The World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Naro-1 becomes the first carrier rocket launched by South Korea.
Microsoft Corporation releases Windows Vista, a major release of the operating system Microsoft Windows and the NT based kernel.
The Goleta postal facility shootings occur, killing seven people before the perpetrator took her own life.
Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ivory Coast, killing 169.
Hydroxycarbamide becomes the first approved preventive treatment for sickle cell disease.
The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan is closed.
Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called "Elk Cloner".
A Varig Boeing 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.
The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is established as the first United States National Marine Sanctuary.
Turkish Airlines Flight 345 crashes into the Sea of Marmara near Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport, killing 42.
Pan Am Flight 806 crashes near Pago Pago International Airport in American Samoa, killing 97.
The Troubles: Bloody Sunday: British paratroopers open fire on anti-internment marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing 13 people; another person later dies of injuries sustained.
Pakistan leaves the Commonwealth of Nations in protest of its recognition of breakaway Bangladesh.
The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.
Vietnam War: Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies.
In a bloodless coup, General Nguyễn Khánh overthrows General Dương Văn Minh's military junta in South Vietnam.
The African National Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties.
The forces of the Sultanate of Muscat occupy the last strongholds of the Imamate of Oman, Saiq and Shuraijah, marking the end of Jebel Akhdar War in Oman.
MS Hans Hedtoft, specifically designed to operate in icebound seas, strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sinks, killing all 95 aboard.