Pope Benedict XVI resigns. The pope whose birth name is Joseph Ratzinger was the first leader of the Catholic Church to resign since 1415.

The first Gulf War ends. The armed conflict had lasted a little over half a year and claimed over 100,000 civilian casualties.

Swedish prime minister Olof Palme is assassinated. Even though over 130 people have confessed to the murder, the case has never been solved.

A London underground train crashes into the end of the tunnel at Moorgate station. The Moorgate tube crash claimed 43 lives and was the deadliest accident in the London Underground in during peacetime.

Nylon is invented. Wallace Carothers first produced the polymer at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware, United States.