1952 Elizabeth II becomes queen regnant of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms upon the death of her father, George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a tree house at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.

1958 Eight Manchester United F.C. players and 15 other passengers are killed in the Munich air disaster.

1959 At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.

1981 The National Resistance Army of Uganda launches an attack on a Ugandan Army installation in the central Mubende District to begin the Ugandan Bush War.

1988 Michael Jordan makes his signature slam dunk from the free throw line inspiring Air Jordan and the Jumpman logo.

1996 Birgenair Flight 301 crashed off the coast of the Dominican Republic, and all 189 people inside the airplane are killed. This is the worst accident/ incident involving a Boeing 757. 2000 Second Chechen War: Russia captures Grozny, Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government into exile.

2012 A 6.9 magnitude earthquake hits near the central Philippines off the coast of Negros Island causing at least 51 deaths and injuring 112 others.