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Sixty-four people are killed and more than 147 injuries after a fire in a nightclub in the Romanian capital Bucharest.
Sweden is the first European Union member state to officially recognize the State of Palestine.
The rebuilt Dresden Frauenkirche (destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden during World War II) is reconsecrated after a thirteen-year rebuilding project.
Quebec citizens narrowly vote (50.58% to 49.42%) in favour of remaining a province of Canada in their second referendum on national sovereignty.
The Troubles: Loyalists carry out a mass shooting at a Halloween party in Greysteel, Northern Ireland, killing eight civilians, six Catholics and two Protestants.
In Japan, NEC releases the first 16-bit (fourth generation) video game console, the PC Engine, which is later sold in other markets under the name TurboGrafx-16.
Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off for mission STS-61-A, its final successful mission.
The first democratic elections in Argentina after seven years of military rule are held.
El Salvador and Honduras sign a peace treaty to put the border dispute fought over in 1969's Football War before the International Court of Justice.
Prince Juan Carlos becomes Spain's acting head of state, taking over for the country's ailing dictator, Gen. Francisco Franco.
The Rumble in the Jungle boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman takes place in Kinshasa, Zaire.
The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus for the second time.
In Vietnam, the worst monsoon to hit the area in six years causes severe floods, kills 293, leaves 200,000 homeless and virtually halts the Vietnam War.
Vietnam War: United States Marines repel an intense attack by Viet Cong forces, killing 56 guerrillas near Da Nang.
English model Jean Shrimpton causes a global sensation by wearing a daring white minidress to Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia.
Due to "violations of Vladimir Lenin's precepts", it is decreed that Stalin's body be removed from its place of honour inside Lenin's tomb and buried near the Kremlin Wall with a plain granite marker instead.
The Soviet Union detonates the Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya; equivalent to 57 megatons of TNT, it remains the largest explosive device ever detonated, nuclear or otherwise.
Dr.Michael Woodruff performs the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
Cold War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally approves the top secret document National Security Council Paper No. 162/2, which states that the United States' arsenal of nuclear weapons must be maintained and expanded to counter the communist threat.
Pope Pius XII witnesses the "Miracle of the Sun" while at the Vatican.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which is the foundation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), is founded.
Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Monarchs signs a contract for the Brooklyn Dodgers to break the baseball color line.
Anne and Margot Frank are deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they die from disease the following year, shortly before the end of WWII.
Lt. Tony Fasson, Able Seaman Colin Grazier and canteen assistant Tommy Brown from HMS Petard board U-559, retrieving material which would lead to the decryption of the German Enigma code.
One thousand and five hundred Jews from Pidhaytsi (in western Ukraine) are sent by Nazis to Bełżec extermination camp.
World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt approves U.S. $1 billion in Lend-Lease aid to the Allied nations.
Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing anxiety in some of the audience in the United States.
The Stuttgart Cable Car is constructed in Stuttgart, Germany.
John Logie Baird creates Britain's first television transmitter.
The Ottoman Empire signs the Armistice of Mudros with the Allies.
Czar Nicholas II of Russia issues the October Manifesto, granting the Russian peoples basic civil liberties and the right to form a duma. This was October 17 in the Julian calendar.
Domenico Melegatti obtains a patent for a procedure to be applied in producing pandoro industrially.
Rudd Concession granted by King Lobengula of Matabeleland to agents of Cecil Rhodes led by Charles Rudd.
Helena, Montana is founded after four prospectors discover gold at "Last Chance Gulch".
Second Schleswig War ends. Denmark renounces all claim to Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg, which come under Prussian and Austrian administration.
Danish Prince Vilhelm arrives in Athens to assume his throne as George I, King of the Hellenes.
In Southampton County, Virginia, escaped slave Nat Turner is captured and arrested for leading the bloodiest slave rebellion in United States history.
The independent government of Venezuela is established by Simón Bolívar.
Believing he is facing a much larger force, Prussian Lieutenant General Friedrich von Romberg, commanding 5,300 men, surrendered the city of Stettin to 800 French soldiers commanded by General Lassalle.
Spanish forces fail to retake Jamaica at the Battle of Ocho Rios during the Anglo-Spanish War.
Ballet of Chestnuts: A banquet held by Cesare Borgia in the Papal Palace where fifty prostitutes or courtesans are in attendance for the entertainment of the guests.
Portuguese and Castilian forces halt a Marinid invasion at the Battle of Río Salado.
The Eighth Crusade and siege of Tunis end by an agreement between Charles I of Sicily (brother to King Louis IX of France, who had died months earlier) and the sultan of Tunis.
Battle of Rignano between Ranulf of Apulia and Roger II of Sicily.
Antioch surrenders to the Muslim forces under Rashidun Caliphate after the Battle of the Iron Bridge.
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