Thief Vincenzo Peruggia slipped the Mona Lisa off the wall of the Louvre before opening hours, triggering one of art history's greatest manhunts.

China's revolutionary assembly elected Sun Yat-sen provisional president, though the actual vote occurred in late December 1911; instead, on this date Wuchang's revolutionary momentum spread as more provinces declared independence from the Qing.

Revolutionary soldiers mutinied in Wuchang, China, sparking the uprising that toppled the Qing dynasty and ended over two millennia of imperial rule.

Roald Amundsen and four companions became the first humans to reach the South Pole, beating Robert Falcon Scott's doomed expedition by 34 days.