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Russian cruise ship Bulgaria sinks in Volga near Syukeyevo, Tatarstan, causing 122 deaths.
Former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boškoski is acquitted of all war-crimes charges by a United Nations Tribunal.
Hurricane Dennis slams into the Florida Panhandle, causing billions of dollars in damage.
At a Sotheby's auction, Peter Paul Rubens' painting The Massacre of the Innocents is sold for £49.5 million (US$76.2 million) to Lord Thomson.
EADS, the world's second-largest aerospace group is formed by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DASA, and CASA.
Catholic Church sexual abuse cases: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by Rudolph Kos, a former priest.
Miguel Ángel Blanco, a member of Partido Popular (Spain), is kidnapped (and later murdered) in the Basque city of Ermua by ETA members, sparking widespread protests.
In London, scientists report the findings of the DNA analysis of a Neanderthal skeleton which supports the "out of Africa theory" of human evolution, placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.
In Miami, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering violations.
Boris Yeltsin takes office as the first elected President of Russia.
The South African cricket team is readmitted into the International Cricket Council following the end of Apartheid.
An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154 stalls and crashes near Uchkuduk, Uzbekistan (then part of the Soviet Union), killing all 200 people on board in the USSR's worst-ever airline disaster.
The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents, killing Fernando Pereira.
President Moktar Ould Daddah of Mauritania is ousted in a bloodless coup d'état.
Four mercenaries (one American and three British) are executed in Angola following the Luanda Trial.
National Assembly of Pakistan passes a resolution on the recognition of Bangladesh.
The Bahamas gain full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations.
The Chicago Freedom Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago. As many as 60,000 people attend.
Telstar, the world's first communications satellite, is launched into orbit.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah is recommended as the first Governor-General of Pakistan by the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee.
World War II: An American pilot spots a downed, intact Mitsubishi A6M Zero on Akutan Island (the "Akutan Zero") that the US Navy uses to learn the aircraft's flight characteristics.
Diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and the Soviet Union are established.
Jedwabne pogrom: Massacre of Polish Jews living in and near the village of Jedwabne.
Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91-hour airplane flight around the world.
Kevin O'Higgins TD, Vice-President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State is assassinated by the IRA.
Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called "Monkey Trial" begins of John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
Meher Baba begins his silence of 44 years. His followers observe Silence Day on this date in commemoration.
Belfast's Bloody Sunday: Sixteen people are killed and 161 houses destroyed during rioting and gun battles in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The temperature in Death Valley, California, hits 134 °F (57 °C), the highest temperature ever to be recorded on Earth.
War of the Pacific: Chile suffers its last military defeat in the Battle of La Concepción when a garrison of 77 men is annihilated by a 1,300-strong Peruvian force, many of them armed with spears.
The then-villa of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, formally receives its city charter from the Royal Crown of Spain.
Gävle, Sweden, is largely destroyed in a fire; 80% of its 10,000 residents are left homeless.
U.S. President Millard Fillmore is sworn in, a day after becoming President upon Zachary Taylor's death.
U.S. President Andrew Jackson vetoes a bill that would re-charter the Second Bank of the United States.
The United States takes possession of its newly bought territory of Florida from Spain.
The Vellore Mutiny is the first instance of a mutiny by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company.
Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Mackenzie River delta.
American Revolution: Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain.
William I of Orange is assassinated in his home in Delft, Holland, by Balthasar Gérard.
Zhu Chenhao declares the Ming dynasty's Zhengde Emperor a usurper, beginning the Prince of Ning rebellion, and leads his army north in an attempt to capture Nanjing.
The Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre commences with the capture of Goizueta.
The Portuguese explorer Nicolau Coelho returns to Lisbon after discovering the sea route to India as a companion of Vasco da Gama.
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, defeats the king's Lancastrian forces and takes King Henry VI prisoner in the Battle of Northampton.
The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground.
The Norse King Glúniairn recognises Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, High King of Ireland, and agrees to pay taxes and accept Brehon Law; the event is considered to be the founding of the city of Dublin.
Isshi Incident: Prince Naka-no-Ōe and Fujiwara no Kamatari assassinate Soga no Iruka during a coup d'état at the imperial palace.
Emperor Hadrian dies of heart failure at Baiae; he is buried at Rome in the Tomb of Hadrian beside his late wife, Vibia Sabina.
Battle of Dyrrhachium: Julius Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat by Pompey in Macedonia.
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