The inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is held at the Yas Marina Circuit.

First part of the Gomery Report, which discusses allegations of political money manipulation by members of the Liberal Party of Canada, is released in Canada.

Serbia joins the United Nations.

The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.

Honda becomes the first Asian automobile company to produce cars in the United States with the opening of their factory in Marysville, Ohio. The Honda Accord is the first car produced there.

Antigua and Barbuda gain independence from the United Kingdom.

The Indian state of Mysore is renamed as Karnataka to represent all the regions within Karunadu.

Watergate Scandal: Leon Jaworski is appointed as the new Watergate Special Prosecutor.

Club Cinq-Sept fire in Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, France kills 146 young people.

The Motion Picture Association of America's film rating system is officially introduced, originating with the ratings G, M, R, and X.

The Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, with the largest radio telescope ever constructed, officially opens.

50,000 women in 60 cities participate in the inaugural Women Strike for Peace (WSP) against nuclear proliferation.

While campaigning for President of the United States, John F. Kennedy announces his idea of the Peace Corps.

In Rwanda, Hutu politician Dominique Mbonyumutwa is beaten up by Tutsi forces, leading to a period of violence known as the wind of destruction.

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante wears a protective mask for the first time in an NHL game.

The Mackinac Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge between anchorages at the time, opens to traffic connecting Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas.

The Indian states Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Mysore state are formally created under the States Reorganisation Act.

The bombing of United Airlines Flight 629 occurs near Longmont, Colorado, killing all 39 passengers and five crew members aboard the Douglas DC-6B airliner.

The Front de Libération Nationale fires the first shots of the Algerian War of Independence.

Operation Ivy

Operation Buster-Jangle: 6,500 American soldiers are exposed to 'Desert Rock' atomic explosions for training purposes in Nevada. Participation is not voluntary.

Pope Pius XII claims Papal Infallibility when he formally defines the dogma of the Assumption of Mary.

Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate US President Harry S. Truman at Blair House.

Off southern Manchuria, 6,000 people are killed as a Chinese merchant ship explodes and sinks.

The New York Knicks played against the Toronto Huskies at the Maple Leaf Gardens, in the first Basketball Association of America game. The Knicks would win 68-66.

The official North Korean newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, is first published under the name ''Chongro''. Australia joins the United Nations.

World War II: Units of the British Army land at Walcheren in the Netherlands.

World War II: In support of the landings on Bougainville, U.S. aircraft carrier forces attack the huge Japanese base at Rabaul.

World War II: Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, United States Marines, the 3rd Marine Division, land on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands.

Matanikau Offensive begins during the Guadalcanal Campaign and ends on November 4.

American photographer Ansel Adams takes a picture of a moonrise over the town of Hernandez, New Mexico that would become one of the most famous images in the history of photography.

The first rabbit born after artificial insemination is exhibited to the world.

Seabiscuit defeats War Admiral in an upset victory during a match race deemed "the match of the century" in horse racing.

Stalinists execute Pastor Paul Hamberg and seven members of Azerbaijan's Lutheran community.

The ''Law on the Adoption and Implementation of the Turkish Alphabet'', replacing the version of the Arabic alphabet previously used, comes into force in Turkey.

The last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed VI, abdicates.

American Fishing Schooner Esperanto defeats the Canadian Fishing Schooner Delawana in the First International Fishing Schooner Championship Races in Halifax.

Western Ukraine gains its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Malbone Street Wreck: the worst rapid transit accident in US history occurs under the intersection of Malbone Street and Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, New York City, with at least 93 deaths.

Paul Miliukov delivers in the State Duma the famous "stupidity or treason" speech, precipitating the downfall of the Boris Stürmer government.

Parris Island is officially designated a Marine Corps Recruit Depot.

World War I: the first British Royal Navy defeat of the war with Germany, the Battle of Coronel, is fought off of the western coast of Chile, in the Pacific, with the loss of HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth.

The first dropping of a bomb from an airplane in combat, during the Italo-Turkish War.

Sigma Phi Epsilon, the largest national male collegiate fraternity is established at Richmond College, in Richmond, VA.

A picture showing the unclad (bare) breasts of a woman appears in ''National Geographic'' magazine for the first time.

Nicholas II becomes the new Tsar of Russia after his father, Alexander III, dies.

Ananda College, a leading Buddhist school in Sri Lanka is established with 37 students.

The Gaelic Athletic Association is set up in Hayes's Hotel in Thurles, County Tipperary.

New Zealand's provincial government system is dissolved.

In the United States, the Weather Bureau (later renamed the National Weather Service) makes its first official meteorological forecast.

American Civil War: US President Abraham Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as the commander of the Union Army, replacing the aged General Winfield Scott.

The current Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse is lit for the first time. Its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for about 19 miles (30 kilometers), in good conditions.

In Boston, Massachusetts, the first medical school for women, The Boston Female Medical School (which later merged with the Boston University School of Medicine), opens.

Congress of Vienna opens to re-draw the European political map after the defeat of France, in the Napoleonic Wars.

Napoleon Bonaparte invades Austria during the War of the Third Coalition.

Delegates meet at Chillicothe, Ohio to form a state constitutional convention.

US President John Adams becomes the first President of the United States to live in the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House).

Edmund Burke publishes ''Reflections on the Revolution in France'', in which he predicts that the French Revolution will end in a disaster.

The British Parliament enacts the Stamp Act on the 13 colonies in order to help pay for British military operations in North America.

Lisbon earthquake: In Portugal, Lisbon is destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami, killing between sixty thousand and ninety thousand people.

The British crown colony of New York is subdivided into 12 counties.

(22 October O.S.) Time of Troubles in Russia: Moscow, Kitai-gorod, is captured by Russian troops under command of Dmitry Pozharsky

William Shakespeare's romantic comedy ''The Tempest'' is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.

William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Othello'' is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.

The Strait of Magellan, the passage immediately south of mainland South America, connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, is first navigated by Ferdinand Magellan during his global circumnavigation voyage.

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.

The anti-royalist Union of Valencia attacks the Jews of Murviedro on the pretext that they are serfs of the King of Valencia and thus "royalists".

Philip II is crowned King of France.

Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freising, which is the oldest known document using the name ''Ostarrîchi'' (Austria in Old High German).