-
January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the worst Dutch rail disaster.
-
January 10 – An avalanche on Nevado Huascarán in Peru causes 4,000 deaths.
-
May 31 – Nazi Adolf Eichmann is hanged at a prison in Ramla, Israel. His body is cremated and his ashes are spread in the Mediterranean.
-
June 3 – Air France Flight 007, a Boeing 707, crashes on take-off at Orly Airport in Paris; 130 of 132 people on board are killed, 2 flight attendants survive. Most victims are cultural and civic leaders of Atlanta, Georgia.
-
June 22 – An Air France Boeing 707 jet crashes into terrain during bad weather in Guadeloupe, West Indies, killing all 113 on board. It is the airline's second fatal accident in just 3 weeks, and the third fatal 707 crash of the year.
-
July 2 -- The first Walmart store, then known as Wal-Mart, opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas.
-
September 1-- Typhoon Wanda strikes Hong Kong, killing at least 130 and wounding more than 600.
-
October 12
The infamous Columbus Day Storm strikes the U.S. Pacific Northwest with wind gusts up to 170 mph (270 km/h); 46 are killed, 11 billion board feet (26 million m³) of timber is blown down, with $230 million U.S. in damages.