- 1990 – Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a leftist priest, was elected president in Haiti’s first democratic elections.
- 1991 – The U.N. General Assembly rescinded its 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism by a vote of 111-25.
- 1993 – The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for negotiations on a comprehensive test ban.
- 1995 – Many U.S. government functions were again closed as a temporary finance provision expired and the budget dispute between President Clinton and Republicans in Congress continued.
- 1995 – NATO launched a military operation in support of the Bosnia peace agreement.
- 1996 – Britain’s agriculture minister announced the slaughter of an additional 100,000 cows thought to be at risk of contracting BSE in an effort to persuade the EU to lift its ban on Britain.
- 1998 – The U.S. and Britain fired hundreds of missiles on Iraq in response to Saddam Hussein’s refusal to comply with U.N. weapons inspectors.
- 1998 – Eric Michelman filed the earliest patent for a scroll wheel for a computer mouse.
- 1999 – Sigourney Weaver received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- 1999 – Torrential rains and mudslides in Venezuela left thousands of people dead and forced at least 120,000 to leave their homes.
- 2000 – Researchers announced that information from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft indicated that Ganymede appeared to have a liquid saltwater ocean beneath a surface of solid ice. Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter, is the solar system’s largest moon. The discovery is considered important since water is a key ingredient for life.
- 2000 – U.S. President-elect George W. Bush selected Colin Powell to be the first African-American secretary of state. Powell was sworn in January 20, 2001.
- 2001 – In Tora Bora, Afghanistan, tribal fighters announced that they had taken the last al-Quaida positions. More than 200 fighters were killed and 25 captured. They also announced that they had found no sign of Osama bin Laden.
- 2001 – Cuba received the first commercial food shipment from the United States in nearly 40 years. The shipment was sent to help Cuba after Hurrican Michelle hit Cuba on November 4, 2001.
- 2001 – A British newspaper, The Observer, reported that a notebook had been found at an al-Quaida training camp in southern Afghanistan. The notebook contained a “blue print” for a bomb attack on London’s financial district.
- 2009 – Astronomers discovered GJ1214b. It was the first-known exoplanet on which water could exist.
- 2013 – A bus falls from an elevated highway in the Philippines capital Manila killing at least 18 people with 20 injured.
- 2014 – Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants attack an Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 150 people, 132 of them schoolchildren.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Krysten Ritter, American actress, musician, and model
- 1981 – Gareth Williams, Scottish footballer
- 1982 – Antrel Rolle, American football player
- 1982 – Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian singer, actress and television presenter
- 1982 – Stanislav Šesták, Slovak footballer
- 1983 – Kelenna Azubuike, American basketball player
- 1983 – Frankie Ballard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1984 – Theo James, English actor
- 1985 – Stanislav Manolev, Bulgarian footballer
- 1985 – James Nash, English race car driver
- 1986 – Alcides Escobar, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1986 – Zoltán Kovács, Hungarian footballer (d. 2013)
- 1986 – Pärt Uusberg, Estonian actor, composer, and conductor.
- 1987 – Mame Biram Diouf, Senegalese footballer
- 1987 – Beau Dowler, Australian footballer
- 1987 – Hallee Hirsh, American actress
- 1988 – Mats Hummels, German footballer
- 1988 – Anna Popplewell, English actress
- 1989 – Mirei Kiritani, Japanese model, actress, and journalist
- 1991 – Craig Goodwin, Australian footballer
- 1992 – Ulrikke Eikeri, Norwegian tennis player
- 1992 – Anamul Haque, Bangladeshi cricketer
- 1992 – Moe Miura, Japanese model, actress, and singer
- 1992 – Pietro Perdichizzi, Belgian footballer
- 1992 – Tom Rogic, Australian footballer
- 1994 – Elliot Lee, English footballer
- 1994 – Nicola Murru, Italian footballer
- 1994 – José Rodríguez Martínez, Spanish footballer
- 1996 – Joel Adams, Australian pop/soul singer-songwriter
- 1997 – Zara Larsson, Swedish singer and songwriter
- 1998 – Mira Antonitsch, Austrian tennis player