Air France flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic. All 228 people on board died in the crash. It took two years to find and recover the wreckage from the ocean floor.

Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) ends 90 years of white rule. In 1980, the Republic of Zimbabwe achieved sovereignty from the United Kingdom.

The Heimlich maneuver is published. Henry Heimlich is credited with developing the technique using abdominal thrusts to stop choking.

The first group of Berlin women start clearing the rubble of World War II. In Germany, the Trümmerfrauen are a well-known symbol for a new beginning after the total desolation in the aftermath of the war, and for the Wirtschaftswunder, the rapid reconstruction of Germany's economy through hard labor.

The British explorer James Clark Ross discovers the North Magnetic Pole. It is the location where the Earth's magnetic field points directly downwards. It lies in the vicinity of the Geographic North Pole.