Dalia Grybauskaitė is elected the first female President of Lithuania.

Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel in a test-run agreed by both governments. This is the first time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953.

The aircraft carrier {{USS|Oriskany|CV-34|6}} is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef.

Massachusetts becomes the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.

Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa. Zaire is officially renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Malawi holds its first multi-party elections.

Three days of popular protests against the government of Prime Minister of Thailand Suchinda Kraprayoon begin in Bangkok, leading to a military crackdown that results in 52 officially confirmed deaths, many disappearances, hundreds of injuries, and over 3,500 arrests.

The General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseases.

An Iraqi fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. warship {{USS|Stark|FFG-31|6}}, killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.

Prince Charles calls a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend," sparking controversies on the proper role of the Royal Family and the course of modern architecture.

Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

The U.S. Department of Energy declassifies documents showing world's largest mercury pollution event in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (ultimately found to be 4.2 million pounds), in response to the Appalachian Observer's Freedom of Information Act request.

On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in the town of Chuschi, Ayacucho, starting the Internal conflict in Peru.

General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations.

Thirty-three people are killed by terrorist bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland.

Police in Los Angeles, California, raid the Symbionese Liberation Army's headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall.

Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.

Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat ''Ra II'' to sail the Atlantic Ocean.

Venera program: Soviet ''Venera 6'' begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.

Six-Day War: President Abdul Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.

The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas''.

World War II: the Dambuster Raids by No. 617 Squadron RAF on German dams.

The United States Army contracts with the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School to develop the ENIAC.

World War II: the old city centre of the Dutch town of Middelburg is bombed by the German Luftwaffe, to force the surrender of the Dutch armies in Zeeland.

World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.

The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the United States' first televised sporting event, a collegiate baseball game in New York City.

Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling — the national-socialist party of Norway.

U.S. Army aviation pioneer, Major Harold Geiger, dies in the crash of his Airco DH.4 de Havilland plane at Olmstead Field, Pennsylvania.

The British War Department orders use of National Star Insignia on all airplanes.

The last British Liberal Party government (led by Herbert Henry Asquith) falls.

The Protocol of Corfu is signed recognising full autonomy to Northern Epirus under nominal Albanian sovereignty.

Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.

Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.

The Victorian Football League of Australia is founded.

Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby.

El Paso, Texas is established by charter from the Texas Legislature.

The International Telegraph Union (later the International Telecommunication Union) is established in Paris.

Rosalía de Castro publishes ''Cantares Gallegos'', the first book in the Galician language.

German football club TSV 1860 München is founded

A fire threatens to burn St. Louis, Missouri to the ground.

The Constitution of Norway is signed and the Danish Crown Prince Christian Frederik is elected King of Norway by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly.

Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian.

Napoleon I of France orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire.

Muhammad Ali becomes Wāli of Egypt.

The New York Stock Exchange is formed.

American Revolutionary War: the Continental Congress bans trade with Canada.

Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.

Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve (1612–1676) founds the Ville Marie de Montréal.

Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.

George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford and four other men are executed for treason.

Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.