Michelle Bachelet took office as Chile’s first female president, marking a historic moment for gender equality and progressive leadership in Latin America.
📍 Santiago, Chile
The U.S. Senate voted to acquit President Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, ending his impeachment trial and allowing him to complete his second term.
📍 Washington, D.C., United States
The Pacific island nation of Nauru became the 187th member state of the United Nations, further integrating into the global diplomatic community despite its small size.
📍 New York City, United States
The Soviet Union launched Luna 20, a robotic spacecraft that successfully landed on the Moon and returned soil samples to Earth, contributing to lunar science during the Space Race.
📍 Baikonur Cosmodrome, USSR
Aisin Gioro Pu Yi, the last Emperor of China and former puppet emperor of Manchukuo, died in Beijing. His life bridged the fall of imperial China and the rise of modern Communism.
📍 Beijing, China
The UN General Assembly formally created the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to coordinate global efforts to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development.
📍 New York City, United States
Researchers at General Electric announced the successful creation of the first synthetic diamond using high pressure and temperature, opening new industrial applications.
📍 Schenectady, New York, United States
Austria declared permanent neutrality as part of a post-WWII settlement with Allied powers, helping it remain independent and non-aligned during the Cold War.
📍 Vienna, Austria
After a brutal siege, Soviet forces captured Budapest from Nazi Germany, significantly advancing the Allied position in Eastern Europe during the final stages of World War II.
📍 Budapest, Hungary
Rainey Bethea was hanged in Kentucky in the last public execution in U.S. history, leading to widespread criticism and eventual bans on public executions nationwide.
📍 Owensboro, Kentucky, United States
Alice Paul and Lucy Burns organized the first official meeting of the National Woman's Party, a major force in the U.S. suffrage movement that led to the 19th Amendment.
📍 Washington, D.C., United States
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded to fight for civil rights and racial justice, becoming one of the most influential advocacy organizations in the U.S.
📍 New York City, United States
Georgia O'Keeffe, one of the most influential modernist artists in America known for her abstract flowers and desert landscapes, was born in Wisconsin.
📍 Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, United States
Georgia was formally readmitted to the United States Congress, marking the completion of Reconstruction and the reintegration of all former Confederate states following the Civil War.
📍 Washington, D.C., United States
President Abraham Lincoln approved the Legal Tender Act, authorizing the issuance of the first federally backed paper money, known as 'greenbacks', to help fund the Civil War.
📍 Washington, D.C., United States
The formal execution of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo's terms began, transferring large territories including California and Texas from Mexico to the United States, redefining North American borders.
📍 Mexico City, Mexico
Elias Howe received a U.S. patent for the sewing machine, a major advancement in textile production that helped launch the industrialization of clothing manufacturing.
📍 Massachusetts, United States
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 was performed publicly for the first time, gaining immediate acclaim and becoming one of his most enduring and energetic works.
📍 Vienna, Austria
Charles Darwin, the English naturalist whose groundbreaking work on natural selection revolutionized biology and laid the foundation for evolutionary science, was born.
📍 Shrewsbury, England
Abraham Lincoln, who led the United States through its Civil War and abolished slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation, was born in a log cabin in Kentucky.
📍 Hodgenville, Kentucky, United States