The 54 year run of the soap opera ''As the World Turns'' ends as its final episode is broadcast.

AOL, once the largest ISP in the U.S., officially announces plans to refocus the company as an advertising business and to relocate its corporate headquarters from Dulles, Virginia to New York, New York.

Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the long-dormant volcano in at least 10,000 years.

The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 Attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression.

Last Russian troops leave Poland.

An Iranian Kurdish leader and his two joiners are assassinated by political militants in Berlin, Germany.

The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.

Estonia, North Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.

Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America.

Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asunción, Paraguay.

After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.

The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.

The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA.

Bangladesh, Grenada and Guinea-Bissau join the United Nations.

Malaysia joins the United Nations.

Television is first broadcast in Australia.

The Canadian steamship {{SS|Noronic}} burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of over 118 lives.

The Nizam of Hyderabad surrenders his sovereignty over the Hyderabad State and joins the Indian Union.

The Lehi (also known as the Stern gang) assassinates Count Folke Bernadotte, who was appointed by the UN to mediate between the Arab nations and Israel.

James V. Forrestal is sworn in as the first Secretary of Defense of United States.

World War II: Allied Airborne troops parachute into the Netherlands as the "Market" half of Operation Market Garden.

World War II: The Russian city of Bryansk is liberated from Nazis.

World War II: A decree of the Soviet State Committee of Defense, restoring Vsevobuch in the face of the Great Patriotic War, is issued

World War II: The Soviet Union joins Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland during the Polish Defensive War of 1939.

World War II: A German U-boat ''U 29'' sinks the British aircraft carrier {{HMS|Courageous|50|6}}.

Taisto Mäki becomes the first man to run the 10,000 metres in under 30 minutes, in a time of 29:52.6

The Okeechobee Hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing upwards of 2,500 people. It is the third deadliest natural disaster in United States history, behind the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

The Border Defence Corps is established in the Second Polish Republic for the defence of the eastern border against armed Soviet raids and local bandits.

The National Football League is organized in Canton, Ohio, United States.

World War I: Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.

Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.

The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes killing Selfridge. He becomes the first airplane fatality.

Philippine-American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham at Mabitac.

The Battle of Yalu River, the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War.

American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war.

American Civil War: George B. McClellan halts the northward drive of Robert E. Lee's Confederate army in the single-day Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history.

Joshua A. Norton declares himself "Emperor Norton I" of the United States.

Francis Scott Key finishes his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry", later to be the lyrics of "The Star-Spangled Banner".

Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War. The territory to become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.

The United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe (the Lenape or Delaware Indians).

The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules": the first known description of protozoa.

Sweden wins a major victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld against the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years War.

The city of Boston, Massachusetts is founded.

The Peace of Bergerac is signed between Henry III of France and the Huguenots.

The Battle of Świecino (also known as the Battle of Żarnowiec) is fought during Thirteen Years' War.

The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought.

Highest Galician nobility led by Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and the bishop Diego Gelmírez crown Alfonso VII as "King of Galicia".