North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device. Following the nuclear test, Pyongyang also conducted several missile tests building tensions in the international community.

A train crash in Tenga, Mozambique kills 197 people.

China Airlines Flight 611: A Boeing 747-200 breaks apart in mid-air and plunges into the Taiwan Strait killing 225 people.

32-year-old Erik Weihenmayer, of Boulder, Colorado, becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Liberation Day of Lebanon. Israel withdraws its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion in 1978.

The United States House of Representatives releases the ''Cox Report'' which details the People's Republic of China's nuclear espionage against the U.S. over the prior two decades.

A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.

Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.

HMS ''Coventry'' is sunk during the Falklands War.

In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Six-year-old Etan Patz disappears from the street just two blocks away from his New York City home, prompting an international search for the child, and causing U.S. President Ronald Reagan to designate May 25th as National Missing Children's Day (in 1983).

American Airlines Flight 191: In Chicago, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport killing 271 on board and two people on the ground.

Star Wars (retitled ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' in 1981) is released in theaters, inspiring the Jediism religion and Geek Pride Day holiday.

The first prominent dàzìbào during the Cultural Revolution in China is posted at Peking University.

Explorer program: ''Explorer 32'' launches.

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Organisation of African Unity is established.

The Old Bay Line, the last overnight steamboat service in the United States, goes out of business.

Apollo program: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces before a special joint session of the Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a "man on the Moon" before the end of the decade.

First ascent of Kangchenjunga (8,586 m.), the third highest mountain in the world, by a British expedition led by Joe Brown and George Band.

In the United States, a night time F5 tornado strikes the small city of Udall, Kansas, killing 80 and injuring 273. It is the deadliest tornado to ever occur in the state and the 23rd deadliest in the U.S.

The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.

Nuclear testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conduct their first and only nuclear artillery test.

The parliament of Transjordan makes Abdullah I of Jordan their Emir.

World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk begins.

Spanish Civil War: The bombing of Alicante takes place, with 313 deaths.

The Remington Rand strike, led by the American Federation of Labor, begins.

Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks three world records and ties a fourth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura, the head of the Paris-based government-in-exile of Ukrainian People's Republic.

Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

The United Kingdom's House of Commons passes the Home Rule Act for devolution in Ireland.

The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Ching-sung as its president.

Playwright, poet, and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons" and sentenced to serve two years in prison.

Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' opens at the Opera Comique in London.

In Mobile, Alabama, 300 are killed when an ordnance depot explodes.

The Patriots of Lower Canada (Quebec) rebel against the British for freedom.

The Chilean Constitution of 1833 is promulgated.

The Argentine Constitution of 1819 is promulgated.

May Revolution: citizens of Buenos Aires expel Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros during the ''May week'', starting the Argentine War of Independence.

Chuquisaca Revolution: a group of patriots in Chuquisaca (modern day Sucre) revolt against the Spanish Empire, starting the South American Wars of Independence.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates convene a Constitutional Convention to write a new Constitution for the United States; George Washington presides.

A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners.

Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth of England.

The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.

Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ.

Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo, Spain back from the Moors.