- 1994 – Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the right leg by an assailant at Cobo Arena in Detroit, MI. Four men were later sentenced to prison for the attack, including Tonya Harding’s ex-husband.
- 1998 – The spacecraft Lunar Prospect was launched into orbit around the moon. The craft was crashed into the moon, in an effort to find water under the lunar surface, on July 31, 1999.
- 1999 – The 106th U.S. Congress opened. The first item on the agenda was the impeachment proceedings of U.S. President Bill Clinton. The trial was set to begin January 7, 1999.
- 1999 – Bob Newhart received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- 2004 – In the United Arab Emirates, construction began on the Burj Khalifa skyscraper. Upon completion it was the world’s largest building.
- 2005 – American Civil Rights Movement: Edgar Ray Killen is indicted for the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.
- 2005 – A train collision in Graniteville, South Carolina, United States, releases about 60 tons of chlorine gas.
- 2012 – Twenty-six people are killed and 63 wounded when a suicide bomber blows himself up at a police station in Damascus.
- 2017 – Five people are killed and six others injured in a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida.
- 2019 – Forty people are killed in a gold mine collapse in Badakhshan province, in northern Afghanistan.
- 2021 – Protesters storm the United States Capitol building, disrupting certification of the 2020 United States presidential election and forcing Congress to evacuate.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Asante Samuel, American football player
- 1982 – Gilbert Arenas, American basketball player
- 1982 – Roy Asotasi, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1982 – Eddie Redmayne, English actor and model
- 1983 – Adam Burish, American ice hockey player
- 1984 – Kate McKinnon, American actress and comedian
- 1986 – Paul McShane, Irish footballer
- 1986 – Petter Northug, Norwegian skier
- 1987 – Bongani Khumalo, South African footballer
- 1989 – Andy Carroll, English footballer
- 1989 – Derrick Morgan, American football player
- 1991 – Will Barton, American basketball player