Hosni Mubarak, the president of Egypt, orders the constitution changed to allow multi-candidate presidential elections before September 2005 by asking Egyptian parliament to amend Article 76.

Republic of Macedonia President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya, ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years.

Generally said to be the starting date of the War in Darfur.

The Taliban destroys two giant statues of Buddha in Bamyan, Afghanistan.

Mount Hekla in Iceland erupts.

The United Kingdom's oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a securities broker, Nick Leeson, loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.

World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand.

Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.

Gulf War: On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.

The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections.

Iran-Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.

People Power Revolution in the Philippines.

US troops withdraw from Beirut. President Ronald Reagan had sent the troops as a peacekeeping force in August 1982.

The Buffalo Creek Flood caused by a burst dam kills 125 in West Virginia.

U.N. Secretary General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.

National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation.

Apollo Program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket

A New York bound Alitalia airliner crashed into a cemetery at Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.

In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.

The Daventry Experiment, Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of RADAR in the United Kingdom.

The Luftwaffe is re-formed.

The Grand Teton National Park is created.

An act of the U.S. Congress establishes most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park (see Grand Canyon National Park).

The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first jazz record, for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York.

{{Ship|HMHS|Britannic}}, sister to the {{RMS|Titanic}}, is launched at Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast.

Sigma Pi Fraternity is founded at Vincennes University in Vincennes, IN.

The Berlin Act, which resulted from the Berlin Conference regulating European colonization and trade in Africa, is signed

In New York City, a demonstration of the first pneumatic subway opens to the public.

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act into law.

The Second French Republic is proclaimed.

Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.

Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen burns down.

Treaty of Roskilde: After a devastating defeat in the Northern Wars (1655–1661), the King of Denmark-Norway is forced to give up nearly half his territory to Sweden to save the rest.

Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.

Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman Emperor.