The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect. The global warming pact was ratified by 191 countries to date - excluding the United States.

The first trial against John Demjanjuk begins in Jerusalem. Demjanjuk was falsely accused of being a particularly brutal Nazi guard dubbed “Ivan the Terrible”; in a separate trial in 2011, he was convicted by a German criminal court as an accessory to the murder of 27,900 people.

Hezbollah is founded. The Lebanese political party and militant group is classified as a terrorist organization by several western countries.

Fidel Castro becomes Cuba's Prime Minister. Castro's rise to power came shortly after his “26th of July Movement” had overthrown dictator Fulgencio Batista in what became known as the Cuban Revolution.

The burial chamber of Pharoh Tutankhamun is opened. Howard Carter's discovery is one of archeology's best known, especially due to the myth of the “Curse of Tutankhamun” that was sparked by the death of Lord Carnarvon who was one of the first to enter the chamber.