2010 Penang dragon boat accident occurs in Penang, Malaysia

The Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea nuclear testing.

Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.

President Bill Clinton posthumously raises Meriwether Lewis' rank from Lieutenant to Captain.

Paula Jones accuses President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.

A Delta 2 carrying a GPS2R satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad.

The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union.

The Great Hanshin earthquake: A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hits near Kobe, Japan, causing extensive property damage and killing 6,434 people.

1994 Northridge Earthquake: A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Northridge, California.

Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.

Harald V becomes King of Norway on the death of his father, Olav V.

Stockton massacre: Patrick Purdy opens fire with an assault rifle at the Cleveland Elementary School playground, killing five children and wounding 29 others and one teacher before taking his own life.

The tallest department store in the world, Hudson's, flagship store in downtown Detroit closes due to high cost of operating.

"Cold Sunday" in the United States would see temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years in numerous cities.

Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by a firing squad in Utah, ending a ten-year moratorium on Capital punishment in the United States.

Ferdinand Marcos becomes "President for Life" of the Philippines.

A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, dropping three 70-kiloton nuclear bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea in the Palomares incident.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the "military-industrial complex".

The Great Brinks Robbery

''The Goldbergs'', the first sitcom on American television, first airs.

The UN Security Council holds its first session.

Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg disappears in Hungary while in Soviet custody.

Soviet forces capture the almost completely destroyed Polish city of Warsaw.

The Nazis begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as Soviet forces close in.

Kuomintang forces under orders from Chiang Kai-Shek open fire at communist forces, resuming the Chinese Civil War after World War II.

Popeye the Sailor Man, a cartoon character created by Elzie Segar, first appears in the Thimble Theatre comic strip.

The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.

Raymond Poincaré is elected President of France.

Sir Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.

Anton Chekhov's ''The Cherry Orchard'' receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.

The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.

The Citizen's Committee of Public Safety, led by Lorrin A. Thurston, overthrows the government of Queen Liliuokalani of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.

A group of Modoc warriors defeat the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, a part of the Modoc War.

The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Boer colonies of the Transvaal.

Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed.

American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens

Captain James Cook and his crew become the first Europeans to sail below the Antarctic Circle.

England's Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Addresses, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War.

Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia surprises an Oromo army at Ebenat; his army reportedly kills 12,000 Oromo at the cost of 400 men.

First publication of ''Don Quixote''.

Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.

France recognizes the Huguenots under the Edict of Saint-Germain.

Beginning of Giovanni da Verrazzano's voyage to find a passage to China.

Pope Gregory XI moves the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon.

King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca.