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Libyan Civil War: National Transitional Council rebel forces capture ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in his hometown of Sirte and kill him shortly thereafter.
A 6.8 Mw earthquake strikes the Uttarkashi region of India, killing more than 1,000 people.
During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster.
Two police officers and an armored car guard are killed during an armed robbery in Rockland County, New York, carried out by members of the Black Liberation Army and Weather Underground.
The ferry George Prince is struck by a ship while crossing the Mississippi River between Destrehan and Luling, Louisiana. Seventy-eight passengers and crew die, and only 18 people aboard the ferry survive.
The Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction.
"Saturday Night Massacre": United States President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is finally fired by Robert Bork.
Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
People's Republic of China launches simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line, igniting the Sino-Indian War.
The Soviet Union performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf-class submarine.
Governor Evelyn Baring declares a state of emergency in Kenya and begins arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising, including Jomo Kenyatta, the future first President of Kenya.
The "Johnny Bright incident" occurs in Stillwater, Oklahoma
The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan establish diplomatic relations for the first time.
The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of the cinema of the United States, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years.
Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam decides that October 20 is Vietnam Women's Day.
American general Douglas MacArthur fulfills his promise to return to the Philippines when he commands an Allied assault on the islands, reclaiming them from the Japanese during the Second World War.
Liquefied natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland and then explodes; the explosion and resulting fire level 30 blocks and kill 130.
The Soviet Army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia
World War II: Thousands of civilians in Kragujevac in German-occupied Serbia are murdered in the Kragujevac massacre.
The Long March, a mammoth retreat undertaken by the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party a year prior, ends.
The hull of the RMS Olympic, sister-ship to the ill-fated RMS Titanic, is launched from the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Chile and Bolivia sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, delimiting the border between the two countries.
Peru and Chile sign the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific.
Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Rutgers universities draft the first code of American football rules.
In the Battle of Navarino, a combined Turkish and Egyptian fleet is defeated by British, French, and Russian naval forces in the last significant battle fought with wooden sailing ships.
The Convention of 1818 is signed between the United States and the United Kingdom, which settles the Canada-United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.
The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase.
The Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Habsburg Monarchy.
Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony refuse to honour the Pragmatic Sanction and the War of the Austrian Succession begins.
Caribbean pirate Calico Jack is captured by the Royal Navy.
Relief of Goes: Cristóbal de Mondragón, with 3000 soldiers of the Spanish Tercios, relieves the siege of the city.
Battle of Jodoigne: the Spanish Duke of Alba defeats a Dutch rebel force under William the Silent.
The city of Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Our Lady of Peace) is founded by Alonso de Mendoza by appointment of the king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V.
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