Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay become the first people confirmed to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world's highest peak.
The constitution drafted under B. R. Ambedkar comes into force, making India a republic; the day is celebrated as Republic Day.
Gandhi is shot dead in New Delhi by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist.
Ceylon becomes an independent dominion within the Commonwealth, ending British colonial rule.
British India is partitioned into the independent dominions of India and Pakistan, accompanied by mass migration and violence.
China and India fight a Himalayan border war over Aksai Chin and present-day Arunachal Pradesh, ending in a unilateral Chinese ceasefire.
A wartime famine in British-ruled Bengal kills an estimated two to three million people.