The International Criminal Court (ICC) is established. It is the first international judicial body that has the power to try individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. It was created by the Rome Statute, an international treaty that was signed in the Italian city of Rome in 1998.

The Warsaw Pact, a defense treaty between 8 communist countries, is formally disbanded in Prague. The pact was founded in 1955, during the height of the Cold War, as a way to counterbalance the power of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Western Europe.

The Walkman makes its appearance in stores for the first time. The portable audio cassette player was made by Sony and went on sale in Japan.

SOS is adopted as the International Distress Signal. The 2nd International Radiotelegraphic Convention, which was signed in December 1906, made the Morse code distress signal (· · · – – – · · ·), the standard international maritime distress signal. Even though it was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System in 1999, SOS is universally seen as a distress call and is often mistakenly thought to be an abbreviation of Save Our Souls or Save Our Ship.

The Tour de France Bicycle Race is flagged off for the first time. The now annual multi-leg bike race lasted for 20 days with a course that stretched about 1,500 miles. The race was first created by the sports daily, L'Auto , as a way to boost its circulation. The first Tour de France was win by Italian-French racer, Maurice Garin.