hastie fire in Hull kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.
Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco's first female mayor.
Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing 100.
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.
Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.
Vietnam War: U.S. and South Vietnamese forces engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta.
The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studio for the first and last time.
By a vote of 65-7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations. (The UN had been established on October 24, 1945.)
World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes down the Works Progress Administration, because of the high levels of wartime employment in the United States.
World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.
World War II: Carlson's patrol during the Guadalcanal Campaign ends.
World War II: HMS Nelson is struck by a mine (laid by U-31) off the Scottish coast and is laid up for repairs until August 1940.
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.
The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, the oldest surviving professional hockey franchise in the world, is founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association.
In Canadian football, the First Grey Cup game is played. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeat the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club, 26-6.
Alpha Phi Alpha the first black intercollegiate Greek lettered fraternity was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
First Matabele War: A patrol of 34 British South Africa Company soldiers is ambushed and annihilated by more than 3,000 Matabele warriors on the Shangani River in Matabeleland.
Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison; he is later recaptured in Spain.
The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the Canadian brig Dei Gratia. The ship had been abandoned for nine days but was only slightly damaged.
Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange).
American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: At Waynesboro, Georgia, forces under Union General Judson Kilpatrick prevent troops led by Confederate General Joseph Wheeler from interfering with Union General William T. Sherman's campaign destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the Atlantic Ocean from Atlanta.
In the face of fierce local opposition, British Governor-General Lord William Bentinck issues a regulation declaring that anyone who abets suttee in Bengal is guilty of culpable homicide.
The first edition of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published.
Mission Santa Barbara is dedicated (on the feast day of Saint Barbara).
At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, U.S. General George Washington bids farewell to his officers.
Charles Edward Stuart's army reaches Derby, its furthest point during the Second Jacobite Rising.
Battle of Lund: A Danish army under the command of King Christian V engages the Swedish army commanded by Field Marshal Simon Grundel-Helmfelt.
Father Jacques Marquette founds a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illiniwek. (The mission would later grow into the city of Chicago.)
Thirty-eight colonists arrive at Berkeley Hundred, Virginia. The group's charter proclaims that the day "be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God."
The final session of the Council of Trent is held. (It had opened on December 13, 1545.)
Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy) in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.
Austrasian king Carloman I dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne king of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.
English