Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.

Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Afghan Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.

Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509, a Boeing 747-200F crashes shortly after take-off from London Stansted Airport due to pilot error. All 4 crew members are killed.

Hussein Aidid relinquishes the disputed title of President of Somalia by signing the Cairo Declaration, in Cairo, Egypt. It is the first major step towards reconciliation in Somalia since 1991.

Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.

The Archives of Terror are discovered.

Final independence of Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia after termination of trusteeship.

Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.

After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as president of Romania, ending Nicolae Ceauşescu's Communist dictatorship.

Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist and environmental activist, is assassinated.

Bernhard Hugo Goetz shoots four would-be African-American muggers on an express train in Manhattan, New York City.

The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for Chinese economic reform.

The house of former British Prime Minister Ted Heath is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.

Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration.

In the United Kingdom, a 70mph speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time. Previously, there had been no speed limit.

First flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird).

The cruise ship ''Lakonia'' burns 180 miles north of Madeira with the loss of 128 lives.

Colo is born, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity.

The Selangor Labour Party is founded in Selangor, Malaya.

The Constituent Assembly of Italy approves the Constitution of Italy.

World War II: The People's Army of Vietnam is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indo-China, now Vietnam.

World War II: Battle of the Bulge

World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.

World War II: Himarë is captured by the Greek army.

The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.

The GOELRO economic development plan is adopted by the 8th Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR.

The Dreyfus affair begins in France, when Alfred Dreyfus is wrongly convicted of treason, on antisemitic grounds.

Cornwallis Valley Railway begins operation between Kingsport and Kentville, Nova Scotia.

Ito Hirobumi, a samurai, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.

Savannah, Georgia falls to General William Tecumseh Sherman, concluding his "March to the Sea".

The first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India.

The execution of Fyodor Dostoevsky is called off at the last second.

The Non-Intercourse Act, lifting the Embargo Act except for the United Kingdom and France, is passed by the U.S. Congress.

The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson.

The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies.

Emperor Vitellius is captured and murdered by the Gemonian stairs in Rome.