The United States Senate rejects ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

An Antonov An-124 operated by Antonov Airlines registered SSSR-82002, crashed near Kiev, Ukraine.

End of the Lebanese Civil War. Syrian forces launch an attack on the free areas of Lebanon removing General Michel Aoun from the presidential palace.

Ameritech Mobile Communications (now AT&T) launched the first US cellular network in Chicago, Illinois.

Four Palestinians hijack ''Lufthansa Flight 181'' to Somalia and demand release of 11 members of the Red Army Faction.

A Bolivian Boeing 707 cargo jet crashes in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, killing 100 (97, mostly children, killed on the ground).

Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes mountains, near the border between Argentina and Chile. By December 23, 1972, only 16 out of 45 people lived long enough to be rescued.

An Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62 crashed outside Moscow killing 176.

Fiji joins the United Nations.

The first game in the history of the American Basketball Association is played as the Anaheim Amigos lose to the Oakland Oaks 134-129 in Oakland, California.

The Pacific Northwest experiences a cyclone the equal of a Cat 3 hurricane. Winds measured above 150 mph at several locations; 46 people died.

France adopts the constitution of the Fourth Republic.

World War II: Riga, the capital of Latvia is liberated by the Red Army.

World War II: The new government of Italy sides with the Allies and declares war on Germany.

Ankara replaces Istanbul as the capital of Turkey.

Mehmed Talat Pasha and the Young Turk (C.U.P.) ministry resign and sign an armistice, ending Ottoman participation in World War I.

The "Miracle of the Sun" is witnessed by an estimated 70,000 people in the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal.

The Battle for the Hohenzollern Redoubt marks the end of the Battle of Loos in northern France, World War I.

Edward Emerson Barnard discovers D/1892 T1, the first comet discovered by photographic means, on the night of October 13–14.

The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is founded in Atlanta, Georgia.

Greenwich, in London, England, is established as Universal Time meridian of longitude.

Revival of the Hebrew language as Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and friends agree to use Hebrew exclusively in their conversations.

A majority of voters in the Republic of Texas approve a proposed constitution, that if accepted by the U.S. Congress, will make Texas a U.S. state.

In New York City, Henry Jones and 11 others found B'nai B'rith (the oldest Jewish service organization in the world).

War of 1812: Battle of Queenston Heights

In Washington, D.C., the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) is laid.

After his defeat on October 7, 1777, British General John Burgoyne's Army at The Battles of Saratoga become surrounded by superior numbers, setting the stage for its surrender{{mdash}}which feat of arms inspires the Kingdom of France to enter the American Revolutionary War against the British.

The United States Continental Congress orders the establishment of the Continental Navy (later renamed the United States Navy).

The Whirlpool Galaxy is discovered by Charles Messier.

Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

Rinchinbal Khan, Emperor Ningzong of Yuan became the Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, reigning for only 53 days.

Hundreds of Knights Templar in France are simultaneously arrested by agents of Phillip the Fair, to be later tortured into a "confession" of heresy.

Vandals and Alans cross the Pyrenees and appear in Hispania.

Nero ascends to the Roman throne