CNSA astronaut Zhai Zhigang becomes the first Chinese person to perform a spacewalk while flying on ''Shenzhou 7''.

Smart 1 satellite is launched.

Timor-Leste (East Timor) joins the United Nations.

Communications are suddenly lost with the ''Mars Pathfinder'' space probe.

The Julie N. tanker ship crashes into the Million Dollar Bridge in Portland, Maine spilling thousands of gallons of oil.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban capture the capital city Kabul after driving out President Burhanuddin Rabbani and executing former leader Mohammad Najibullah.

The Government of the United States unveils the first of its redesigned bank notes with the $100 bill featuring a larger portrait of Benjamin Franklin slightly off-center.

The Sukhumi massacre takes place in Abkhazia.

Richard Stallman announces the GNU project to develop a free Unix-like operating system.

The United States Department of Education receives final approval from the U.S. Congress to become the 13th US Cabinet agency.

The 300 metre tall CKVR-TV transmission tower in Barrie, Ontario, Canada is hit by a light aircraft in a fog, causing it to collapse. All aboard the aircraft are killed.

The stage musical ''Hair'' opens at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, where it played 1,998 performances until its closure was forced by the roof collapsing in July 1973.

The British TSR-2 aircraft XR219 makes its maiden flight from Boscombe Down in Wiltshire.

The Warren Commission releases its report, concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

Sierra Leone joins the United Nations.

Nearly 5000 people die on the main Japanese island of Honshū as the result of a typhoon.

USAF Captain Milburn G. Apt becomes the first man to exceed Mach 3 while flying the Bell X-2. Shortly thereafter, the craft goes out of control and Captain Apt is killed.

The nationwide debut of ''Tonight!'' ''(The Tonight Show)'' hosted by Steve Allen on NBC.

The first Plenary Session of the National People's Congress approves the design of the Flag of the People's Republic of China.

The Kassel Mission results in the largest loss by a USAAF group on any mission in World War II.

Last day of the September Matanikau action on Guadalcanal as United States Marine Corps troops barely escape after being surrounded by Japanese forces near the Matanikau River.

The ''SS Patrick Henry'' is launched becoming the first of more than 2,700 Liberty ships.

World War II: The Tripartite Pact is signed in Berlin by Germany, Japan and Italy.

Ocean liner ''Queen Elizabeth'' launched in Glasgow.

Balinese Tiger declared extinct.

Bobby Jones wins the U.S. Amateur Championship to complete the Grand Slam of golf. The old structure of the grand slam was the U.S. Open, British Open, U.S. Amateur, and British Amateur.

The Republic of China is recognised by the United States.

King Constantine I of Greece abdicates his throne in favor of his eldest son, King George II.

Iyasu is proclaimed deposed as ruler of Ethiopia in a palace coup in favor of his aunt Zauditu.

The first production of the Ford Model T automobile was built at the Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan.

The physics journal Annalen der Physik published Albert Einstein's paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", introducing the equation E=mc².

Wreck of the Old 97, a train crash made famous by the song of the same name.

The steamship ''SS Arctic'' sinks with 300 people on board. This marks the first great disaster in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Stockton and Darlington Railway opens, and begins operation of the world's first service of locomotive-hauled passenger trains.

Jean-François Champollion announces that he has deciphered the Rosetta stone.

Mexico gains its independence from Spain.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania is the capital of the United States, for one day.

The Venetians surrender the fortress of Candia to the Ottomans, thus ending the 21-year long Siege of Candia.

The armies of Sweden are defeated by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Battle of Kircholm.

Pope Urban VII dies 13 days after being chosen as the Pope, making his reign the shortest papacy in history.

The Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) receives its charter from Pope Paul III.

The Siege of Vienna begins when Suleiman I attacks the city.

after the brief Gollub War the Teutonic Knights sign the Treaty of Melno with the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Battle of Płowce between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Order is fought.

Odoacer attacks Theodoric at the Battle of Verona, and is defeated again.