Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Quebec's costliest natural disasters ever.

Battle of Mullaitivu. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam capture the Sri Lanka Army's base, killing over 1200 Army soldiers.

On the Caribbean island of Montserrat, the Soufriere Hills volcano erupts. Over the course of several years, it devastates the island, destroying the capital and forcing most of the population to flee.

The bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentinian Jewish Communal Center) in Buenos Aires kills 85 people (mostly Jewish) and injures 300.

The ten victims of the La Cantuta massacre disappear from their university in Lima.

A tornado is broadcast live on KARE television in Minnesota when the station's helicopter pilot makes a chance encounter.

McDonald's massacre in San Ysidro, California: in a fast-food restaurant, James Oliver Huberty opens fire, killing 21 people and injuring 19 others before being shot dead by police.

268 campesinos ("peasants" or "country people") are slain in the Plan de Sánchez massacre in Ríos Montt's Guatemala.

Nadia Comăneci became the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics.

After a party on Chappaquiddick Island, Senator Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts drives an Oldsmobile off a bridge and his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, dies.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin make a television transmission from the Lunar Module.

The Intel Corporation is founded in Santa Clara, California.

Gemini 10 launched.

Russian satellite Zond 3 launched.

The first Disneyland theme park, in Anaheim, California, opens to the public.

World War II: Hideki Tojo resigns as Prime Minister of Japan due to numerous setbacks in the war effort.

World War II: the Germans test fly the Messerschmitt Me-262 using only its jet engines for the first time.

In Spanish Morocco, military rebels attempt a coup d'état against the legitimacy of the Spanish government. This will lead to the Spanish Civil War.

Adolf Hitler publishes his personal manifesto ''Mein Kampf''.

The U.S. Congress forms the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, giving definite status to aircraft within the U.S. Army for the first time.

The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of papal infallibility.

American Civil War: Fort Wagner|Battle of Fort Wagner/Morris Island

First ascent of Dent Blanche, one of the highest summits in the Alps.

Louis Faidherbe, French governor of Senegal, arrives to relieve French forces at Kayes, effectively ending El Hajj Umar Tall's war against the French.

Polish-Lithuanian forces clash with Sweden and its Brandenburg allies in the start of what is to be known as The Battle of Warsaw which ends in a decisive Swedish victory.

Kingdom of France and Kingdom of England agree to the Truce of Leulinghem, in inaugurating a 13 year peace; the longest period of sustained peace during the Hundred Years War.

The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new ''campanile'' (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral, designed by the artist Giotto di Bondone.

King Edward I of England issues the Edict of Expulsion, banishing all Jews (numbering about 16,000) from England; this was Tisha B'Av on the Hebrew calendar, a day that commemorates many Jewish calamities.

Great fire of Rome: a fire begins to burn in the merchant area of Rome and soon burns completely out of control.