Mario Draghi succeeds Jean-Claude Trichet and becomes the third president of the European Central Bank.
Chhattisgarh officially becomes the 26th state of India, formed from sixteen districts of eastern Madhya Pradesh.
Serbia and Montenegro joins the United Nations.
The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.
President of the Chechen Republic Dzhokhar Dudayev declares sovereignty of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria from the Russian Federation.
After the assassination of Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India on 31 October 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards, anti-Sikh riots erupt.
Honda becomes the first Asian automobile company to produce cars in the United States with the opening of its factory in Marysville, Ohio; a Honda Accord is the first car produced there.
Antigua and Barbuda gains independence from the United Kingdom.
Griselda Álvarez becomes the first female governor of a state of Mexico.
Burundian president Michel Micombero is deposed in a bloodless military coup d'état by deputy Jean-Baptiste Bagaza.
The Indian state of Mysore is renamed as Karnataka to represent all the regions within Karunadu.
The Indian states Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Mysore are formally created under the States Reorganisation Act; Kanyakumari district is joined to Tamil Nadu from Kerala. Delhi was established as a union territory.
Hungarian Revolution: Imre Nagy announces Hungary's neutrality and withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact. Soviet troops begin to re-enter Hungary, contrary to assurances by the Soviet government. János Kádár and Ferenc Münnich secretly defect to the Soviet...
The Front de Libération Nationale fires the first shots of the Algerian War of Independence.
Nuclear weapons testing: The United States successfully detonates Ivy Mike, the first thermonuclear device, at the Eniwetok atoll. The explosion had a yield of ten megatons TNT equivalent.
Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate US President Harry S. Truman at Blair House.
The official North Korean newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, is first published under the name Chongro.
World War II: Units of the British Army land at Walcheren.
World War II: The 3rd Marine Division, United States Marines, landing on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands, secures a beachhead, leading that night to a naval clash at the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay.
World War II: Matanikau Offensive begins during the Guadalcanal campaign and ends three days later with an American victory.