Typhoon Ketsana (2009) hit the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, causing 700 fatalities.

Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy becomes first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing across the English Channel.

The overcrowded Senegalese ferry ''MV Joola'' capsizes off the coast of Gambia killing more than 1,000.

The {{MS|Express Samina}} sinks off Paros in the Agean sea killing 80 passengers.

Anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 20,000 protesters) turn violent during the IMF and World Bank summits.

An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.

A Garuda Indonesia Airbus A-300 crashes near Medan, Indonesia, airport, killing 234.

The United Kingdom agrees to the handover of Hong Kong

Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov averts a likely worldwide nuclear war by correctly identifying a report of an incoming nuclear missile as a computer error and not an American first strike.

Baseball: Nolan Ryan sets a Major League record by throwing his fifth no-hitter.

Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time.

The Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County, California, burning 175,425 acres (710 km²).

The Yemen Arab Republic is proclaimed.

Fidel Castro announces Cuba's support for the U.S.S.R.

In Chicago, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

Japanese rail ferry ''Toya Maru'' sinks during a typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait, Japan killing 1,172.

Indonesia is admitted to the United Nations.

United Nations troops recapture Seoul from the North Koreans.

World War II: On the central front of the Gothic Line Brazilian troops control the Serchio valley region after ten days of fighting.

World War II: Operation Market Garden fails.

Steamship {{RMS|Queen Mary}} is launched.

World War I: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the bloodiest single battle in American history, begins.

The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is established by the Federal Trade Commission Act.

Ed Reulbach becomes the first and only pitcher to throw two shutouts in one day against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

New Zealand and Newfoundland each become dominions within the British Empire.

The first Shriners Temple (called Mecca) is established in New York City.

Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson proved tomatoes weren't poisonous by eating several on the steps of the courthouse in Salem, New Jersey.

A new Act of Succession is adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates and Jean Baptiste Bernadotte becomes heir to the Swedish throne.

Marc-David Lasource begins accusing Maximilien Robespierre of wanting a dictatorship for France.

Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first United States Secretary of State, John Jay is appointed the first Chief Justice of the United States, Samuel Osgood is appointed the first United States Postmaster General, and Edmund Randolph is appointed the first United States Attorney General.

The first battle of Shays' Rebellion begins.

British troops occupy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the American Revolution.

The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, which became the Glorious Revolution.

The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed by an explosion caused by the bombing from Venetian forces led by Morosini who are besieging the Ottoman Turks stationed in Athens.

Sir Francis Drake finishes his circumnavigation of the Earth.

Golden Bull of Sicily is certified as an hereditary royal title in Bohemia for the Přemyslid dynasty.

Ragenfrid defeats Theudoald at the Battle of Compiègne.