The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30 others, all Protestants.

Observed today

Random Acts of Kindness Day

Military vehicles explode outside a Turkish Armed Forces barracks in Ankara

Eighteen people are killed and 78 injured in a stampede at a Mardi Gras parade in Haiti.

Arab Spring: Libyan protests against Muammar Gaddafi's regime begin.

Arab Spring: In Bahrain

Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.

A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines

In Philadelphia

NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.

The 8.2 Mw Biak earthquake shakes the Papua province of eastern Indonesia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A large tsunami followed, leaving 166 people dead or missing and 423 injured.

The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a ceasefire brokered by the UN.

First Nagorno-Karabakh War

Ryan International Airlines Flight 590 crashes during takeoff from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport

First winter ascent of Mount Everest by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.

The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.

The Troubles

The 8.2 Mw  Biak earthquake shakes the Papua province of eastern Indonesia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A large tsunami followed, leaving 166 people dead or missing and 423 injured.