South Ossetia declares independence. The disputed region of the country of Georgia calls itself the Republic of South Ossetia. The declaration of independence was not recognized by Georgia and was followed by the South Ossetia War. Only a few countries, including Russia and Venezuela, recognize it as a sovereign country.

East Timor independence. East Timor declared its independence from Portugal

First pulsar observed. Graduate student Jocelyn Bell and her advisor Antony Hewish at Cambridge University were the first people to observe and discover pulsars. Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron magnetized stars that emit radiation.

NASA launches Mariner 4. The first spacecraft to make a flyby of Mars, the spacecraft was the first one to send images of a planet back to Earth.

Tehran Conference begins. The Tehran Conference between the US, the UK and the Soviet Union began at the Soviet Embassy in Tehran. The conference dealt with the Axis powers in Europe and Asia and made plans to open up a second front against the Germans in France during WW II.