President George W. Bush makes his fourth and final (planned) trip to Iraq as president and is almost struck by two shoes thrown at him by Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi during a news conference in Baghdad.

Cuba and Venezuela found the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas.

The Millau viaduct, the highest bridge in the world, near Millau, France is officially opened.

President of Pakistan Pervez Musharaf narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.

Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga join the United Nations.

Yugoslav Wars: The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris by leaders of various governments.

Construction begins on the Three Gorges Dam in the Yangtze River.

The 3rd Congress of the Communist Youth of Greece starts.

Arab-Israeli conflict: Israel's Knesset passes ''The Golan Heights Law'', extending Israeli law to the area of the Golan Heights.

Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of the Apollo 17 mission. This is the last manned mission to the moon of the 20th century.

American Civil Rights Movement: ''Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States'' – The United States Supreme Court rules that the U.S. Congress can use the Constitution's Commerce Clause power to fight discrimination.

Baldwin Hills Reservoir wall bursts, killing five people and damaging hundreds of homes in Los Angeles.

NASA's ''Mariner 2'' becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus.

The United Republic of Tanzania joins the United Nations.

Ian Meckiff of Australia is run out by the West Indies, causing the first Tied Test in the history of cricket.

The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first expedition to reach The Pole of Relative Inaccessibility in the Antarctic.

Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sri Lanka join the United Nations.

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is founded in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The United Nations General Assembly votes to establish its headquarters in New York City.

World War II: Japan signs treaty of alliance with Thailand.

Winter War: The Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations for invading Finland.

Friedrich Karl von Hessen, a German prince elected by the Parliament of Finland to become King Väinö I, renounces the Finnish throne.

Lisandro de la Torre and others found the Democratic Progressive Party (''Partido Demócrata Progresista'', PDP) at the Hotel Savoy, Buenos Aires.

Roald Amundsen's team, comprising himself, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting, becomes the first to reach the South Pole.

The schooner ''Thomas W. Lawson'' runs aground and founders near the Hellweather's Reef within the Scilly Isles in a gale. The pilot and 15 seamen die.

The Wright brothers make their first attempt to fly with the ''Wright Flyer'' at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

The Commercial Pacific Cable Company lays the first Pacific telegraph cable, from Ocean Beach, San Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii.

Quantum Mechanics: Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law.

The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.

The Toledo War unofficially ends.

Advocates of Liberalism in Russia rise up against Tsar Nicholas I and are put down in the Decembrist Revolt in St. Petersburg.

Alabama becomes the 22nd U.S. state.

The French invasion of Russia comes to an end as the remnants of the Grande Armée are expelled from Russia.

The Montgolfier brothers' first balloon lifts off on its first test flight.

The Theresian Military Academy is founded as the first Military Academy in the world.

The Forty-seven Ronin, under the command of Ōishi Kuranosuke, avenge the death of their master.

Princess Mary Stuart becomes Mary, Queen of Scots.

St. Lucia's flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses, killing over 50,000 people.