Julia Gillard assumes office as the first female Prime Minister of Australia.
Rugby World Cup: South Africa defeats New Zealand and Nelson Mandela presents Francois Pienaar with the Webb Ellis Cup in an iconic post-apartheid moment.
Venezuelan President Rómulo Betancourt is injured in an assassination attempt.
In Roth v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment.
First Indochina War: Battle of Mang Yang Pass: Viet Minh troops belonging to the 803rd Regiment ambush G.M. 100 of France in An Khê.
The first television western, Hopalong Cassidy, starring William Boyd, is aired on NBC.
Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington.
The first Victory Day Parade takes place on Red Square in Moscow, Soviet Union, symbolizing the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany.
World War II: Operation Collar, the first British Commando raid on occupied France, by No 11 Independent Company.
A bloodless revolution instigated by the People's Party ends the absolute power of King Prajadhipok of Siam (now Thailand).
First airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto.
Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to sign a million-dollar contract.
Assassination of the French President, Sadi Carnot by Sante Caserio during the Ère des attentats (1892–1894).
First performance of O Canada at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français. The song would later become the national anthem of Canada.
Battle of Carabobo: Decisive battle in the war of independence of Venezuela from Spain.
Battle of Beaver Dams: A British and Indian combined force defeats the United States Army.
Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Neman river beginning the invasion of Russia.
The first Republican constitution in France is adopted.
American Revolutionary War: The Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.
On the Feast of St. John the Baptist, Bach leads the first performance of his Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 7, the third cantata of his chorale cantata cycle.