The notorious Bird family's more than half-century stronghold on the nation of Antigua and Barbuda came to an end when Baldwin Spencer won the post of prime minister in the general election.
Halle Berry became the first African-American actress to win a best actress Oscar and Denzel Washington became the second African-American actor to get the best actor award.
Millions watch NASA spacecraft Ranger 9 crash into the Moon. The U.S. space probe broadcast live pictures back to Earth, enabling TV viewers to follow its approach to the Moon and its controlled crash.
Aleksander Popov achieves the world's first radio transmission. The Russian physicist transmitted the words “Heinrich Hertz” from one building of St. Petersburg University to another.
Scottish King James VI son of Mary Queen of Scots, becomes King James I of England in succession to Elizabeth I, thus joining the English and Scottish crowns.