The U.S. Supreme Court rules in ''District of Columbia v. Heller'' that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects an individual right, and that the District of Columbia handgun ban is unconstitutional.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules in ''Lawrence v. Texas'' that gender-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Communications Decency Act violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Irish Journalist Veronica Guerin is shot in her car while in traffic in the outskirts of Dublin

Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani deposes his father Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in a bloodless coup.

Ten-Day War: the Yugoslav people's army begins the Ten-Day War in Slovenia.

Air Canada Flight 189 to Toronto overruns the runway and crashes into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. Two of 107 passengers on board perish.

The Yorkshire Ripper kills 16 year old shop assistant Jayne MacDonald in Leeds, changing public perception of the killer as she is the first victim who is not a prostitute.

Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial.

Indira Gandhi establishes emergency rule in India.

The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio

At Plesetsk Cosmodrome 9 people are killed in an explosion of a Cosmos 3-M rocket.

Madagascar gains its independence from France.

The former British Protectorate of British Somaliland gains its independence as Somaliland .

The Saint Lawrence Seaway opens, opening North America's Great Lakes to ocean-going ships.

Lavrentiy Beria,head of MVD, was arrested by Nikita Khrushchev and other members of the Politburo.

The Pan-Malayan Labour Party is founded in Malaya, as a union of statewise labour parties.

The Western allies begin an airlift to Berlin after the Soviet Union blockades West Berlin.

William Shockley files the original patent for the grown junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.

Shirley Jackson's short story ''The Lottery'' is published in ''The New Yorker'' magazine.

The United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco.

The first flight of the Grumman F6F Hellcat.

World War II: under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Romania requiring it to cede Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina.

Initial flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first practical helicopter.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act, which establishes credit unions.

The Cyclone roller coaster opens on Coney Island.

American occupying forces leave the Dominican Republic.

World War I, Eastern Front (World War I)|Western Front: Battle for Belleau Wood

The first U.S. troops arrive in France to fight alongside Britain, France, Italy, and Russia against Germany, and Austria-Hungary in World War I.

The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity.

The Christian holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States.

The first investiture of the Victoria Cross in Hyde Park, London.

End of the June Days Uprising in Paris.

After a siege and bombardment by cannon, Baku surrenders to the Russians.

Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia, Peter the Great's son, mysteriously dies after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him.

Francisco Pizarro is assassinated in Lima by the son of his former companion and later antagonist, Diego Almagro the younger. Almagro is later caught and executed.

Richard III is crowned king of England.

Western Schism: the Roman Catholic church is led into a double schism as Petros Philargos is crowned Pope Alexander V after the Council of Pisa, joining Pope Gregory XII in Rome and Pope Benedict XII in Avignon.

the legendary Pied Piper leads 130 children out of Hamelin, Germany

Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. General Jovian is proclaimed Emperor by the troops on the battlefield.