642 million people voted in India's general election, setting the record for the world's largest election.
NASA's Endeavour Space Shuttle landed for its 25th and final time.
Air France flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic.
General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
South Africa rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations after ending Apartheid.
CNN made its debut as the first 24-hour news channel.
Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) ends 90 years of white rule.
The Heimlich Maneuver was published in an article for the first time.
The European Union expanded the 1951 Stresa Convention.
Ion Antonescu, Romania's dictatorial World War II leader, was executed by firing squad.
Baseball and war hero Hank Gowdy became the first player to enlist in the US Army during World War II.
The first payphone went into service in the US.
The Philadelphia Zoo opened. At the time, it was the only zoo in the 'New World.'
Anti Slavery activist Isabella Baumfree became a Methodist and changed her name to Sojourner Truth.
The British explorer James Clark Ross discovers the North Magnetic Pole.
Napoleon I undertook a ceremony to make his authority officially recognized.
Tennessee became the 16th state to join the United States of America.
Kentucky became the 15th state to join the United States of America.
Charles II of England and Louis XIV of France signed the Secret Treaty of Dover.
Anne Boleyn was crowned the Queen of England at Westminster Abbey.
