Tunku Abdul Rahman proclaims the Federation of Malaya's independence from Britain at Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.
The British Gold Coast became independent Ghana under Kwame Nkrumah, the first sub-Saharan African colony to gain independence after World War II.
After Nasser nationalises the Suez Canal, Israel, Britain and France attack Egypt but withdraw under US and Soviet pressure.
Delegates from 29 Asian and African nations meet in Bandung to promote Afro-Asian cooperation and oppose colonialism, a forerunner of the Non-Aligned Movement.
After the 23 October referendum deposing Bảo Đại, Ngô Đình Diệm proclaims the Republic of Vietnam with himself as president.
A conflict between North Vietnam and the Viet Cong on one side and South Vietnam, backed by the United States and its allies, on the other; it ends with the fall of Saigon in 1975.
North Vietnam forms Group 559 to build a supply network through Laos and Cambodia to the South along the Trường Sơn range.