The region of South Ossetia holds a referendum on independence from Georgia.

Shanghai Transrapid sets up a new world speed record ({{convert|501|km/h|mph}}) for commercial railway systems.

Iraq war: In Nasiriya, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 Iraq war, are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base.

In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 ''en route'' to the Dominican Republic, crashes minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 on board and five on the ground.

The Düzce earthquake strikes Turkey with a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale.

Daimler-Benz completes a merger with Chrysler to form Daimler-Chrysler.

Vice President Al Gore signs the Kyoto Protocol.

Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakh Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane collide in mid-air near New Delhi, killing 349. The deadliest mid-air collision to date.

Decree of President of Kazakhstan "About introducing national currency of Republic of Kazakhstan" is issued.

Dili Massacre, Indonesian forces open fire on a crowd of student protesters in Dili, East Timor.

Crown Prince Akihito is formally installed as Emperor Akihito of Japan, becoming the 125th Japanese monarch.

Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web.

Lech Wałęsa, a Solidarity leader, is released from a Polish prison after eleven months.

In the Soviet Union, Yuri Andropov becomes the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding Leonid I. Brezhnev.

Space Shuttle program: Mission STS-2, utilizing the Space Shuttle Columbia, marks the first time a manned spacecraft is launched into space twice.

The NASA space probe ''Voyager I'' makes its closest approach to Saturn and takes the first images of its rings.

Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, US President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all petroleum imports into the United States from Iran.

As Bishop of Rome Pope John Paul II takes possession of his Cathedral Church, the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

The Comoros joins the United Nations.

Vietnam War: As part of Vietnamization, US President Richard M. Nixon sets February 1, 1972 as the deadline for the removal of another 45,000 American troops from Vietnam.

The 1970 Bhola cyclone makes landfall on the coast of East Pakistan becoming the deadliest tropical cyclone in history.

The Oregon Highway Division attempts to destroy a rotting beached Sperm whale with explosives, leading to the now infamous "exploding whale" incident.

Vietnam War: My Lai Massacre

Equatorial Guinea joins the United Nations.

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District argued before the Supreme Court.

A team of rock climbers led by Warren Harding completes the first ascent of The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.

Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia join the United Nations.

In Tokyo, an international war crimes tribunal sentences seven Japanese military and government officials, including General Hideki Tojo, to death for their roles in World War II.

World War II: The Royal Air Force launches 29 Avro Lancaster bombers in one of the most successful precision bombing attacks of war and sinks the German battleship ''Tirpitz'', with 12,000 lb Tallboy bombs off Tromsø, Norway.

World War II: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal between Japanese and American forces begins near Guadalcanal. The battle lasts for three days.

World War II: The Soviet cruiser ''Chervona Ukraina'' is destroyed during the Battle of Sevastopol.

World War II: Temperatures around Moscow drop to -12 ° C and the Soviet Union launches ski troops for the first time against the freezing German forces near the city.

Hermann Göring proposes plans to make Madagascar the "Jewish homeland", an idea that actually is first considered by 19th century journalist Theodor Herzl.

In California, the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic.

Hugh Gray takes the first known photos of the Loch Ness Monster.

Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, leaving Joseph Stalin in undisputed control of the Soviet Union.

The Sigma Gamma Rho sorority is founded on the campus of Butler University in {{city-state|Indianapolis|Indiana}}.

Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes sign the Treaty of Rapallo.

Austria becomes a republic.

The frozen bodies of Robert Scott and his men are found on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

Norway holds a referendum in favor of monarchy over republic.

The treaty of the Durand Line is signed between present day Pakistan and Afghanistan

William "Pudge" Heffelfinger becomes the first professional American football player on record, participating in his first paid game for the Allegheny Athletic Association.

Sir James Young Simpson, a British physician, is the first to use chloroform as an anaesthetic.

Jean Sylvain Bailly, the first Mayor of Paris, is guillotined.

The English Parliament re-establishes Catholicism.

Plymouth, England, becomes the first town incorporated by the English Parliament.

Future Byzantine empress Zoe marries Romanus Argyrus according to the wishes of the dying Constantine VIII.

Tibetan troops occupy Chang'an, the capital of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, for fifteen days.