Five murderers of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh: Lieutenant Colonel Syed Faruq Rahman, Lieutenant Colonel Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Major AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed, Major Bazlul Huda and Lieutenant Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed were hanged.

TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia killing 92.

Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission – Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board.

Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single ''We Are the World'', to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief.

US Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity by the Red Brigades.

Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.

{{USCGC|Blackthorn|WLB-391|6}} collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa Florida and capsizes killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.

The first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977, which severely affects and cripples much of Upstate New York, but Buffalo, NY, Syracuse, NY, Watertown, NY, and surrounding areas are most affected, each area accumulating close to {{convert|10|ft|m}} of snow on this one day.thumb.]]

The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament.

The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.

World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.

French-Thai War: Final air battle of the conflict. Japanese-mediated armistice goes into effect later in the day.

The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by driver Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of {{convert|432.7|km/h|mph}}.

Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion.

The first ski tow in the United States begins operation in Vermont.

The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan and is accepted by the Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.

Japanese forces attack Shanghai.

Knickerbocker Storm, Washington D.C.'s biggest snowfall, causes the city's greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater collapses.

A symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to honor the unknown dead of World War I.

Finnish Civil War: Rebels seized control of the capital, Helsinki, and members of the Senate of Finland go underground.

Municipally owned streetcars take to the streets of San Francisco, California.

Louis D. Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court.

An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard.

United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish-American War.

The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.

Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent became the first person to be convicted of speeding. He is fined 1 shilling, plus costs, for speeding at {{convert|8|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}, thus exceeding the contemporary speed limit of {{convert|2|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.

In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, {{convert|15|in|cm}} wide and {{convert|8|in|cm}} thick.

''Yale Daily News'' becomes the first daily college newspaper in the United States.

Franco-Prussian War: the Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.

The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean on the Panama Railway.

The Battle of Aliwal, India, is won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.

A Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovers the Antarctic continent approaching the Antarctic coast.

''Pride and Prejudice'' is first published in the United Kingdom.

Pownal, Vermont is created by Benning Wentworth as one of the New Hampshire Grants.

Horace Walpole coins the word ''serendipity'' in a letter to Horace Mann.

The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It is called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.

Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.

Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland.

Henry VIII dies. His nine year old son, Edward VI becomes King, and the first Protestant ruler of England.

The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.

Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted.