Anti-Syrian Lebanese Minister and MP Pierre Gemayel is assassinated in suburban Beirut.

The Paris Club agrees to write off 80% (up to $100 billion) of Iraq's external debt.

The island of Dominica is hit by the most destructive earthquake in its history. The northern half of the island receives the most damage, especially the town of Portsmouth. It is also felt in neighboring Guadeloupe, where one person is killed.

The second round of the Ukrainian presidential election is held, giving rise to massive protests and controversy over the election's integrity.

NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.

A propane explosion at the Humberto Vidal shoe store and office building in San Juan, Puerto Rico kills 33.

The Dayton Peace Agreement is initialed at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, ending three and a half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The agreement is formally ratified in Paris, on December 14 that same year.

The Charter of Paris for a New Europe refocuses the efforts of the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europeon post-Cold War issues.

Canadian federal election, 1988

Iran-Contra Affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for spying after being caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations. He is subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

Lake Peigneur drains into an underlying salt deposit. A misplaced Texaco oil probe had been drilled into the Diamond Crystal Salt Mine, causing water to flow down into the mine, eroding the edges of the hole. The resulting whirlpool sucked the drilling platform, several barges, houses and trees thousands of feet down to the bottom of the dissolving salt deposit.

A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Paradise, Nevada (now Bally's Las Vegas). 87 people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history.

The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan is attacked by a mob and set on fire, killing four. (see: Foreign relations of Pakistan)

Minister of Internal Affairs Allan Highet announces that 'the national anthems of New Zealand shall be the traditional anthem "God Save the Queen" and the poem "God Defend New Zealand", written by Thomas Bracken, as set to music by John Joseph Woods, both being of equal status as national anthems appropriate to the occasion.

The Birmingham Pub Bombings kill 21 people. The Birmingham Six are sentenced to life in prison for the crime but subsequently acquitted.

Indian troops, partly aided by Mukti Bahini (Bengali guerrillas), defeat the Pakistan army in the Battle of Garibpur.

Vietnam War: Operation Ivory Coast

The first permanent ARPANET link is established between UCLA and SRI.

U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato agree in Washington, D.C. on the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. is to retain its rights to bases on the island, but these are to be nuclear-free.

Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland tells news reporters: "I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing."

Second Vatican Council: The third session of the Roman Catholic Church's ecumenical council closes.

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opens to traffic (at the time it is the world's longest suspension bridge).

The Chinese People's Liberation Army declares a unilateral cease-fire in the Sino-Indian War.

The British Natural History Museum announces that the "Piltdown Man" skull, initially believed to be one of the most important fossilized hominid skulls ever found, is a hoax.

The completion of the Alaska Highway (also known as the Alcan Highway) is celebrated (however, the highway is not usable by general vehicles until 1943).

Columbine Mine Massacre: Striking coal miners are allegedly attacked with machine guns by a detachment of state police dressed in civilian clothes.

Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator.

Irish War of Independence: In Dublin, 31 people are killed in what became known as "Bloody Sunday". This included fourteen British informants, fourteen Irish civilians and three Irish Republican Army prisoners.

Flag of Estonia, previously used by pro-independence activists, is formally adopted as national flag of the Republic of Estonia.

World War I: A mine explodes and sinks HMHS Britannic in the Aegean Sea, killing 30 people.

Sailors onboard Brazil's most powerful military units, including the brand-new warships {{Ship|Brazilian battleship|Minas Geraes||2}}, {{Ship|Brazilian battleship|São Paulo||2}}, and {{Ship|Brazilian cruiser|Bahia||2}}, violently rebel in what is now known as the ''Revolta da Chibata'' (Revolt of the Whip).

Albert Einstein's paper, ''Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?'', is published in the journal "Annalen der Physik". This paper reveals the relationship between energy and mass. This leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula ''E'' = ''mc''².

Port Arthur massacre: Port Arthur, Manchuria falls to the Japanese, a decisive victory of the First Sino-Japanese War.

Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound.

American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah Benjamin secretary of war.

Colonel Napoléon Bonaparte is promoted to full general and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the French Republic.

North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and is admitted as the 12th U.S. state.

In Paris, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent, Marquis d'Arlandes, make the first untethered hot air balloon flight.

Plymouth Colony settlers sign the Mayflower Compact (November 11, O.S.).

Following Henry III of England's death on November 16, his son Prince Edward becomes King of England.