A gas explosion occurred in Guoqiao, Kai, Chongqing, China.
Rom-com movie ''As Good as It Gets” was released in theaters in the US.
Whitey Bulger, an organized crime boss, fled Boston after fearing arrest from the FBI.
Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme, who was serving a life sentence for the attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford, escaped from Alderson Prison.
The Rutan Voyager became the first plane to fly around the world without stopping for fuel.
A 6.25 magnitude earthquake destroyed central Managua, Nicaragua, killing about 10,000 people.
Plane crash survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 were rescued.
After eleven months of imprisonment, 83 men from the US Navy were released by North Korea.
Dr. Joseph E. Murray performed the first human kidney transplant at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
Cinderella, the first full-length ballet by Frederick Ashton with music by Sergei Prokofiev, was first presented at Covent Garden, London, by Sadler's Wells Ballet.
Vincent van Gogh cut his left ear off with a razor after an argument with fellow painter Paul Gauguin.
The novel 'Emma' by Jane Austen was first published.
Yohl Ik'nal ascended to the throne of Palenque, making her the first queen regnant in Maya history.
