Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is assassinated. Several sources reported that the U.N. Special Tribunal for Lebanon found compelling evidence for the Lebanese militia Hezbollah's involvement.

Dolly the sheep is put to death. Dolly, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult, had shown signs of premature aging and contracted various diseases.

Union Carbide finally agrees to pay 470 million USD in damages for the Bophal disaster. The company had a yearly turnover of 9.5 billion USD at the time; up to 25,000 people had died in the tragedy.

The Knesset, the parliament of Israel, convenes for the first time. The term “Knesset” is derived from the Hebrew name of an ancient Great Assembly: Anshei Knesset HaGedolah.

The telephone is patented. Both Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray applied for a patent on that day - Bell won.