22 January 1250

Croatia held a referendum in which it voted to become a member of the European Union.

Evo Morales was inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country's first indigenous president.

After being convicted of receiving bribes, Pennsylvania state treasurer R. Budd Dwyer shot and killed himself in front of television cameras during a press conference.

During Super Bowl XVIII, Apple Computer introduced the Macintosh, the first successful personal computer to use a graphical user interface, with the television commercial "1984".

The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Roe v. Wade struck down laws restricting abortion during the first two trimesters of pregnancy.

The Boeing 747, the world's first wide-body commercial airliner, entered service for Pan Am on the New York–London route.

Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev (pictured) survived what was seen as an assassination attempt, an incident that was not revealed to the public until after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Apollo 5 (pictured), the first flight of NASA's Lunar Module, lifted off from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station.

New York City police arrested George Metesky, better known as the "Mad Bomber", for planting over 30 bombs over 16 years throughout the city.

World War II: The Battle of Buna–Gona on New Guinea ended with an Allied victory after two months of fighting in which the Japanese fought with a resolve and tenacity not previously encountered.

Ramsay MacDonald took office as the first prime minister of the United Kingdom from the Labour Party.

The SS Valencia was wrecked off the coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, in a location so treacherous it was known as the Graveyard of the Pacific.

Anglo-Zulu War: The Zulu forces of King Cetshwayo (pictured) achieved a decisive victory at the Battle of Isandlwana.

The Convention Parliament met to decide the fate of the throne after James II, the last Catholic monarch of England, fled to France following the Glorious Revolution.

Eutychius of Constantinople was arrested after he refused Byzantine emperor Justinian I's order to adopt the tenets of the Aphthartodocetae, a sect of non-Chalcedonian Christians.

Ram Mandir is inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh after 500 years of dispute.

U.S. President Barack Obama signs an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp; congressional opposition will prevent it being implemented.

Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country's first indigenous president.

Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons are burned alive by radical Hindus while sleeping in their car in Eastern India.

Space Shuttle program: space shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-89 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Beit Lid suicide bombing: In central Israel, near Netanya, two Gazans blow themselves up at a military transit point, killing 19 Israeli soldiers.

Space Shuttle program: The space shuttle Discovery launches on STS-42 carrying Dr. Roberta Bondar, who becomes the first Canadian woman and the first neurologist in space.

Philippine security forces open fire on a crowd of 10,000–15,000 demonstrators at Malacañang Palace, Manila, killing 13.

The Supreme Court of the United States delivers its decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, legalizing elective abortion in all fifty states. This decision is subsequently overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022.