2014: The Japanese space agency, JAXA, launches the space explorer Hayabusa 2 from the Tanegashima Space Center on a six-year round trip mission to an asteroid to collect rock samples.
2007: Winter storms cause the Chehalis River to flood many cities in Lewis County, Washington, and close a 20-mile portion of Interstate 5 for several days. At least eight deaths and billions of dollars in damages are blamed on the floods.
1997: In Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign the Ottawa Treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines. The United States, People's Republic of China, and Russia do not sign the treaty, however.
1994: The PlayStation was released in Japan
1992: A test engineer for Sema Group uses a personal computer to send the world's first text message via the Vodafone network to the phone of a colleague.
1992: The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea, carrying 80,000 tonnes of crude oil, runs aground in a storm while approaching A Coruña, Spain, and spills much of its cargo.
1984: [Bhopal](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal) disaster: A methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, kills more than 3,800 people outright and injures 150,000-600,000 others (some 6,000 of whom would later die from their injuries) in one of the worst industrial disasters in history.
1982: A soil sample is taken from Times Beach, Missouri, that will be found to contain 300 times the safe level of dioxin.
1964: Free Speech Movement: Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest of the UC Regents' decision to forbid protests on UC property.
1960: The musical Camelot debuts at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway. It will become associated with the Kennedy administration.
1959: The current flag of Singapore is adopted, six months after Singapore became self-governing within the British Empire.
1944: Greek Civil War: Fighting breaks out in Athens between the ELAS and government forces supported by the British Army.