An earthquake hits El Salvador, killing more than 800.

Space Shuttle program: Endeavour heads for space for the third time as STS-54 launches from the Kennedy Space Center.

Japan apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery (Comfort women) during World War II.

Soviet Union military troops attack Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius. Killed 14 people and wounding 1000.

L. Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office in Richmond, Virginia.

A month-long violent struggle begins in Aden, South Yemen between supporters of Ali Nasir Muhammad and Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties.

A passenger train plunged into a ravine at Ethiopia, killing 428 in the worst railroad disaster in Africa.

Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737 jet crashes into Washington, DC's 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists. Coincidentally, 30 minutes later, a Washington Metrorail train derails at the Federal Triangle station, on the orange and blue lines, killing three and injuring many more. Flight 90 also destroyed part of a Blue line track that ran next to the 14th street bridge. This gridlocked the city.

Seraphim is elected Archbishop of Athens and All Greece.

Prime Minister Kofi Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana are ousted in a bloodless military coup by Col. Ignatius Kutu Acheamphong.

Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom Prison

Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member by being appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Hindu-Muslim rioting breaks out in the Indian city of Calcutta – now Kolkata – resulting in the deaths of more than 100 people.

Moroccan Liberation Army ambushes Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera.

Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen as President of Yugoslavia.

World War II: First use of aircraft ejection seat by a German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter.

Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, which is 30% lighter than a regular car.

The Black Friday bush fires burn 20,000 square kilometres of land in Australia, claiming the lives of 71 people.

A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.

The Candidate of Science degree is established in the USSR.

An earthquake in Avezzano, Italy kills 29,800.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated is founded on the campus of Howard University as the second Black Greek Letter Organization for Women. The mission is to make a move towards social activism.

Rhoads Opera House fire in Boyertown, PA killing 171 people.

Emile Zola's ''J'accuse'' exposes the Dreyfus affair.

U.S. Marines land in Honolulu from the U.S.S. Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.

The Independent Labour Party of the UK has its first meeting.

National convention of black leaders meets in Washington D.C.

The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican-American War in California.

Dr. William Brydon, an assistant surgeon in the British East India Company Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, becomes famous for being the sole survivor of an army of 4,500 men and 12,000 camp followers when he reaches the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad.

The steamship ''Lexington'' burns and sinks four miles off the coast of Long Island with the loss of 139 lives.

President Andrew Jackson writes to Vice President Martin Van Buren expressing his opposition to South Carolina's defiance of federal authority in the Nullification Crisis.

The Great fire of New Orleans, Louisiana begins.

The design of the Greek flag is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.

A naval battle is fought between a French ship of the line and two British frigates off the coast of Brittany during the French Revolutionary Wars ends with the French vessel running ashore, resulting in the death of over 900.

John Walter publishes the first issue of the ''Daily Universal Register'' (later renamed ''The Times'').

James Oglethorpe and 130 colonists arrive in Charleston, South Carolina.

Galileo Galilei discovers Ganymede, 4th moon of Jupiter.

The Bank of Genoa fails after announcement of national bankruptcy in Spain.

The controversial play ''Eastward Hoe'' by Ben Jonson, George Chapman, and John Marston is performed, landing two of the authors in prison.

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey is sentenced to death.

Sicut Dudum is promulgated by Pope Eugene IV about the enslaving of black natives in Canary Islands by Spanish Natives.

Edward III of England marries Philippa of Hainault, daughter of the Count of Hainault.

Odo, Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks.

Nika riots in Constantinople.