Thirty-five people are killed and 143 injured in a mass stabbing at Kunming Railway Station in China.
The Armenian police clash with peaceful opposition rally protesting against allegedly fraudulent presidential elections; as a result ten people are killed.
Tornadoes break out across the southern United States, killing at least 20 people, including eight at Enterprise High School.
English-language Wikipedia reaches its one millionth article, Jordanhill railway station.
In Roper v. Simmons, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the execution of juveniles found guilty of any crime is unconstitutional.
Management of the United States Customs Service and the United States Secret Service moves to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins in eastern Afghanistan.
The Envisat environmental satellite successfully launches aboard an Ariane 5 rocket to reach an orbit of 800 km (500 mi) above the Earth, which was the then-largest payload at 10.5 m long and with a diameter of 4.57 m.
Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-109 to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
Titanic becomes the first film to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
Bosnia and Herzegovina declares its independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Uprisings against Saddam Hussein begin in Iraq, leading to the deaths of more than 25,000 people, mostly civilians.
Steve Jackson Games is raided by the United States Secret Service, prompting the later formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Provisional Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands begins his hunger strike in HM Prison Maze.
Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Black September storms the Saudi embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, resulting in the assassination of three Western hostages.
President of Pakistan Yahya Khan indefinitely postpones the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.
Villarrica Volcano begins a strombolian eruption causing lahars that destroy half of the town of Coñaripe.
Paradise Airlines Flight 901A crashes near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, killing 85.
American Airlines Flight 1 crashes into Jamaica Bay in New York, killing 95.
Uganda becomes self-governing and holds its first elections.
Samuel Alphonsus Stritch is appointed Pro-Prefect of the Propagation of Faith and thus becomes the first U.S. member of the Roman Curia.
The International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Formation of the East German Nationale Volksarmee.
Nuclear weapons testing: The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States.
Armed Puerto Rican nationalists attack the United States Capitol building, injuring five Representatives.
Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses; he dies four days later.
Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by disclosing top secret atomic bomb data.
The International Monetary Fund begins financial operations.
World War II: Japanese forces land on Java, the main island of the Dutch East Indies, at Merak and Banten Bay (Banten), Eretan Wetan (Indramayu) and Kragan (Rembang).
World War II: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact, allying itself with the Axis powers.
An Imperial Japanese Army ammunition dump explodes at Hirakata, Osaka, Japan, killing 94.
Aviator Charles Lindbergh's 20-month-old son Charles Jr is kidnapped from his home in East Amwell, New Jersey. His body would not be found until May 12.
The Australian cricket team captained by Warwick Armstrong becomes the first team to complete a whitewash of The Ashes, something that would not be repeated for 86 years.
Following mass protests in Petrograd demanding greater freedom in the RSFSR, the Kronstadt rebellion begins, with sailors and citizens taking up arms against the Bolsheviks.
March 1st Movement begins in Korea under Japanese rule.
The Zimmermann Telegram is reprinted in newspapers across the United States after the U.S. government releases its unencrypted text.
The deadliest avalanche in United States history buries a Great Northern Railway train in northeastern King County, Washington, killing 96 people.
Battle of Adwa: An Ethiopian army defeats an outnumbered Italian force, ending the First Italo-Ethiopian War.
Electrical engineer Nikola Tesla gives the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis, Missouri.
Yellowstone National Park is established as the world's first national park.
The victorious Prussian Army parades through Paris, France, after the end of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
Marshal F. S. López dies during the Battle of Cerro Corá thus marking the end of the Paraguayan War.
United States President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.
A convention of delegates from 57 Texas communities convenes in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, to deliberate independence from Mexico.
Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.
Leaders of the Mamluk dynasty are killed by Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali.
Justice Samuel Chase is acquitted at the end of his impeachment trial before the U.S. Senate.
The Dutch East India Company is nationalized by the Batavian Republic.
The Articles of Confederation goes into effect in the United States.
Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba are brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem witch trials.
Samuel de Champlain reclaims his role as commander of New France on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu.
Writs issued in February by Charles I of England mandate that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.
Sixty-three Huguenots are massacred in Wassy, France, marking the start of the French Wars of Religion.
Forces of the Catholic Monarchs engage the combined Portuguese-Castilian armies of Afonso V and Prince John at the Battle of Toro.
University of Coimbra, in Portugal, is officially chartered by King Denis.
Emperor Louis the Pious is restored as sole ruler of the Frankish Empire.
Vetranio proclaims himself Caesar after being encouraged to do so by Constantina, sister of Constantius II.
Emperor Diocletian and Maximian appoint Constantius Chlorus and Galerius as Caesars. This is considered the beginning of the Tetrarchy, known as the Quattuor Principes Mundi ("Four Rulers of the World").
Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.