The Clinton Presidential Center is opened in Little Rock, Arkansas, containing 2 million photographs and 80 million documents.

In a 50-page, 4–3 decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules that the state may not "deny the protections, benefits and obligations conferred by civil marriage to two individuals of the same sex who wish to marry."

In the United Kingdom, the Local Government Act 2003, repealing controversial anti-gay amendment Section 28, becomes effective.

Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.

In College Station, Texas, 12 are killed and 27 injured at Texas A&M University when the {{convert|59|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} Aggie Bonfire, under construction for the annual football game against the University of Texas, collapses at 2:42am.

Star Trek VII Generations premieres.

In the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is ratified by the House of Representatives.

After the siege of Vukovar, the Croatian city of Vukovar capitulates to the besieging Yugoslav People's Army and allied Serb paramilitary forces.

Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon release Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland.

War on Drugs: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill into law allowing the death penalty for drug traffickers.

King's Cross fire: In London, 31 people die in a fire at the city's busiest underground station at King's Cross St Pancras.

Iran-Contra Affair: The U.S. Congress issues its final report on the Iran-Contra Affair.

Jonestown incident: In Guyana, Jim Jones led his Peoples Temple cult to a mass murder-suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo J. Ryan is murdered by members of the Peoples Temple hours earlier.

U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million USD in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government.

The United Kingdom government devalued the Pound sterling from $2.80 to £2.40.

The first push-button telephone goes into service.

United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.

The Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41 (New Zealand's worst ever fire).

World War II: Battle of Berlin: 440 Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF loses nine aircraft and 53 air crew.

New York City's Mad Bomber places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.

World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous invasion of Greece.

Trade union members elect John L. Lewis as the first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.

Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai, a Buddhist association later renamed Soka Gakkai, is founded by Japanese educators Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda.

1929 Grand Banks earthquake: Off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake, centered on Grand Banks, breaks 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggers a tsunami that destroys many south coast communities in the Burin Peninsula.

Release of the animated short ''Steamboat Willie'', the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, featuring the third appearances of cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. This is also considered by the Disney corporation to be Mickey's birthday.

George Bernard Shaw refuses to accept the money for his Nobel Prize, saying, "I can forgive Alfred Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize."

Latvia declares its independence from Russia.

World War I: First Battle of the Somme ends – In France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on July 1, 1916.

Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of José Santos Zelaya.

Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.

General Esteban Huertas steps down after the government of Panama fears he wants to stage a coup.

The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the United States exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.

American and Canadian railroads institute five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.

Mark Twain's story ''The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County'' is published in the ''New York Saturday Press''.

King Christian IX of Denmark decides to sign the November constitution that declares Schleswig to be part of Denmark. This is seen by the German Confederation as a violation of the London Protocol and leads to the German–Danish war of 1864.

In a naval action during the Napoleonic Wars, French frigates defeat British East Indiamen in the Bay of Bengal.

The Battle of Vertières, the last major battle of the Haitian Revolution, is fought, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Haiti, the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere.

The Louvre is officially opened in Paris, France.

Frederick II (Frederick the Great), King of Prussia, is granted a royal pardon and released from confinement.

Charles Francois Felix operates on King Louis XIV of France's anal fistula after practicing the surgery on several peasants.

St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated.

French King Charles VIII occupies Florence, Italy.

Christopher Columbus first sights the island now known as Puerto Rico.

William Caxton produces ''Dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophres'', the first book printed on a printing press in England.

A seawall at the Zuiderzee dike in the Netherlands breaks, flooding 72 villages and killing about 10,000 people.

William Tell shoots an apple off of his son's head.

Pope Boniface VIII issues the Papal bull ''Unam sanctam'' (One Faith).

Pope Innocent III excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV

Maginulf elected the Antipope Sylvester the IV.

Japanese Emperor Kammu allocates residence of Nara, Nara to Kyoto.

Old St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated.