| 2005 | Slovakia Summit 2005 begins, marking the first occasion when a sitting American President visits Slovakia; Bush and Putin are in attendance. |
| 1999 | Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey. |
| 1999 | White supremacist John William King is found guilty of kidnapping and killing African American James Byrd Jr by dragging him behind a truck for two miles. |
| 1999 | An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31. |
| 1998 | Tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42. |
| 1998 | Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and Crusaders. |
| 1998 | Netscape Communications Corporation announces the foundation of mozilla.org, to co-ordinate the development of the open source Mozilla web browser. |
| 1997 | A large fire occurs in the Russian Space station, Mir. |
| 1995 | The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 30.28 to close at 4,003.33, closing above 4,000 for the first time. |
| 1993 | Gary Coleman wins a $1,280,000 lawsuit against his parents. |
| 1992 | The Socialist Labour Party is founded in Georgia. |
| 1991 | Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabia border and enter Iraq, thus starting the ground-phase of the war. |
| 1991 | Thailand: General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d'état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan. |
| 1987 | A supernova is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud (see Supernova 1987a). |
| 1983 | The Spanish Socialist government of Felipe González and Miguel Boyer nationalizes Rumasa, a holding of José María Ruiz Mateos. |
| 1983 | The Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri. |
| 1981 | 23-F, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d'état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies. |
| 1980 | Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament would decide the fate of the American embassy hostages. |
| 1975 | In response to the energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly two months early in the United States. |
| 1974 | The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst. |
| 1966 | A military coup in Syria replaces the previous government. |
| 1958 | Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world driving champion Juan Manuel Fangio. |
| 1957 | The founding congress of the Senegalese Popular Bloc is opened in Dakar. |
| 1956 | Nikita Khrushchev attacks the veneration of Joseph Stalin as a "cult of personality". |
| 1955 | First meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). |
| 1955 | Edgar Faure becomes Prime Minister of France |
| 1954 | The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. |
| 1947 | International Organization for Standardization(ISO) is founded. |
| 1945 | Early in the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines reach the top of Mount Surabachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag. The photo would later win a Pulitzer Prize. |
| 1945 | World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by American forces. |
| 1945 | World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznan, city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces. |
| 1945 | World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is completely destroyed by a raid of 379 British bombers. |
| 1940 | World War II: Soviet Union troops conquer Lasi Island. |
| 1940 | The animated movie Pinocchio is released. |
| 1934 | Léopold III becomes King of Belgium. |
| 1927 | The Federal Radio Commission (later renamed the Federal Communications Commission) begins to regulate the use of radio frequencies. |
| 1919 | Benito Mussolini forms the Fascist Party in Italy. |
| 1909 | The Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire. |
| 1905 | Chicago, Illinois attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world's first service club. |
| 1904 | For $10 million the United States gains control of the Panama Canal Zone. |
| 1903 | Cuba leases Guantanamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity". |
| 1900 | Battle of Hart's Hill: In South Africa the Boers and British troops battle. |
| 1898 | Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing "J'accuse", a letter accusing the French government of anti-Semitism and wrongfully placing Captain Alfred Dreyfus in jail. |
| 1893 | Rudolf Diesel receives a patent for the diesel engine. |
| 1887 | The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000. |
| 1883 | Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an antitrust law. |
| 1874 | Walter Winfield patents a game called "sphairistike" which is more commonly called lawn tennis. |
| 1870 | Military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union. |
| 1861 | President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, DC after an assassination attempt in Baltimore, Maryland. |
| 1847 | Mexican-American War: Battle of Buena Vista |
| 1836 | The Siege of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas. |
| 1820 | Cato Street Conspiracy: A plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers is exposed. |
| 1778 | American Revolution: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to help to train the Continental Army. |
| 1732 | First performance of George Frideric Handel's Orlando, in London. |
| 1660 | Charles XI becomes King of Sweden. |
| 1574 | The 5th holy war against the Huguenots begins in France. |
| 1455 | Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed from movable type. |