Ben S. Bernanke, Douglas W. Diamond and Philip H. Dybvig are jointly awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor becomes the first Malaysian in space on board Soyuz TMA-11.
U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with evasion of federal income tax.
The Tokyo Summer Olympics opening ceremony is the first to be relayed live by satellites.
The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty comes into effect.
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to Ghanaian finance minister Komla Agbeli Gbedemah after he is refused service in a Delaware restaurant.
A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by sabotage, the first such proven case in the history of commercial aviation.
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike, completing major construction on the Panama Canal.
Triton, the largest moon of the planet Neptune, is discovered by English astronomer William Lassell.
In a treaty with the Dutch colonial authorities, the Ndyuka people of Suriname – descended from escaped slaves – gain territorial autonomy.