| Event | Year |
| Prohibition begins in the United States. | |
| The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite. | |
| J.R.R Tolkien dies. | |
| Harry Houdini dies of a ruptured appendix. | |
| French engineer Louis Réard invents the bikini. | |
| Allied troops land on the beaches of Normandy during D-Day. | |
| Nelson Mandela is released from prison after 27 years behind bars. | |
| The League of Nations is founded in Paris. | |
| US President Richard Nixon resigns following the Watergate Scandal. | |
| Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic. | |
| Meher Baba begins his 44 year silence. | |
| George V ascends to the throne of the United Kingdom. | |
| Henry Ford produces his first Model T automobile. | |
| The United Kingdom and Ireland both switch to decimal currency. | |
| Kyrgyzstan gains independence. | |
| Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. | |
| Roger Bannister runs the first four-minute mile. | |
| The first successful insulin treatment of diabetes is made. | |
| Emily Davison, a British suffragette, runs out in front of the King's horse and is killed. | |
| The Easter Rising occurs in Ireland. | |
| George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four is published. | |
| The first issue of The Beano is published. | |
| The Russian Revolution destroys the Tsarist government. | |
| The original King Kong film is released. | |
| The Khmer Rouge sieze power in Cambodia. | |
| 'Heartbreak Hotel' becomes Elvis Presley's first number one single. | |
| Robert Baden-Powell leads the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island, England. | |
| Mickey Mouse appears in Steamboat Willie. | |
| India and Pakistan gain independence from the British Empire. | |
| 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' becomes The Beatles' first US #1 single. | |
| Elizabeth II is proclaimed Queen of the United Kingdom. | |
| The Nintendo 64 video game system is released in Japan and North America. | |
| Eleven Israeli athletes are shot dead at the Summer Olympic Games in Munich. | |
| Regular hovercraft service begins over the English Channel. | |