Mari Alkatiri, the first Prime Minister of East Timor, resigns after weeks of political unrest.
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Communications Decency Act violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
J. K. Rowling publishes the first of her Harry Potter novel series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in United Kingdom.
The first crash of an Airbus A320 occurs when Air France Flight 296Q crashes at Mulhouse–Habsheim Airfield in Habsheim, France, during an air show, killing three of the 136 people on board.
Elvis Presley holds what will prove to be his final concert at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial.
The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.
Cold War: U.S. President John F. Kennedy gives his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, underlining the support of the United States for democratic West Germany shortly after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall.
The former British Protectorate of British Somaliland gains its independence as Somaliland.
Madagascar gains its independence from France.
Cold War: The first supply flights are made in response to the Berlin Blockade.
William Shockley files the original patent for the grown-junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.
The United Nations Charter is signed by 50 Allied nations in San Francisco, California.
World War II: San Marino, a neutral state, is mistakenly bombed by the RAF based on faulty information, leading to 35 civilian deaths.
World War II: The Battle of Osuchy in Osuchy, Poland, one of the largest battles between Nazi Germany and Polish resistance forces, ends with the defeat of the latter.
World War II: Soviet planes bomb Kassa, Hungary (now Košice, Slovakia), giving Hungary the impetus to declare war the next day.
World War II: Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Romania requiring it to cede Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina.
Initial flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first practical helicopter.
United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act, which establishes credit unions.