The painting Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904), by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, is stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art, along with ''O Lavrador de Café'', by the major Brazilian modernist painter Candido Portinari.

Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.

A judge rules against the death penalty in the case of Naveed Haq, a man convicted in the shooting death and injuries at the Jewish Federation in Seattle.

The first same sex civil partnerships in Scotland are celebrated.

US District Court Judge John E. Jones III rules against mandating the teaching of "intelligent design" in his ruling of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District.

US Senator Trent Lott resigns as majority leader.

Macau is handed over to the People's Republic of China by Portugal.

NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.

The Democratic Social Movement is founded in Greece.

American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia killing 160.

NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia.

A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.

United States invasion of Panama: The United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega.

The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed in Vienna.

History's worst peacetime sea disaster, when the passenger ferry ''Doña Paz'' sinks after colliding with the oil tanker ''Vector 1'' in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).

The Summit tunnel fire is the largest underground fire in history, as a freight train carrying over 1 million litres of petrol derails near the town of Todmorden in the Pennines.

Djibouti and Vietnam join the United Nations.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, is assassinated by a car bomb attack in Madrid.

The Zodiac Killer kills Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo, California.

National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam is formed.

The Walker Family Murders

Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.

United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87.

The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs.

World War II: Bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese.

World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China.

Hitler: was released from Landsberg Prison

Cheka, the first Soviet secret police, is founded.

World War I: Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli.

South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the United States.

First signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence at Goliad, Texas.

The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.

The Virginia Company loads three ships with settlers and sets sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.

Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually settle on Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta.

Richard the Lion-Heart is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after signing a treaty with Saladin ending the Third crusade.

Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of emperor.