The International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefines the term "planet" such that Pluto is now considered a Dwarf Planet.

Eighty-nine passengers die after two airliners explode after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, near Moscow. The explosions are caused by suicide bombers (reportedly female) from the Russian Republic of Chechnya.

Air Transat Flight 236 runs out of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean (en route to Lisbon from Toronto) and makes an emergency landing in the Azores.

First RFID human implantation tested in the United Kingdom.

The Netherlands is selected as the site for the trial of the two Libyan suspects of the 1988 Pan Am bombing.

Computer software developer Microsoft releases its Windows 95 operating system.

Initial accord between Israel and the PLO about partial self-rule of the Palestinians on the West Bank.

Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida as a Category 5 Hurricane.

Ukraine declares itself independent from the Soviet Union.

Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose is banned from baseball for gambling by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti.

Colombian drug barons declare "total war" on the Colombian government.

Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon.

France explodes its first hydrogen bomb, thus becoming the world's fifth nuclear power.

Led by Abbie Hoffman, a group of hippies temporarily disrupt trading at the NYSE by throwing dollar bills from the viewing gallery, causing trading to cease as brokers scramble to grab them.

Don Schollander swims the 200-metre freestyle in less than 2 minutes for the first time, in a world record time of 1:58.

Buddhist crisis: As a result of the Xa Loi Pagoda raids, the US State Department cables the US Embassy in Saigon to encourage Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals to launch a coup against President Ngo Dinh Diem if he did not remove his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu.

Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, president of Brazil, commits suicide and is succeeded by João Café Filho.

The Communist Control Act goes into effect. The American Communist Party is outlawed.

Edith Sampson becomes the first black U.S. delegate to the United Nations.

The treaty creating NATO goes into effect.

World War II: Allied troops begin the attack on Paris.

World War II: The Battle of the Eastern Solomons. Japanese aircraft carrier ''Ryūjō'' is sunk and US carrier {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6|6}} heavily damaged.

In the Spanish Civil War, the Basque Army surrenders to the Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie following the Santoña Agreement.

The Australian Antarctic Territory is created.

The Crescent Limited train derails in Washington, D.C., after the bridge it was crossing was washed out by the 1933 Chesapeake–Potomac hurricane.

Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop (from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey).

Resignation of the United Kingdom's Second Labour Government. Formation of the UK National Government.

France and the Soviet Union sign a neutrality/no attack treaty.

Second day of two-day Hebron massacre during the 1929 Palestine riots: Arab attacks on the Jewish community in Hebron in the British Mandate of Palestine, result in the death of 65-68 Jews and the remaining Jews being forced to leave the city.

World War I: German troops capture Namur.

Alaska becomes a United States territory.

Workers start pouring concrete for the Panama Canal.

A statue of Joan of Arc is unveiled in Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.

Count Muravyov, Foreign Minister of Russia presents a ''rescript'' that convoked the First Hague Peace Conference.

Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera.

Captain Matthew Webb became first person to swim the English Channel

The Wolseley Expedition reaches Manitoba to end the Red River Rebellion.

The Panic of 1857 begins, setting off one of the most severe economic crises in United States history.

Charles Darwin is asked to travel on {{HMS|Beagle}}.

The Treaty of Córdoba is signed in Córdoba, now in Veracruz, Mexico, concluding the Mexican War of Independence from Spain.

Constitutionalist insurrection at Oporto, Portugal.

The Treaty of St. Louis is signed in St. Louis, Missouri.

The modern Constitution of the Netherlands is signed.

British troops invade Washington, D.C. and burn down the White House and several other buildings.

Calcutta, India is founded.

William Penn receives the area that is now the state of Delaware, and adds it to his colony of Pennsylvania.

The Act of Uniformity requires England to accept the Book of Common Prayer.

The first official English representative to India lands in Surat.

St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre: On the orders of king Charles IX of France, a massacre of Huguenots (French Protestants) begins.

Willem of Orange marries duchess Anna of Saxony.

Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Sultanate of Malacca.

The printing of the Gutenberg Bible is completed.

Jews are massacred in Palma de Mallorca.

Six thousand Jews are killed in Mainz after being blamed for the bubonic plague.

Pope Innocent III declares Magna Carta invalid.

King John of England, signee of the first Magna Carta, marries Isabella of Angouleme in Bordeaux Cathedral.

The Visigoths under Alaric begin to pillage Rome.

Mount Vesuvius erupts. The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae are buried in volcanic ash (note: this traditional date has been challenged, and many scholars believe that the event occurred on October 24).