An 8.0 magnitude earthquake near the Samoan Islands causes a tsunami .

Following the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual, The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history.

Calder Hall, the world's first commercial nuclear power station, is demolished in a controlled explosion.

Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 collides in mid-air with an Embraer Legacy business jet near Peixoto de Azevedo, Mato Grosso, Brazil, killing 154 total people, and triggering a Brazilian aviation crisis.

US Representative Mark Foley resigns after allegations of inappropriate emails.

United States Senate confirms John Roberts as Chief Justice of the United States.

The Burt Rutan Ansari X Prize entry ''SpaceShipOne'' performs a successful spaceflight, the first of two required to win the prize.

The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within four lunar distances of Earth.

The ''Syracuse Herald-Journal'', a U.S. newspaper dating back to 1839, ceases publication.

The United States Navy disbands Fighter Squadron 84 (VF-84), nicknamed the "Jolly Rogers".

Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello resigns.

Military coup in Haiti (1991 Haitian coup d'état).

The YF-22, which would later become the F-22 Raptor, flies for the first time.

Construction of the Washington National Cathedral is completed.

Space Shuttle: NASA launches STS-26, the return to flight mission, after the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster. 160px, flown by OV-103.]]

The 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders begin when the first of seven individuals dies in metropolitan Chicago.

Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to set foot on Irish soil with his pastoral visit to the Republic of Ireland.

WGPR in Detroit, Michigan, becomes the world's first black-owned-and-operated television station.

Sino-Japanese relations: Japan establishes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China after breaking official ties with the Republic of China.

Oman joins the Arab League.

The Chevrolet Camaro, originally named Panther, is introduced.

The Argentine comic strip Mafalda is published for the first time.

The University of East Anglia is established in Norwich, England.

The second period of the Second Vatican Council opens.

''Alouette 1,'' the first Canadian satellite, is launched.

Nikita Khrushchev, leader of Soviet Union, disrupts a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly with a number of angry outbursts.

20 MCi (740 petabecquerels) of radioactive material is released in an explosion at the Soviet Mayak nuclear plant at Chelyabinsk.

The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed.

The first live sporting event seen coast-to-coast in the United States, a college football game between Duke and the University of Pittsburgh, is televised on NBC.

The Communist Party of China writes the Common Programme for the future People's Republic of China.

World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio sign an armistice aboard the Royal Navy battleship {{HMS|Nelson|28|6}} off Malta.

World War II: Holocaust in Kiev, Ukraine: German Einsatzgruppe C begins the Babi Yar massacre, according to the Einsatzgruppen operational situation report.

Chaco War: Last day of the Battle of Boquerón between Paraguay and Bolivia.

World War I: The Hindenburg Line is broken by Allied forces. Bulgaria signs an armistice.

John D. Rockefeller becomes the second billionaire.

Italy declares war on the Ottoman Empire.

The cornerstone is laid at Washington National Cathedral in the U.S. capital.

The first practical public electric tramway in the world is opened in Blackpool, England.

American Civil War: The Battle of Chaffin's Farm is fought.

The Roman Catholic hierarchy is re-established in England and Wales by Pope Pius IX.

Battle of Pákozd: Hungarian forces defeat Croats at Pákozd; the first battle of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.

The Metropolitan Police of London, later also known as ''the Met'', is founded.

The 1st United States Congress adjourns.

The United States Department of War first establishes a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.

An earthquake strikes Antigua Guatemala, destroying much of the city's architecture and making authorities consider moving the capital to a different city.

Henry Robinson opens his ''Office of Addresses and Encounters'' in Threadneedle Street, London.

At a dinner, the Duke of Alba arrests the Count of Egmont and the Count of Hoorn for treason.

Battle of Auray: English forces defeat the French in Brittany; end of the Breton War of Succession.

Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for his failure to participate in the Crusades.