The Polynesian island nation of Tuvalu joined the United Nations.

Albanian missionary and humanitarian, Mother Teresa, died at the age of 87 in . Her birth name was Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu. She was the recipient of the Nobel Peace prize as well as a multitude of other awards from a host of different nations. She was the only person to be portrayed on an Indian postal stamp while still alive, in recognition of her tremendous work with the poverty stricken population of Calcutta.

Capital punishment was abolished in Western Australia, the last Australian state to so.

Israeli prime minister, Menachem Begin, and Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, began peace talks at Camp David, Maryland, under the mediating eye of US president, Jimmy Carter.

The space probe Voyager 1 was launched. It has visited Jupiter and Saturn and was the first to provide earth scientists with detailed images of the moons of these planets. NASA has now estimated that the voyager probe will be operational until 2030, far longer than its original anticipated life. It is now (2006) heading towards interstellar space, thus becoming humankind's first interstellar probe. At its current speed and course it will pass near (about 1.7 light years away) a star in the Camelopardis constellation.

German President of the Employers Association, Hanns Martin Schleyer, was kidnapped by members of the terrorist group Red Army Faction. The kidnapers demanded the release of Red Army Faction prisoners. The German authorities did not relent and the imprisoned members of the red army faction were actually found dead 43 days after the kidnapping in their cells. The next day the kidnapers murdered Hanns Martin Schleyer.

A follower of the imprisoned cult leader Charles Manson, named Lynette Fromme, attempted to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford. The attempt was thwarted by an agent of the secret service.

Muhammad Ali, won the gold medal in boxing at the Olympic Games of Rome.

American actor, Michael Keaton, was born in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. He achieved stardom when he was cast to play the role of Batman in Tim Burton's blockbuster movie.

American, Howard Unruh, killed 13 of his neighbours in the town of Camden, New Jersey, using a souvenir Luger pistol. He was first single-episode mass murderer in the United States.

Singer, Freddie Mercury, was born in Zanzibar. He died from AIDS in November 1991, greatly increasing public awareness of the disease.

The United States declared its neutrality in the Second World War.

American outlaw, Jesse James, was born in Centerville, Missouri. He was one of the most famous outlaws of the old west era of the United States, and has since his death become a folklore icon.

Tsar Peter I of Russia imposed a tax on beards which required all men, except priests and peasants, to pay an annual fee of one hundred rubbles, to be allowed to carry a beard. The tax was part of an effort to move the Russian people away from Asiatic cultural traits and closer to western archetypes.

A blaze that had ignited 3 days earlier was finally put out in the city of London. Over 10,000 buildings were destroyed by the fire that has been known as the Great Fire of London. Amazingly enough only 15 people died as a result of the fire.