Michael Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of the pop superstar in Los Angeles Superior Court. (Murray was convicted and sentenced to four years in jail.).
General Motors sued NBC, alleging that the program 'Dateline NBC' had rigged two crashes to show that GM pickups were prone to fires. (NBC settled the lawsuit the following day.).
Three college students died in a confrontation with highway patrolmen in Orangeburg, S.C., during a civil rights protest against a whites-only bowling alley.
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issued an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name "Mountbatten-Windsor".
The Stasi, East Germany's notorious secret police, is established. The “Staatssicherheit”, which was dissolved in 1990, is considered one of the most repressive intelligence agencies in the world.
The gas chamber was used for the first time as a method of execution in the United States. Gangster Gee Jon was put to death at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City.
Sandford Fleming proposes the use of time zones. The later introduction of Universal Standard Time, which is based on time zones, revolutionized time keeping.