Anti-WTO protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicate the throne as King of Bhutan.

SpaceShipOne flight 11P, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first supersonic flight.

The Soham murder trial ends at the Old Bailey in London, with Ian Huntley found guilty of two counts of murder. His girlfriend Maxine Carr is found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

Second Congo War: The Congolese parties of the Inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord which makes provision for transitional governance and legislative and presidential elections within two years.

The United Kingdom commences its Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997, which extends the state's gun ban to include all handguns -- with the exception of antique and show weapons.

Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timişoara with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.

The first episode of television series ''The Simpsons'', "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", airs in the United States.

The IRA bombs Harrods Department Store in London, killing six people.

The Senegambia Confederation is founded.

Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigade in Verona, Italy.

Terrorism: 30 passengers are killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists on Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport.

Polish 1970 protests: In Gdynia soldiers fire at workers emerging from trains, killing dozens.

Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closes its study of UFOs, stating that sightings were generated as a result of "A mild form of mass hysteria, Individuals who fabricate such reports to perpetrate a hoax or seek publicity, psychopathological persons, and misidentification of various conventional objects."

The SALT I talks begin.

Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria and was presumed drowned.

History of Goa: Operation Vijay (1961)|Operation Vijay

Troops loyal to Haile Selassie I in Ethiopia crush the coup that began December 13, returning power to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolves his son of any guilt.

The United States successfully launches the first Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The F-86 Sabre's first mission over Korea.

First flight of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber.

World War II: Battle of the Bulge

World War II: Japanese forces land in Northern Borneo.

World War II: Battle of the River Plate

First flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane.

Antanas Smetona assumes power in Lithuania as the 1926 coup d'état is successful.

Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

Culmination of the Darwin Rebellion as some 1000 demonstrators march on Government House in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

Ugyen Wangchuck was crowned first King of Bhutan

The Wright Brothers make their first powered and heavier-than-air flight in the ''Wright Flyer'' at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

First performance of the Unfinished Symphony by Franz Schubert.

American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues ''General Order No. 11'', expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.

Fire in the Winter Palace of Saint Petersburg occurred.

Opening of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, the first public railway on the island of Ireland.

Simón Bolívar declares the independence of the Republic of Gran Colombia in Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar in Venezuela).

War of 1812: U.S. forces attack a friendly Lenape village in the Battle of the Mississinewa.

France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.

Discovery of the Aztec calendar stone.

Great Britain declares war on Spain.

Shimabara Rebellion: Japanese peasants led by Amakusa Shiro rise against daimyo Matsukura Shigeharu.

Marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici.

Emperor Go-Yozei becomes Emperor of Japan.

Cologne War: Forces under Ernest of Bavaria defeats the troops under Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg at the Siege of Godesberg.

Francis Drake sails from Plymouth, England, on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Coast of the Americas for English Queen Elizabeth I.

Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.

Pope Clement VII establishes a parallel body to the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal.

Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud's armies in Delhi are defeated by Timur.

Assassination of William I of Normandy.

Romanos I is crowned co-emperor of the underage Emperor Constantine VII.

Gothic War: The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome by bribing the Byzantine garrison.