2015: The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to legalize gay marriage in a public referendum.
2014: An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, the capital of China's far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries.
2014: General Prayut Chan-o-cha becomes interim leader of Thailand in a military coup d'état, following six months of political turmoil.
2012: Tokyo Skytree opens to the public. It is the tallest tower in the world (634 m), and the second tallest man-made structure on Earth, after Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).
2011: An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 162 people and wreaking $2.8 billion in damage—the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history.
2010: An Air India Express Boeing 737 goes over a cliff and crashes upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of the 166 people on board. It is the worst crash involving a Boeing 737.
2000: In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna.
1998: A U.S. federal judge rules that U.S. Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton.
1996: The Burmese military regime jails 71 supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi in a bid to block a pro-democracy meeting.
1994: A worldwide trade embargo goes into effect against Haiti to punish its military rulers for not reinstating the country's ousted elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
1969: Apollo 10's lunar module flies within 8.4 nautical miles (16 km) of the moon's surface.
1968: The nuclear-powered submarine the USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard, 400 miles southwest of the Azores.
1967: The L'Innovation department store in Brussels, Belgium, burns down, resulting in 323 dead or missing and 150 injured, the most devastating fire in Belgian history.
1960: The Great Chilean earthquake, measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, hits southern Chile. It is the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
1958: The 1958 riots in Ceylon become a watershed in the race relationship of various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total deaths is estimated at 300, mostly Tamils.
1957: South Africa's government approves racial separation in universities.
1947: The Truman Doctrine goes into effect, aiding Turkey & Greece.
1849: Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats, making him the only U.S. President to ever hold a patent.