The first EF5 tornado in 12 years occurs in Enderlin, North Dakota.
Haitian president Leslie Manigat is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Lieutenant General Henri Namphy.
ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart is shot dead by a Nicaraguan National Guard soldier under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle during the Nicaraguan Revolution. The murder is caught on tape and sparks an international outcry against the regime.
Watergate scandal: An 18+1⁄2-minute gap appears in the tape recording of the conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and his advisers regarding the recent arrests of his operatives while breaking into the Watergate complex.
The Mali Federation gains independence from France (it later splits into Mali and Senegal).
World War II: The Battle of the Philippine Sea concludes with a decisive U.S. naval victory. The lopsided naval air battle is also known as the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot".
World War II: During the Continuation War, the Soviet Union demands unconditional surrender from Finland during the beginning of partially successful Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive. The Finnish government refuses.
The experimental MW 18014 V-2 rocket reaches an altitude of 176 km, becoming the first man-made object to reach outer space.
World War II: The Royal Air Force launches Operation Bellicose, the first shuttle bombing raid of the war. Avro Lancaster bombers damage the V-2 rocket production facilities at the Zeppelin Works while en route to an air base in Algeria.
Workers of Buckingham and Carnatic Mills in the city of Chennai, India, begin a four-month strike.
Alexander Graham Bell installs the world's first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Samuel Morse receives the patent for the telegraph.
The U.S. vessel SS Savannah arrives at Liverpool, United Kingdom. It is the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, although most of the journey is made under sail.
King Louis XVI, disguised as a valet, and the French royal family attempt to flee Paris during the French Revolution.
Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha is appointed Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
The Treaty of Anagni, an attempt mediated by the papacy to end the War of the Sicilian Vespers, is signed by the crown of Aragon, the kingdom of France and kingdom of Naples.
First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan.
Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius battles Attila the Hun. After the battle, which was inconclusive, Attila retreats, causing the Romans to interpret it as a victory.