RedOctane released Guitar Hero for PlayStation 2 in North America.
The popular Christmas comedy movie, Elf, was released in the USA.
Hilary Clinton made history when she became the first-ever First Lady to win a seat for the Democrats in the Senate.
New York City elected its first African American Mayor, David Dinkins.
President Eisenhower won his second term with the most significant Republican win since Abraham Lincoln's in 1860.
The opera company The Deutsche Opernhaus (now know as Deutsche Oper Berlin) was founded. They opened with a performance of The Deutsche Opernhaus.
Colorado became the second US state to give women the right to vote.
The English explorer Verney Cameron became the first European to cross Africa from east to west.
Paris barred women from legally wearing pants.
The Stoughton Musical Society, the oldest musical society in the US, was formed.
John Austin became the last person to be publicly hanged on London's Tyburn Gallows.
Lord Dunmore promised freedom to every slave who enlisted into the British Army.
The London Gazette published its first edition under the name The Oxford Gazette.
Using Johannes Kepler's predictions, French scientist Pierre Gassendi became the first person to witness Mercury's transit between the Earth and the Sun.
The Ensisheim Meteorite – the oldest meteorite with an observed fall – struck the Earth in France.
