Over 4 million people pay their last respects to Pope John Paul II. Karol Józef Wojtyła from Poland was an immensely popular Pope. He was succeeded by German Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger.

The Clash release their debut album of the same name. The British combo around lead vocalist Joe Strummer is considered one of the most influential early punk rock bands.

One of the first modern programming languages is created. The Common Business-Oriented Language or COBOL was primarily designed by a woman, Grace Hopper. Also known as Amazing Grace, she is regarded as one of the pioneers in the field.

Jomo Kenyatta is sentenced to 7 years hard labor. Kenyatta led the Mau Mau movement against the British colonialists. He is considered to be Kenya's founding father and became the country's first President in 1964.

France and the United Kingdom sign the Entente cordiale. The treaty, which was initially designed to regulate the countries' colonial interests in Africa, later evolved into the Triple Entente to fight Germany in World War I.