- 1991 – Russia, Byelorussia and Ukraine declared the Soviet national government to be dead. They forged a new alliance to be known as the Commonwealth of Independent States. The act was denounced by Russian President Gorbachev as unconstitutional.
- 1992 – Americans got to see live television coverage of U.S. troops landing on the beaches of Somalia during Operation Restore Hope. (Due to the time difference, it was December 9 in Somalia.)
- 1993 – U.S. President Clinton signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement.
- 1994 – Bosnian Serbs released dozens of hostage peacekeepers, but continued to detain about 300 others.
- 1994 – In Los Angeles, 12 alternate jurors were chosen for the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
- 1997 – The second largest bank was created with the announcement that Union Bank Switzerland and the Swiss Bank Corporation would merge. The combined assets were more than $590 billion.
- 1997 – Jenny Shipley was sworn in as the first female prime minister of New Zealand.
- 1998 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police could not search a person or their cars after ticketing for a routine traffic violation.
- 1998 – The FBI opened its files on Frank Sinatra to the public. The file contained over 1,300 pages.
- 1998 – Nkem Chukwu and Iyke Louis Udobi’s first of eight babies was born. The other seven were delivered 12 days later.
- 1998 – AT&T Corp. announced that it was buying IBM’s data networking business for $5 billion cash.
- 1998 – The first female ice hockey game in Olympic history was played. Finland beat Sweden 6-0.
- 1999 – In Memphis, TN, a jury found that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had been the victim of a vast murder conspiracy, not a lone assassin.
- 1999 – Russia and Belarus agreed in principle to form an economic and political confederation.
- 2000 – Mario Lemieux announced to the Pittsburgh Penguins that he planned to return to the National Hockey League (NHL) as a player at age 35. He would be the first modern owner-player in U.S. pro sports.
- 2004 – The Cusco Declaration is signed in Cusco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations.
- 2009 – Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kill 127 people and injure 448 others.
- 2010 – With the second launch of the Falcon 9 and the first launch of the Dragon, SpaceX becomes the first private company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft.
- 2010 – The Japanese solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS passes the planet Venus at a distance of about 80,800 km.
- 2013 – Riots break out in Singapore after a fatal accident in Little India.
- 2013 – Metallica performs a show in Antarctica, making them the first band to perform on all seven continents.
- 2019 – First confirmed case of COVID-19 in China.
Celebrating BIrthday Today
- 1981 – Jeremy Accardo, American baseball player
- 1981 – Simon Finnigan, English rugby league player
- 1981 – Philip Rivers, American football player
- 1982 – Alfredo Aceves, American baseball player
- 1982 – Serena Ryder, Canadian singer-songwriter
- 1982 – Chrisette Michele, American singer-songwriter
- 1982 – Nicki Minaj, Trinidadian-American rapper and actress
- 1983 – Neel Jani, Swiss race car driver
- 1983 – Valéry Mézague, Cameroonian footballer (d. 2014)
- 1984 – Emma Green Tregaro, Swedish high jumper
- 1984 – Greg Halford, English footballer
- 1984 – Sam Hunt, American singer-songwriter
- 1985 – Meagan Duhamel, Canadian figure skater
- 1985 – Dwight Howard, American basketball player\
- 1985 – Oleksiy Pecherov, Ukrainian basketball player
- 1986 – Enzo Amore, American wrestler and rapper
- 1986 – Amir Khan, English boxer
- 1986 – Sam Tagataese, New Zealand-Samoan rugby league player
- 1986 – Kate Voegele, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
- 1989 – Drew Doughty, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1989 – Jesse Sene-Lefao, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1992 – Yui Yokoyama, Japanese idol, model, and actress
- 1993 – Janari Jõesaar, Estonian basketball player
- 1993 – Jordan Obita, English footballer
- 1993 – AnnaSophia Robb, American actress
- 1993 – Cara Mund, Miss America 2018
- 1994 – Conseslus Kipruto, Kenyan runner
- 1994 – Raheem Sterling, English footballer
- 1996 – Scott McTominay, Scottish footballer