Gyanendra, the last King of Nepal, ascends to the throne after the massacre in the Royal Palace.

Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.

The first flight of Ariane 5 explodes after roughly 20 seconds. It was a Cluster mission.

Ufa train disaster: A natural gas explosion near Ufa, Russia, kills 575 as two trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline.

Solidarity's victory in the first (somewhat) free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland sparks off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, leads to the creation of the so-called Contract Sejm and begins the Autumn of Nations.

Ali Khamenei is elected the new Supreme Leader of Islamic republic of Iran by the Assembly of Experts after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel.

Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings takes power in Ghana after a military coup in which General Fred Akuffo is overthrown.

During Ten Cent Beer Night, inebriated Cleveland Indians fans start a riot, causing the game to be forfeited to the Texas Rangers.

A patent for the ATM is granted to Donald Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain.

Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom.

Stockport Air Disaster: British Midland flight G-ALHG crashes in Hopes Carr, Stockport, killing 72 passengers and crew.

World War II: Rome falls to the Allies, the first Axis capital to fall.

World War II: A hunter-killer group of the United States Navy captures the German submarine German submarine U-505|''U-505''

A military coup in Argentina ousts Ramón Castillo.

World War II: The Battle of Midway begins. Japanese Admiral Chuichi Nagumo orders a strike on Midway Island by much of the Imperial Japanese navy.

World War II: The Dunkirk evacuation ends – British forces complete evacuation of 300,000 troops from Dunkirk in France.

Holocaust: The {{MS|St. Louis}}, a ship carrying 963 Jewish refugees, is denied permission to land in Florida, United States, after already being turned away from Cuba. Forced to return to Europe, more than 200 of its passengers later die in Nazi concentration camps.

President of the Republic of China Zhang Zuolin is assassinated by Japanese agents.

Hungary loses 71% of its territory and 63% of its population when the Treaty of Trianon is signed in Paris.

Women's rights: The U.S. Congress approves the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees suffrage to women, and sends it to the U.S. states for ratification.

The first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded: Laura E. Richards, Maude H. Elliott, and Florence Hall receive the first Pulitzer for biography (for ''Julia Ward Howe''). Jean Jules Jusserand receives the first Pulitzer for history for his work ''With Americans of Past and Present Days''. Herbert B. Swope receives the first Pulitzer for journalism for his work for the ''New York World''.

Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of King George V's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby. She is trampled, never regains consciousness and dies a few days later.

Massachusetts becomes the first state of the United States to set a minimum wage.

Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and gives it a successful test run.

Cyprus Convention: The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title.

An express train called the ''Transcontinental Express'' arrives in San Francisco, California, via the First Transcontinental Railroad only 83 hours and 39 minutes after leaving New York City.

American Civil War: Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.

Italian Independence wars: In the Battle of Magenta, the French army, under Louis-Napoleon, defeat the Austrian army.

French American Revolutionary War General Lafayette speaks at what would become Lafayette Square, Buffalo, during his visit to the United States.

Following Louisiana's admittance as a U.S. state, the Louisiana Territory is renamed the Missouri Territory.

Grieving over the death of his wife, Marie Clotilde of France, King Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia abdicates his throne in favor of his brother, Victor Emmanuel.

British troops capture Port-au-Prince in Haiti.

Captain George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for the Kingdom of Great Britain.

The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their ''montgolfière'' (hot air balloon).

Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada taken from the Acadians.

Siege of Osaka: Forces under the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan.

Sir Walter Raleigh establishes the first English colony on Roanoke Island, old Virginia (now North Carolina).

Henry III becomes Holy Roman Emperor.