John Sentamu becomes the first black archbishop in the Church of England with his enthronement as the 97th Archbishop of York.
NASA launches STS-97, the 101st Space Shuttle mission.
U.S. President Bill Clinton visits Northern Ireland and speaks in favor of the "Northern Ireland peace process" to a huge rally at Belfast City Hall; he calls IRA fighters "yesterday's men".
The People's Republic of Southern Yemen gains its independence from the United Kingdom
The Pakistan Peoples Party is founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who becomes its first chairman.
World War II: Battle of Tassafaronga; A smaller squadron of Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers led by Raizō Tanaka defeats a U.S. Navy cruiser force under Carleton H. Wright.
World War II: Signing of the Sino-Japanese Treaty of 1940 between the Empire of Japan and the newly formed Wang Jingwei-led Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China. This treaty was considered so unfair to China that it was compared t...
World War II: The Soviet Red Army crosses the Finnish border in several places, bombing Helsinki and several other Finnish cities, starting the Winter War.
Costa Rica signs the Buenos Aires Convention, a copyright treaty.
The first-ever international football match takes place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England.
In New Orleans, Spanish representatives officially transfer the Louisiana Territory to the French First Republic.
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under Pietro Leopoldo I, becomes the first modern state to abolish the death penalty (later commemorated as Cities for Life Day).
American Revolutionary War: Treaty of Paris: In Paris, representatives from the United States and Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles (later formalized as the 1783 Treaty of Paris).
Queen Anne's War: The second Siege of Pensacola comes to end with the failure of the British Empire and their Creek allies to capture Pensacola, Spanish Florida.
Abu al Abbas celebrates a victory parade in Bagdhad following the surpression of the Zanj Rebellion, the largest slave revolt in the Arab world.