Puerto Rico's Arecibo Telescope collapsed less than a month after being decommissioned.
Earliest traceable patient, a 55-year-old man, develops symptoms of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China.
The computer-animated film 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' premiered in Los Angeles.
The Japanese broadcaster NHK launched the world's first super-high definition 8K television channel.
The final film in the Lord of the Rings series 'The Return of the King,' directed by Peter Jackson, premiered in Wellington, New Zealand.
Jay-Z stabbed Lance Rivera.
The first-ever World AIDS day started in effort to raise awareness of the AIDS global epidemic.
NASA intentionally crashed a Boeing 720 aircraft to test new safety technology.
Paul McCartney and Pete Best were arrested.
Rosa Parks was arrested.
Japanese Emperor Hirohito approved plans set forward by his advisors to go to war against the United States of America.
Lady Nancy Astor was sworn in, making her the first female member of British Parliament.
The Kingdom of Iceland was first established.
The Great Train Robbery, the first-ever Western film, was released.
Shaw University, the first historically Black university in the southern United States, was founded.
Slavery in Cape Colony, Britain's colony in South Africa, was abolished by the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act.
Pedro I was crowned Emperor of Brazil.
