The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.

Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigns amid charges that he spied for Moscow.

Turkish journalist and writer Uğur Mumcu is assassinated by a car bomb in Ankara.

Voyager 2 passes within 81,500 km (50,680 miles) of Uranus.

The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.

Soviet satellite Cosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor onboard, burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.

Massacre of Atocha in Madrid, during the Spanish transition to democracy.

Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.

An Air India Boeing 707 jet crashes on Mont Blanc, on the border between France and Italy, killing 117.

1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost.

Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada.

World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.

World War II: The Allies bombard Bangkok, leading Thailand to the decision of war declaration against the United States and United Kingdom .

Petrograd, formerly Saint Petersburg, Russia, is renamed ''Leningrad''.

The Gregorian calendar introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People's Commissars effective from February 14(NS)

In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.

Edge Hill College opens in Liverpool

The revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, the Governor of Saint Petersburg.

Bucharest proclaimed capital of Romania.

Political union of Moldavia and Wallachia; Alexandru Ioan Cuza is elected as ruler.

The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first full-fledged university in south Asia.

California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento.

Mississippi College is founded in Clinton, becoming the first college in the state of Mississippi.

Henry Knox arrives at Cambridge, Massachusetts with the artillery that he has transported from Fort Ticonderoga.

Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.

King Charles II of England disbands Parliament.

The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.

Gaius Caesar (Caligula), known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, is assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards. Claudius succeeds his nephew.