| Event | Year |
| Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto. | |
| The Russian Revolution destroys the Tsarist government. | |
| Microsoft releases Windows 2.1. | |
| 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' becomes The Beatles' first US #1 single. | |
| Regular hovercraft service begins over the English Channel. | |
| Construction of the Empire State Building is completed in New York City. | |
| The Summer Olympic Games are held in Los Angeles for the second time. | |
| US President Richard Nixon resigns following the Watergate Scandal. | |
| French engineer Louis Réard invents the bikini. | |
| Prohibition begins in the United States. | |
| A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes San Francisco. | |
| 'Titanic' wins 11 Academy Awards, equalling the record set by Ben-Hur. | |
| Brazil wins its first FIFA World Cup in Sweden. | |
| Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 breaks apart and collides with Jupiter. | |
| The RMS Titanic sinks on her maiden voyage. | |
| Disney's The Jungle Book is released. | |
| Edward VII is crowned King of the United Kingdom. | |
| Mohandas Gandhi is assassinated. | |
| The Buffalo Bills become the first team to lose 3 consecutive Super Bowls. | |
| Queen Victoria dies after almost 64 years on the throne. | |
| Warren G. Harding is inaugurated as US President. | |
| The rock band Led Zeppelin forms. | |
| Bob Hawke is elected Prime Minister of Australia. | |
| 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. | |
| The first issue of The Beano is published. | |
| Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister for the first time. | |
| Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. | |
| Elizabeth II is proclaimed Queen of the United Kingdom. | |
| Kyrgyzstan gains independence. | |
| John Paul I succeeds Pope Paul VI as the 263rd Pope. He dies 33 days later. | |
| Maurice Garin wins the first Tour de France. | |
| The Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels of oil after running aground. | |
| The first issue of Time Magazine is published. | |