| 1918 | U.S. and British troops begin occupying Germany following the end of World War I. |
| 1933 | In Germany, a law is enacted by which the Nazi party is "indissolubly joined to the state." |
| 1943 | The U.S. government releases a joint communiqué signed by U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, British prime minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek, in which they declare the determination of their governments to prosecute the war until Japan surrenders unconditionally. |
| Gasoline rationing begins in the United States. |
| 1955 | Rosa Parks refuses to give her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, AL. She is arrested, triggering boycotts against racial segregation. |
| 1957 | After years of political turmoil in Colombia, a plebiscite approves the plan of the Liberal and Conservative parties to share all government offices equally for 12 years. |
| 1959 | Twelve nations sign a treaty to make Antarctica a scientific preserve free of military activity. |
| 1997 | Representatives of more than 150 nations begin meeting in Kyoto, Japan, to consider a treaty limiting the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. |
| 2000 | Vicente Fox Quesada, a conservative reformer, is inaugurated as president in Mexico, ending more than seven decades of rule by the PRI party. |
