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Five different terrorist attacks in France, Tunisia, Somalia, Kuwait, and Syria occurred on what was dubbed Bloody Friday by international media. Upwards of 750 people were either killed or injured in these uncoordinated attacks.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Riots in China's Xinjiang region kill at least 36 people and injure 21 others.
The Waldo Canyon fire descends into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs burning 347 homes in a matter of hours and killing two people.
A suicide bomber dressed as an Iraqi policeman detonates an explosive vest, killing 25 people.
Pope Benedict XVI reinstates the traditional laws of papal election in which a successful candidate must receive two-thirds of the votes.
Mari Alkatiri, the first Prime Minister of East Timor, resigns after weeks of political unrest.
The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that gender-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional.
Pope John Paul II reveals the third secret of Fátima.
The Human Genome Project announces the completion of a "rough draft" sequence.
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Communications Decency Act violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani deposes his father Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in a bloodless coup d'état.
The Yugoslav People's Army begins the Ten-Day War in Slovenia.
Air Canada Flight 189, flying to Toronto, overruns the runway and crashes into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. Two of the 107 passengers on board perish.
Elvis Presley held his final concert in Indianapolis, Indiana at Market Square Arena
Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial.
The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.
U.S. President John F. Kennedy gave his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, underlining the support of the United States for democratic West Germany shortly after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall.
The former British Protectorate of British Somaliland gains its independence as Somaliland.
Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson becomes world champion of heavy weight boxing, by defeating American Floyd Patterson on technical knockout after two minutes and three seconds in the third round at Yankee Stadium.
The South African Congress Alliance adopts the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People in Kliptown.
Lavrentiy Beria, head of MVD, is arrested by Nikita Khrushchev and other members of the Politburo.
The Pan-Malayan Labour Party is founded in Malaya, as a union of statewide labour parties.
Shirley Jackson's short story The Lottery is published in The New Yorker magazine.
William Shockley files the original patent for the grown-junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.
The Battle of Osuchy in Osuchy, Poland, one of the largest battles between Nazi Germany and Polish resistance forces, ends with the defeat of the latter.
World War II: San Marino, a neutral state, is mistakenly bombed by the RAF based on faulty information, leading to 35 civilian deaths.
World War II: Soviet planes bomb Kassa, Hungary (now Košice, Slovakia), giving Hungary the impetus to declare war the next day.
World War II: Under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Romania requiring it to cede Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina.
United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act, which establishes credit unions.
The American occupation of the Dominican Republic ends after eight years.
Allied Forces under John J. Pershing and James Harbord defeat Imperial German Forces under Wilhelm, German Crown Prince in the Battle of Belleau Wood.
The American Expeditionary Forces begin to arrive in France. They will first enter combat four months later.
The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity.
Bangui is founded by Albert Dolisie and Alfred Uzac in what was then the upper reaches of the French Congo.
The Christian holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States.
The first investiture of the Victoria Cross in Hyde Park, London.
Treaty of Nanking comes into effect, Hong Kong Island is ceded to the British "in perpetuity".
French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Fleurus marked the first successful military use of aircraft.
A combined force of Spanish, free blacks and allied Indians defeat a British garrison at the Siege of Fort Mose near St. Augustine during the War of Jenkins' Ear.
Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia, Peter the Great's son, mysteriously dies after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him.
Francisco Pizarro is assassinated in Lima by the son of his former companion and later antagonist, Diego de Almagro the younger. Almagro is later caught and executed.
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and Edward, Earl of March, land in England with a rebel army and march on London.
Western Schism: The Roman Catholic Church is led into a double schism as Petros Philargos is crowned Pope Alexander V after the Council of Pisa, joining Pope Gregory XII in Rome and Pope Benedict XII in Avignon.
Ulrich von Jungingen becomes Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights.
Przemysł II crowned king of Poland, following Ducal period. The white eagle is added to the Polish coat of arms.
En no Ozuno, a Japanese mystic and apothecary who will later be regarded as the founder of a folk religion Shugendō, is banished to Izu Ōshima.
Roman emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sasanian Empire. General Jovian is proclaimed Emperor by the troops on the battlefield.
Roman emperor Elagabalus adopts his cousin Alexander Severus as his heir and receives the title of Caesar.
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