Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.

In Corsica, the prefect Claude Erignac is assassinated in Ajaccio, presumably by Yvan Colonna.

The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe.

Justice Mary Gaudron is appointed to the High Court of Australia, the first woman to be appointed.

The Blizzard of 1978, one of the worst Nor'easters in New England history, hit the region, with sustained winds of 65 mph and snowfall of 4" an hour.

Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit.

Eight Manchester United F.C. players are killed in the Munich air disaster.

Elizabeth II becomes Queen upon the death of her father George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a treehouse at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.

''The Broker'', a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train derails near Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. The accident kills 85 people and injures over 500 more. The wreck is one of the worst rail disasters in American history.

World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Thailand.

Far right leagues rally in front of the Palais Bourbon in an attempted coup against the French Third Republic, creating a political crisis in France.

The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution, establishing the beginning and ending of the terms of the elected federal offices, goes into effect.

The Washington Naval Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., limiting the naval armaments of United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.

The international arbitration court at The Hague is created when the Netherlands' Senate ratifies an 1899 peace conference decree.

Spanish-American War: The Treaty of Paris, a peace treaty between the United States and Spain, is ratified by the United States Senate.

American Civil War: Ulysses S. Grant gives the United States its first victory of the war, by capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee, known as the Battle of Fort Henry.

The first minstrel show in the United States, The Virginia Minstrels, opens (Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City).

Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony.

The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society started a settlement in present-day Liberia.

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore.

The Argentinian San Martín crosses the Andes with an army in order to liberate Chile from Spanish rule.

New Jersey grants the first American railroad charter to John Stevens.

Massachusetts becomes the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.

American Revolutionary War: In Paris the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed by the United States and France signaling official recognition of the new republic.

Aaron Burr is born in Newark, New Jersey.

James II of England and VII of Scotland becomes King upon the death of his brother Charles II.