War in Iraq: Al-Qaeda carries out the Ashoura Massacre in Iraq, killing 170 and wounding over 500.

U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins, (ending on March 19 after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, with 11 Western troop fatalities).

Data sent from the Galileo spacecraft indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice.

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, San Marino, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan join the United Nations.

Battle at Rumaila Oil Field brings an end to the 1991 Gulf War.

Nelson Mandela is elected deputy President of the African National Congress.

Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century.

Compact Disc players and discs were released for the first time in the United States and other markets. They had only been available in Japan before then.

Czech Vladimír Remek becomes the first non-Russian or non-American to go into space, when he is launched aboard Soyuz 28.

The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets.

Rhodesia declares itself a republic, breaking its last links with the British crown.

In Toulouse, France the first test flight of the Anglo-French Concorde is conducted.

Soviet and Chinese forces clash at a border outpost on the Ussuri River.

The US and South Vietnamese Air Force begins Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam.

Wilt Chamberlain sets the single-game scoring record in the National Basketball Association by scoring 100 points.

In Burma, the army led by General Ne Win seizes power in a coup d'état.

Morocco declares its independence from France.

King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicates the throne in favor of his father, King Norodom Suramarit.

The Academy Awards are first broadcast on television by NBC.

The first automatic street light is installed in New Milford, Conn..

Captain James Gallagher lands his B-50 Superfortress ''Lucky Lady II'' in Fort Worth, Texas after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight in 94 hours and one minute.

Ho Chi Minh is elected the President of North Vietnam.

World War II: Battle of the Bismarck Sea

World War II: Australia declares war on Thailand.

World War II: First German military units enter Bulgaria after it joined the Axis Pact.

Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli is elected Pope and takes the name Pius XII.

The Steel Workers Organizing Committee signs a collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel, leading to unionization of the United States steel industry.

The film ''King Kong'' opens at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

The first Communist International meets in Moscow.

The enactment of the Jones-Shafroth Act grants Puerto Ricans United States citizenship.

In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women.

The U.S. Congress passes the Platt amendment, limiting the autonomy of Cuba as a condition for the withdrawal of American troops.

Mount Rainier National Park is established in the state of Washington, USA.

Ethiopia defeats Italy in the Battle of Adwa, marking the first victory of an African nation over a colonial power.

The Convention of Constantinople is signed, guaranteeing free maritime passage through the Suez Canal during war and peace.

Queen Victoria narrowly escapes an assassination attempt in Windsor.

U.S. presidential election, 1876: Just two days before inauguration, the U.S. Congress declares Rutherford B. Hayes the winner of the election even though Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote on November 7, 1876.

The U.S. Congress passes the first Reconstruction Act

East Cape War: The Volkner Incident in New Zealand.

The U.S. Congress authorizes a track width of {{RailGauge|ussg}} for the Union Pacific Railroad

Emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia: Tsar Alexander II signs the emancipation reform into law, abolishing Russian serfdom.

The Nevada Territory and Dakota Territory are organized as political divisions of the United States.

Alexander II becomes Tsar of Russia.

The Grand National steeplechase at Aintree near Liverpool England is won by Gaylad, ridden by Tom Olliver.

Texas Revolution: Declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico.

Signing of the Kandyan Convention treaty by British invaders and the King of Sri Lanka.

The inaugural meeting of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh.

The U.S. Congress passes an act to "prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States... from any foreign kingdom, place, or country."

Long-distance communication speeds up with the unveiling of a semaphore machine in Paris.

''The Loves of Mars and Venus'' is the first ballet performed in England.

Assassination of Charles the Good, Count of Flanders.

Louis V becomes King of the Franks.