- 1992 – U.S. President George H.W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari signed the North American Free Trade Agreement.
- 1992 – Israel deported over 400 Palestinians to Lebanese territory in an unprecedented mass expulsion of suspected militants.
- 1996 – Peruvian guerrillas took hundreds of people hostage at the Japanese embassy in Lima. The siege ended on April 22, 1997, with a commando raid that resulted in the deaths of all the rebels, two commandos and one hostage.
- 1996 – The Red Cross pulled all but a few of its western staff out of Chechnya after six foreign aid workers were killed by masked gunmen.
- 1997 – U.S. President Clinton signed the No Electronic Theft Act. The act removed protection from individuals who claimed that they took no direct financial gains from stealing copyrighted works and downloading them from the Internet.
- 1998 – U.S. House Speaker-designate Bob Livingston admitted he’d had extramarital affairs.
- 2000 – Terrell Owens (San Francisco 49ers) caught an NFL-record 20 passes for 283 yards and a touchdown against the Chicago Bears. The previous record was held by Tom Fears (Los Angeles Rams) with 18 catches on December 3, 1950, against the Green Bay Packers. Owens also broke Jerry Rice’s franchise record of 16 receptions set in 1994 against the Los Angeles Rams.
- 2002 – U.S. President George W. Bush ordered the Pentagon to have ready for use within two years a system for protecting American territory, troops and allies from ballistic missile attacks.
- 2002 – McDonald’s Corp. warned that they would report its first quarterly loss in its 47-year history.
- 2002 – The insurance and finance company Conseco Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection. It was the third-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
- 2002 – Congo’s government, opposition parties and rebels signed a peace agreement that ended four years of civil war.
- 2004 – U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law the largest overhaul of U.S. intelligence gathering in 50 years. The bill aimed to tighten borders and aviation security. It also created a federal counterterrorism center and a new intelligence director.
- 2005 – Anti-World Trade Organization protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
- 2005 – Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicates the throne as King of Bhutan.
- 2009 – MV Danny F II sinks off the coast of Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 44 people and over 28,000 animals.
- 2010 – Mohamed Bouazizi sets himself on fire. This act became the catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring.
- 2014 – The United States and Cuba re-establish diplomatic relations after severing them in 1961.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Jerry Hsu, American skateboarder and photographer
- 1981 – Tim Wiese, German footballer
- 1982 – Josh Barfield, American baseball player
- 1982 – Lorenzo Cittadini, Italian rugby player
- 1982 – Craig Kielburger, Canadian activist and author
- 1982 – Stéphane Lasme, Gabonese basketball player
- 1982 – Ryan Moats, American football player
- 1982 – Onur Özsu, Turkish singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Erik Christensen, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1983 – Haron Keitany, Kenyan runner
- 1983 – Sébastien Ogier, French race car driver
- 1984 – Luis Maria Alfageme, Argentinian footballer
- 1984 – Julian Bennett, English footballer
- 1984 – Andrew Davies, English footballer
- 1984 – Mikky Ekko, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1984 – Shannon Woodward, American actress
- 1985 – Łukasz Broź, Polish footballer
- 1985 – Craig Reid, English footballer
- 1985 – Greg James, English radio presenter and comedian
- 1986 – Emma Bell, American actress
- 1986 – Frank Winterstein, Australian-Samoan rugby league player
- 1987 – Maryna Arzamasova, Belorussian middle-distance runner
- 1987 – Bo Guagua, Chinese businessman
- 1987 – Chelsea Manning, American soldier and intelligence analyst
- 1988 – Liisa Ehrberg, Estonian cyclist
- 1988 – Grethe Grünberg, Estonian ice dancer
- 1988 – Kris Joseph, Canadian basketball player
- 1988 – David Rudisha, Kenyan runner
- 1988 – Craig Sutherland, Scottish footballer
- 1991 – James Hurst, American football player
- 1991 – Jordan Rankin, Australian rugby league player
- 1991 – Atsedu Tsegay, Ethiopian runner
- 1992 – Joshua Ingram, Canadian drummer and percussionist
- 1992 – Quinton de Kock, South African cricketer
- 1993 – Patricia Kú Flores, Peruvian tennis player
- 1994 – Lloyd Perrett, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1994 – Nat Wolff, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player and actor
- 1996 – Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Russian figure skater
- 1997 – Naiktha Bains, British-Australian tennis player
- 1997 – Shoma Uno, Japanese figure skater
- 1998 – Jasmine Armfield, English actress
- 1998 – Martin Ødegaard, Norwegian footballer
- 1999 – Mirei Sasaki, Japanese idol