European powers met in Berlin to set rules for colonial claims in Africa, accelerating the "Scramble for Africa" without any African representation.
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.
Twelve North American and Western European countries sign the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, creating the NATO collective defence alliance.
Immediately after independence from Belgium, the Congo descended into secession, foreign intervention and civil war, ending when Mobutu Sese Seko seized power in 1965.
Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of independent Congo, was deposed, captured and executed in Katanga, with the involvement of Katangan secessionist authorities and Belgian officials.
The Maastricht Treaty enters into force, formally establishing the European Union and laying the groundwork for a single currency.