An Afriqiyah Airways Flight crashes and kills everyone but one person on board.

An earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 69,000 people.

Riots in which over 50 people are killed and over 100 are injured take place in Karachi upon the arrival in town of the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Mass unrest by the Primeiro Comando da Capital begins in São Paulo (Brazil), leaving at least 150 dead.

The Riyadh compound bombings, carried out by Al Qaeda, kill 26 people.

Fifty-nine Democratic lawmakers bring the Texas Legislature to a standstill by going into hiding in a dispute over a Republican congressional redistricting plan.

Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro becoming the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.

During a procession outside the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal, security guards overpower Juan Fernandez Krohn before he can attack Pope John Paul II with a bayonet. Krohn, an ultraconservative Spanish priest opposed to the Vatican II reforms, believed that the Pope had to be killed for being an "agent of Moscow".

Francis Hughes starves to death in the Maze Prison in a Republican campaign for political prisoner status to be granted to Provisional IRA prisoners.

In Zaire, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining center of the province of Shaba (now known as Katanga). The local government asks the U.S.A., France and Belgium to restore order.

Mayagüez incident: the Cambodian navy seizes the American merchant ship {{SS|Mayaguez}} in international waters.

West Germany and Israel establish diplomatic relations.

The Soviet spacecraft ''Luna 5'' crashes on the Moon.

Douglas MacArthur delivers his ''Duty, Honor, Country'' valedictory speech at the United States Military Academy.

A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.

The last section of the IRT Third Avenue Elevated in Manhattan closes.

Gaj Singh is crowned Maharaja of Jodhpur.

The western occupying powers approve the Basic Law for the new German state: the Federal Republic of Germany.

The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.

Argentinian labour leader José Peter declares the ''Federación Obrera de la Industria de la Carne'' dissolved.

World War II: Second Battle of Kharkov: in eastern Ukraine, Red Army forces under Marshal Semyon Timoshenko launch a major offensive from the Izium bridgehead, only to be encircled and destroyed by the troops of Army Group South two weeks later.

Holocaust: 1,500 Jews are sent to gas chambers in Auschwitz.

Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin.

George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith (founders of Alcoholics Anonymous) meet for the first time in Akron, Ohio, at the home of Henrietta Siberling.

Ten weeks after his abduction Charles Jr., the infant son of Charles Lindbergh is found dead in Hopewell, New Jersey, just a few miles from the Lindberghs' home.

UK General Strike 1926: In the United Kingdom, a nine-day general strike by trade unions ends.

North-West Rebellion: the four-day Battle of Batoche, pitting rebel Métis against the Canadian government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat.

In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.

Oscar II is crowned King of Sweden.

The Manitoba Act is given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada on July 15.

American Civil War: the Battle of Palmito Ranch: the first day of the last major land action to take place during the Civil War, resulting in a Confederate victory.

American Civil War: the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers die in "the Bloody Angle".

American Civil War: Battle of Raymond: two divisions of James B. McPherson's XVII Corps (ACW) turn the left wing of Confederate General John C. Pemberton's defensive line on Fourteen Mile Creek, opening up the interior of Mississippi to the Union Army during the Vicksburg Campaign.

U.S. federal troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The first big battle of the Greek War of Independence against the Turks occurs in Valtetsi.

First Coalition: Napoleon I of France conquers Venice.

American Revolutionary War: Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.

Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Bohemia after defeating her rival, Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor.

King William's War: William III of England joins the League of Augsburg starting a war with France.

French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry of Guise enters the city.

National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas, is founded in Lima, Peru.

Jagiellonian University, the oldest university in Poland, is founded in Kraków, Poland.

Antipope Nicholas V, a claimant to the papacy, is consecrated in Rome by the Bishop of Venice.

The Battle of Lewes, between King Henry III of England and the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, begins.

Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre who is crowned Queen consort of England the same day.