On February 2

The passenger ferry MV Rabaul Queen capsized and sank in rough conditions in the Solomon Sea, resulting in at least 88 deaths.

Omid, Iran's first domestically made satellite, was launched from Semnan Space Center.

Following a Derby di Sicilia match in Catania, football violence caused the death of police officer Filippo Raciti, leading to new safety regulations at Italian sporting events.

Swiss tennis player Roger Federer became the top-ranked men's singles player, a position he held for a record 237 consecutive weeks.

The F-16 Fighting Falcon (pictured), the most numerous fixed-wing aircraft currently in military service, made its first flight.

The Troubles: Protestors burned the British Embassy in Ireland following the massacre of 14 civilians in Derry by British forces.

Cold War in Asia: 113 alleged communists were arrested and detained without trial by Singapore's security agencies.

The first act of the Norwegian resistance movement took place with the bombing of Oslo East Station by the Osvald Group to protest the inauguration of Vidkun Quisling.

The Export–Import Bank of the United States, the country's official export credit agency, was established.

New York City's Grand Central Terminal, the world's largest train station by number of platforms, opened immediately after midnight.

Mexican–American War: During the American occupation of Mexico City, diplomats signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the war and had Mexico cede 1.36 million square kilometres (530,000 sq mi) of territory and the United States pay US$15 million.

J. S. Bach led the first performance of his chorale cantata Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125, based on Luther's paraphrase of the Nunc dimittis.

Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk was rescued by English captain Woodes Rogers and his crew after spending four years as a castaway on an uninhabited island in the Pacific, providing the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe.

Jan van Riebeeck, the founder of Cape Town, produced the first bottle of South African wine.

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina dies at the age of 68.

Nine leaders of the Transylvanian peasant revolt were executed in Torda.

Terra Mariana, comprising present-day Estonia and Latvia, was established as a principality of the Holy Roman Empire.

An assembly at the Abbey of Payerne crowned Conrad II (pictured) king of Burgundy.

Alaric II, King of the Visigoths, promulgated a collection of Roman law known as the Breviary of Alaric (excerpt pictured).