Cannabis is removed from the list of most dangerous drugs of the international drug control treaty by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
Space Shuttle program: STS-61: NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-53 for the United States Department of Defense.
Canada and Poland become the first nations to recognize the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union.
Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of a Muslim-majority state.
At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart.
Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba, replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado.
Vietnam War: After a trip to Vietnam at the request of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield becomes the first American official to comment adversely on the war's progress.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 126 relating to the Kashmir conflict is adopted.
The Granma reaches the shores of Cuba's Oriente Province. Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement disembark to initiate the Cuban Revolution.
The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and Taiwan, is signed in Washington, D.C.
Korean War: The Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River ends with a decisive Chinese victory and UN forces are completely expelled from North Korea.
Jerusalem Riots of 1947: Arabs riot in Jerusalem in response to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.
World War II: A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbour of Bari, Italy, sinks numerous cargo and transport ships, including the American SS John Harvey, which is carrying a stockpile of mustard gas.
World War II: During the Manhattan Project, a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
Great Depression: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President Herbert Hoover proposes a $150 million public works program to help generate jobs and stimulate the economy.
World War I: Russia and the Central Powers sign an armistice at Brest-Litovsk, and peace talks leading to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk begin.
At Tremont Temple in Boston, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States.
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte becomes Emperor of the French as Napoleon III.
French President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte overthrows the Second Republic.