Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman announces lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office.

With the landmark merger of WorldCom and MCI Communications completed the day prior, the new MCI WorldCom opens its doors for business.

Liechtenstein Prince Hans-Adam II disbands Parliament

France announces it will send 4,000 troops to the Persian Gulf

United States Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze sign a treaty to establish centers to reduce the risk of nuclear war.

Israeli premier Menachem Begin resigns.

Vanuatu becomes a member of the United Nations.

The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operates it under its own power outside Washington, D.C.

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

The French département of Corse (the entire island of Corsica) is divided into two: Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud.

Air Vietnam flight 727 is hijacked, then crashes while attempting to land with 75 on board.

A Scandinavian Airlines System domestic flight from Gothenburg to Stockholm is hijacked and flown to Malmö-Bulltofta Airport.

The Soviet ''Zond 5'' spaceship is launched, becoming the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to a sniper attack at the University of Texas at Austin, writes a letter to Congress urging the enactment of gun control legislation.

The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing: Four children killed at an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, United States

The Soviet ship ''Poltava'' heads toward Cuba, one of the events that sets into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Hurricane Carla strikes Texas with winds of 175 miles per hour.

Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the United States.

A Central Railroad of New Jersey commuter train runs through an open drawbridge at the Newark Bay, killing 58.

United Nations gives Eritrea to Ethiopia.

Korean War: United States forces land at Inchon

The F-86 Sabre sets the world aircraft speed record at {{convert|671|mph|km/h}}.

Typhoon Kathleen hit the Kanto Region in Japan killing 1,077.

RCA releases the 12AX7 vacuum tube.

A hurricane in southern Florida and the Bahamas destroys 366 planes and 25 blimps at NAS Richmond.

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet in Quebec as part of the Octagon Conference to discuss strategy.

World War II: U.S. Navy aircraft carrier {{USS|Wasp|CV-7|6}} is torpedoed at Guadalcanal.

World War II: The climax of the Battle of Britain, when the Royal Air Force shoots down large numbers of Luftwaffe aircraft.

Nazi Germany adopts a new national flag with the swastika.

The Nuremberg Laws deprive German Jews of citizenship.

World War I: Tanks are used for the first time in battle, at the Battle of the Somme.

First Sino-Japanese War: Japan defeats China in the Battle of Pyongyang.

Franco-Prussian War: The last German troops leave France upon completion of payment of indemnity.

American Civil War: Confederate forces capture Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

Saint Joseph's University is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

{{HMS|Beagle}}, with Charles Darwin aboard, reaches the Galápagos Islands.

The locomotive ''John Bull'' operates for the first time in New Jersey on the Camden and Amboy Railroad.

The Liverpool to Manchester railway line opens.

Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica jointly declare independence from Spain.

Constitutionalist revolution in Lisbon, Portugal.

War of 1812: A second supply train sent to relieve Fort Harrison is ambushed in the Attack at the Narrows.

The French army under Napoleon reaches the Kremlin in Moscow.

The United States Department of State is established (formerly known as the "Department of Foreign Affairs").

American Revolutionary War: British forces land at Kip's Bay during the New York Campaign.

Seven Years War: Battle of Signal Hill.

The first non-aristocratic, free public school in Europe is opened in Frascati, Italy.

Departing from Vlissingen, ex-Holy Roman Emperor Charles V returns to Spain.

Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes.

At Tetin Saint Ludmila is murdered at the command of her daughter-in-law.

Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II is assassinated in his bath at Syracuse, Italy.