A massive earthquake rocks China. The magnitude 7.9 quake left some 69,000 people dead, 18,000 missing, and 4.8 million homeless. It was the deadliest earthquake in China since 1976 when the Tangshan earthquake killed over 240,000 people.

Violent clashes follow the killing of four protesters in Jakarta, Indonesia. The riots eventually led to the resignation of President Suharto.

The Nagorno-Karabakh war ends officially. With the signing of the Bishkek Protocol a week earlier, Armenian and Azerbaijani diplomats had formalized the ceasefire that went into effect on May 12. The conflict itself remains unsolved.

A Spanish priest attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II. Juan María Fernández y Krohn opposed the reforms initiated by the Second Vatican Council and believed that the Pope was a Communist agent. John Paul II escaped with minor injuries.

The world's first programmable, fully automatic computer is presented. The Z3 was designed by German inventor, Konrad Zuse. The original machine was destroyed in an air raid. A replica can be seen at the Deutsches Museum in Munich.