Successive crop failures caused by bad weather bring mass famine to northern Europe, killing a significant share of the population.
King Leopold II of Belgium ruled the Congo as a personal possession; its forced-labour rubber regime caused mass deaths until Belgium annexed the territory in 1908.
Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands sign the treaty creating the European Economic Community, forerunner of the European Union.
Euro cash enters circulation in twelve European Union countries, replacing national currencies such as the franc, the Deutsche Mark and the lira.