| 1972 | Sound recordings are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time. |
| 1972 | José María Velasco Ibarra, serving as President of Ecuador for the fifth time, is overthrown by the military for the fourth time. |
| 1982 | The drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 workers. |
| 1989 | Soviet-Afghan War: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan. |
| 1991 | The Visegrád Group, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland. |
| 1992 | Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is sentenced in Milwaukee to 15 terms of life in prison. |
| 1992 | Air Transport International Flight 805 crashes in Swanton, Ohio, near Toledo Express Airport, killing all four people on board. |
| 1996 | At the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, a Long March 3B rocket, carrying a
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