Israeli Athletes were taken hostage by the Palestinian Black September group at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The terrorists murdered 11 Israeli athletes, 5 of the eight terrorists were killed by German police and 3 were captured. The 3 captured terrorists were subsequently released as part of the demands of terrorists who had hijacked a Lufthansa airliner. As a response Israel launched Operation Wrath of God and Operation Spring of Youth which included the assassination of all parties involved in the Munich massacre. Only one person is said to have escaped the Israeli retribution operations.

An Alaska Airlines passenger flight crashed into a mountain near Juneau, Alaska. All 111 people on board died in the crash.

A Swissair passenger flight crashed near Durrenasch, Switzerland, killing all 80 people on board.

In the town of Little Rock, the governor of Arkansas, Orville Faubus, called upon the National Guard in an effort to prevent black students from enrolling in Central High School of Little Rock. It is considered as one of the pivotal point of the American Civil Rights Movement.

American, George Eastman, registered the trademark Kodak, and at the same time received the patent for his photo camera, the first to use roll film.

French emperor Napoleon III was deposed and the Third Republic was established.

The modern city of Los Angeles, California, was founded by a group of 44 Spanish settlers under the name 'El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula' (the City of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of the Little Portion).

English politician, Robert Dudley, the 1st Earl of Leicester, died at the age of 56. He is best remembered as being the favourite of Queen Elizabeth the 1st.

The last roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the Germanic leader Odoacer. The event marked the fall of the Roman Empire.