The nuclear sub {{USS|San Francisco|SSN-711|6}} collides at full speed with an undersea mountain south of Guam. One man is killed, but the sub surfaces and is repaired.

The {{RMS|Queen Mary 2}}, the largest passenger ship ever built, is christened by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.

President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.

An Antonov 32 cargo turboprop powered plane crashes into the central market in Kinshasa, Zaire killing more than 350 people.

Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.

Beginning of Japanese Heisei era.

The Kegworth air disaster. British Midland flight 92 crashes into the M1 motorway killing 47 people out of 127 on board.

The break up of AT&T: AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.

The tanker ''Betelgeuse'' explodes in Bantry Bay, Ireland.

Ella Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband.

Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.

Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.

President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States.

Leonardo da Vinci's ''Mona Lisa'' is exhibited in the United States for the first time, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

The Harmelen train disaster killed 93 people in the Netherlands.

In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies in Algeria.

Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution is completed with the takeover of Santiago de Cuba.

Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.

World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.

Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud becomes the King of Hejaz and renames it Saudi Arabia.

President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I.

The African National Congress is founded.

A landslide in Haverstraw, New York, caused by the excavation of clay along the Hudson River, kills 20 people.

The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.

Herman Hollerith is issued US patent #395,791 for the 'Art of Applying Statistics' — his punched card calculator.

Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle against the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana Territory.

African American men are granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C.

American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield

Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).

The United States national debt is 0 for the only time.

War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans

An unsuccessful slave revolt is led by Charles Deslandes in St. Charles and St. James, Louisiana.

Cape Colony becomes a British colony.

George Washington delivers the first State of the Union Address in New York City.

Second Jacobite Rising: Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling.

Premiere performance of George Frideric Handel's ''Ariodante'' at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany.

Monaco gains its independence.

Battle of Ashdown