NASA's Curiosity rover lands on the surface of Mars.
Flash floods across a large part of Jammu and Kashmir, India, damages 71 towns and kills at least 255 people.
A military junta led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz stages a coup d'état in Mauritania, overthrowing president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.
NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms.
Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW makes its first appearance as a publicly available service on the Internet.
Takako Doi, chair of the Social Democratic Party, becomes Japan's first female speaker of the House of Representatives.
Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council orders a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.
Cuban Revolution: Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.
World War II: Hiroshima, Japan is devastated when the atomic bomb "Little Boy" is dropped by the United States B-29 Enola Gay. Around 70,000 people are killed instantly, and some tens of thousands die in subsequent years from burns and radiation pois...
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands becomes the first reigning queen to address a joint session of the United States Congress.
Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel.
First public screening using the Vitaphone process
World War I: Battle of Mărășești between the Romanian and German armies begins.
World War I: Battle of Sari Bair: The Allies mount a diversionary attack timed to coincide with a major Allied landing of reinforcements at Suvla Bay.
World War I: U-boat campaign: Two days after the United Kingdom had declared war on Germany over the German invasion of Belgium, ten German U-boats leave their base in Heligoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea.
World War I: Serbia declares war on Germany; Austria declares war on Russia.
At Auburn Prison in New York, murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair.
Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Spicheren is fought, resulting in a German victory.
Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Wörth results in a decisive German victory.