''SpaceShipOne'' wins Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight, by being the first private craft to fly into space.

Maxim restaurant suicide bombing in Haifa, Israel: 21 Israelis, Jews and Arabs, are killed, and 51 others wounded.

Siberia Airlines Flight 1812: a Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashes into the Black Sea after being struck by an errant Ukrainian S-200 missile. 78 people are killed.

NATO confirms invocation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

The second largest cash robbery in U.S. history occurs at the Charlotte, North Carolina office of Loomis, Fargo and Company. An FBI investigation eventually results in 24 convictions and the recovery of approximately 95% of the $17.3 million in cash which had been taken.

Russian Constitutional Crisis: In Moscow, tanks bombard the White House, a government building that housed the Russian parliament, while demonstrators against President Boris Yeltsin rally outside.

El Al Flight 1862: an El Al Boeing 747-258F crashes into two apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 39 on the ground.

The Rome General Peace Accords ends a 16 year civil war in Mozambique.

The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty is opened for signature.

U.S. televangelist Jim Bakker is indicted for fraud.

Free Software Foundation is founded in Massachusetts, United States.

Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 mph (1,019 km/h), driving Thrust 2 at the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.

Official launch of the ''Intercity 125 High Speed Train (HST).

Omar Ali Saifuddin III of Brunei abdicates in favour of his son, His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

Basutoland becomes independent from the United Kingdom and is renamed Lesotho.

Becoming the first Pope to ever visit the United States of America and the Western hemisphere, Pope Paul VI arrives in New York.

Eastern Air Lines Flight 375, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashes after a bird strike on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport, killing 62 of 72 on board.

Fifth Republic of France is established.

Avro Arrow roll-out ceremony at Avro Canada plant in Malton, Ontario.

Space Race: Launch of ''Sputnik I'', the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.

World War II: U.S. captures Solomon Islands.

Norman Rockwell's Willie Gillis character debuts on the cover of the ''Saturday Evening Post''.

Meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini at the Brenner Pass.

Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mount Rushmore.

An explosion kills more than 100 and destroys the T.A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant in Sayreville, New Jersey. Fires and explosions continue for three days forcing massive evacuations and spreading ordnance over a wide area, pieces of which were still being found in 2007.

The first U.S. Open Men's Golf Championship administered by the United States Golf Association is played at the Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island.

First meeting of the Boys' Brigade in Glasgow, Scotland.

First run of the ''Orient Express.''

Texas A&M University opens as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, becoming the first public institution of higher education in Texas.

Crimean War: The Ottoman Empire declares war on Russia.

Creation of the state of Belgium after separation from The Netherlands.

Mexico adopts a new constitution and becomes a federal republic.

Napoleon Bonaparte first rises to national prominence with a "Whiff of Grapeshot", using cannon to suppress armed counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the French Legislature (National Convention).

The Fort Wilson Riot takes place.

Battle of Germantown: Troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under Sir William Howe.

Foundation of Rosario in Argentina.

Battle of Marsaglia: Piedmontese troops are defeated by the French.

The Swedish Army defeats the armies of Saxony and the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Wittstock.

Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian Calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15.

The first complete English-language Bible (the Coverdale Bible) is printed, with translations by William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale.

Formation of the Holy League of Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Papal States and the Republic of Venice against France.

End of the Battle of Lake Poyang; the Chinese rebel forces of Zhu Yuanzhang defeat that of his rival, Chen Youliang, in one of the largest naval battles in history.

Assassination of Caliph al-Adil.

Otto IV is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III.

The battle of Baekgang begins. (Traditional Chinese date: August 28, 663).

Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas and becomes Emperor.