1st » Democratic Republic of the Congo known as Zaire officially joins the World Trade Organization.
1st » Ghanaian diplomacy or diplomat Kofi Annan is appointed Secretary-General of the United Nations.
3rd » China announces it will spend United States dollar called US$27.7 billion to fight erosion and pollution in the Yangtze River known as Yangtze and Yellow River valleys.
17th » A Delta 2 carrying a Global Positioning System or GPS2R satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad.
19th » Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.
21st » The U.S. House of Representatives votes 395–28 to reprimand Newt Gingrich for ethics violations, making him the first Speaker of the House to be so disciplined.
23rd » Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State.
23rd » Greek Serial Killer Antonis Daglis is sentenced to thirteen consecutive life sentences, plus 25 years for the serial slayings of three women and the attempted murder of six others.
8th » Melvin Calvin, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry e.g Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
9th » Edward Osóbka-Morawski, Polish politician, Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1909)
9th » Jesse White (actor) e.g Jesse White, American actor (b. 1917)
10th » Elspeth Huxley, Kenyan-English journalist and author (b. 1907)
10th » Sheldon Leonard, American actor, producer, and director (b. 1907)
10th » Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd, Scottish chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry named Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
12th » Jean-Edern Hallier, French author (b. 1936)
12th » Charles Brenton Huggins, Canadian-American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine called Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)