Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

James Buster Douglas, a 42 to 1 underdog, deals Mike Tyson his first professional loss with the largest upset in boxing history and becomes the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa.

Philippines constitution goes into effect.

{{convert|100000|USgal|m3}} of radioactive coolant leak into the containment building of TVA Sequoyah 1 nuclear plant in Tennessee, contaminating 8 workers.

Islamic revolution of Iran establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Censorship: the People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, Shakespeare and Dickens.

Vietnam War: First release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place.

Eighty-seven countries, including the US, UK, and USSR, sign the Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters.

Israeli-Jordanian border clashes.

The Republic of China (Taiwan) breaks off diplomatic relations with France.

Greeks and Turks begin fighting in Limassol, Cyprus.

The Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel.

President Dwight Eisenhower refuses clemency appeal for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.

World War II: General Dwight Eisenhower is selected to command the allied armies in Europe.

The Battle of Bukit Timah is fought in Singapore during World War II.

The first gold record is presented to Glenn Miller for "Chattanooga Choo Choo".

A Lockheed XP-38 flies from California to New York in 7 hours 2 minutes.

BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play ''R.U.R.'', which coined the term "robot".

A sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers Union.

Fascist Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty.

Friedrich Ebert (SPD), is elected President of Germany.

Emma Goldman is arrested for lecturing on birth control.

Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical ''Vehementer nos''.

Anton Bruckner's 9th Symphony receives its first performance in Vienna.

Meiji constitution of Japan is adopted; the first Diet of Japan convenes in 1890.

King Amadeus I of Spain abdicates.

American Civil War: United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.

Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia, by Abuna Salama III in a ceremony at the church of Derasge Maryam

Giuseppe Verdi's opera ''I Lombardi'' receives its first performance in Milan.

Gaetano Donizetti's opera ''La Fille du Régiment'' receives its first performance in Paris.

Swaminarayan wrote the ''Shikshapatri'', an important test within the Swaminarayan faith.

University College London is founded under the name ''University of London''.

Norway's independence is proclaimed, marking the ultimate end of the Kalmar Union.

Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry "gerrymanders" for the first time.

Robert Fulton files a patent for improvements to steamboat navigation

Anthracite coal is first burned as a fuel, experimentally.

First session of United States Senate open to the public.

Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, petitions U.S. Congress for abolition of slavery.

Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the United States, is opened by Benjamin Franklin.

The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses.

Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman Emperorship, dies under mysterious circumstances in Rome. This clears the way for Nero to become Emperor.