Tiger Woods announced an indefinite leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage.

Bernard Madoff is arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

Two car bombs explode at the Constitutional Court building in Algiers and the United Nations office. An estimated 45 people are killed in the bombings.

The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Nations such as Israel and the United States express concern.

Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese (and many who were not) in Cronulla Sydney. These are followed up by retaliatory ethnic attacks on Cronulla.

The Buncefield Oil Depot catches fire in Hemel Hempstead, England.

The People's Republic of China joins the World Trade Organization.

Thai Airways Flight 261 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101. The pilot flying the Thai Airways Airbus A310-300 is thought to have suffered spatial disorientation.

The Kyoto Protocol opens for signature.

First Chechen War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya.

Forty-eight people are killed when a block of the Highland Towers collapses near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

El Mozote massacre: Armed forces in El Salvador kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the Salvadoran Civil War.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, also known as CERCLA or Superfund, is enacted by the U.S. Congress.

Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and last Apollo mission to land on the Moon.

The Libertarian Party of the United States is formed.

The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus

Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. An unknown terrorist fires a mortar shell at the building during the speech.

Arthur Lucas, convicted of murder, is the last person to be executed in Canada.

French forces crack down in a violent clash with protesters in French Algeria during a visit by French president Charles de Gaulle.

French Upper Volta gains self-government from France, becomes the Republic of Upper Volta, and joins the French Community.

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established.

World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on Germany and Italy.

Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italy leaves the League of Nations.

Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India becomes effective.

The British Parliament enacts the Statute of Westminster 1931, establishing legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Irish Free State, Dominion of Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa.

Guangzhou Uprising: Communist militia and worker Red Guards launch an uprising in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of a Guangzhou Soviet.

Roman Catholic papal encyclical ''Quas Primas'' introduces the Feast of Christ the King.

Lithuania declares its independence from Russia.

British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem on foot and declares martial law.

The New Zealand Parliament Buildings are almost completely destroyed by fire.

A workers' uprising occurs in Kiev and establishes the Shuliavka Republic.

Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state.

French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention.

The University of North Carolina is chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly.

A surprise attack by forces under the command of the Duke of Savoy and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva.

Llywelyn the Last, the last native Prince of Wales, is killed at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, south Wales.

Byzatine Emperor Nikephoros II is assassinated by his wife Theofano and her lover, the later Emperor John I Tzimiskes.

The date of the earliest deciphered inscription at Copán.

Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office.