President George W. Bush signs the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 into law. The law establishes the United States' first national standards for the sending of commercial e-mail and requires the Federal Trade Commission to enforce its provisions.

Iraq disarmament crisis: Operation Desert Fox

Dennō Senshi Porygon an episode of Pokémon, is aired in Japan, inducing seizures in hundreds of Japanese children.

Independence of The Republic of Kazakhstan.

United Nations General Assembly: UN General Assembly Resolution 4686 revokes UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 after Israel makes revocation of resolution 3379 a condition of its participation in the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991.

Walter LeRoy Moody begins his terrorist bombing streak when he sends Judge Robert Smith Vance a bomb in the mail, instantly killing him near his house in Birmingham, Alabama.

Protests break out in Timişoara in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor László Tőkés.

Revolt in Kazakhstan against Communist party, known as Zheltoksan, which becomes the first sign of ethnic strife during Gorbachev's tenure

Mafia: In New York City, Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead on the orders of John Gotti, who assumes leadership of the Gambino family.

The Federal Reserve announces that the operating capacity of factories has gone down to 67.8%.

Libya joins four other OPEC nations in raising crude oil prices, having an immediate dramatic effect on the United States.

Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first post-Depression era city to default on its loans, owing $14,000,000 to local banks.

Vietnam War: Henry Kissinger announces that North Vietnam has left private peace negotiations, in Paris.

Independence Day of the Kingdom of Bahrain from British Protectorate status

Bangladesh War of Independence and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the Pakistan army brings an end to both conflicts.

Vietnam War: General William Westmoreland sends U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara a request for 243,000 more men by the end of 1966.

1960 New York air disaster: While approaching New York's Idlewild Airport, a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 collides with a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation in a blinding snowstorm over Staten Island, killing 134.

Sir Feroz Khan Noon replaces Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

U.S. President Harry S. Truman declares a state of emergency, after Chinese troops enter the fight with communist North Korea in the Korean War.

Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, later knows as SAAB, is founded in Sweden.

William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain build the first practical point-contact transistor.

Thailand joins the United Nations.

World War II: The Battle of the Bulge begins with the surprise offensive of three German armies through the Ardennes forest.

The Holocaust|Holocaust: Porajmos

World War II: Japanese forces occupy Miri, Sarawak

Adolf Hitler institutes the Cross of Honor of the German Mother

Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from the American federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again.

Bank robber Herman Lamm and members of his crew are killed by a posse of 200, following a botched bank robbery in Clinton, Indiana.

Alpha Phi Omega national service fraternity is founded at Lafayette College.

President of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz is assassinated by Eligiusz Niewiadomski at the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw.

The Haiyuan earthquake, magnitude 8.5, rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000.

World War I: German battleships under Franz von Hipper bombard the English ports of Hartlepool and Scarborough.

The Great White Fleet begins its circumnavigation of the world

Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, ''From The New World'' is given its world première performance at Carnegie Hall.

American Civil War: Franklin-Nashville Campaign

American Civil War: Joseph E. Johnston replaces Braxton Bragg as commander of the Army of Tennessee.

History of New Zealand: The ''Charlotte-Jane'' and the ''Randolph'' bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton, New Zealand.

Battle of Blood River: Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius combat Zulu impis, led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Benjamin W. Edwards rides into Mexican controlled Nacogdoches, Texas and declares himself ruler of the Republic of Fredonia.

The first two in a series of severe earthquakes occur in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri. These three so-called mega-quakes are believed to be an ongoing cataclysmic danger that could reprise the 1811-12 series of 2,000 quakes that affected the lands of what would be eight of today's heartland states of the United States.

American Revolution: Boston Tea Party

Seven Years' War: After a four-month siege, the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kolobrzeg.

Last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan.

Convention Parliament: The ''Declaration of Right'' is embodied in the ''Bill of Rights''.

English Interregnum: The Protectorate

Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea|Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point

The 1575 Valdivia earthquake takes place.

Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.

Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.

Nanboku-chō: Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu.

An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion during the Tang Dynasty of China.