James Watson and Francis Crick publish the double-helix model of DNA in Nature, drawing in part on Rosalind Franklin's X-ray diffraction data.
Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union since the mid-1920s, dies near Moscow, opening the way to de-Stalinisation under Khrushchev.
The Geneva Conference ends the First Indochina War, temporarily partitioning Vietnam at the 17th parallel pending elections planned for 1956.
A nationwide uprising against Hungary's Soviet-backed government is crushed by Soviet forces.
After Nasser nationalises the Suez Canal, Israel, Britain and France attack Egypt but withdraw under US and Soviet pressure.
France establishes the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with former emperor Bảo Đại as head of state.
Twelve North American and Western European countries sign the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, creating the NATO collective defence alliance.