Sweden replaces its Instrument of Government making it a crowned republic
The new Instrument of Government stripped the king of even nominal political power and made Sweden a de facto crowned republic.
Europe
The Soviet Union launches humanity’s first space station, Salyut
Salyut 1 (DOS-1) was the first space station of any kind, launched into low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on April 19, 1971. The Salyut program followed this with five more successful launches of seven more stations
Norway begins overhauling prison system from punitive to rehabilitative justice model
By 1968, Norwegians had become dissatisfied with the harsh living conditions of the correctional system, and the Norwegian Association for Criminal Reform (KROM) was formed. KROM’s first substantive change to Norwegian penology occurred in 1970, with the abolition of forced labor. In 1975, juvenile delinquency centers were abolished. Reforms in the early 1990s focused on rehabilitation and reducing recidivism.
The Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show
It is estimated that 73 million Americans were watching that night as the Beatles made their live U.S. television debut.
Nils Bolhin of Volvo invents the three-point seatbelt
The reason the three-point seatbelt is so widely adopted is actually because Volvo opened up the patent so that any car manufacturer could use it in their design.
The Austrian State Treaty reestablishes Austria as a sovereign state
The Austrian State Treaty was signed on 15 May 1955 in Vienna among the Allied occupying powers and the Austrian government.
India and Pakistan win independence
The long-awaited agreement ended 200 years of British rule and was hailed by Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi as “the noblest act of the British nation.”
Vietnam declares independence from France
The Indochina Peninsula was colonised by the French in the mid-19th century. Modern Vietnam was born upon the Declaration of Independence from France in 1945.
The United Nations formally establishes the International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), colloquially the World Court, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It settles legal disputes submitted to it by states and provides advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by other UN organs and specialized agencies. The ICJ is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between countries, with its rulings and opinions serving as primary sources of international law. Established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations, the Court began work in April 1946.
Howard Florey conducts the first-ever clinical trials of penicillin
Florey’s discoveries, along with the discoveries of Alexander Fleming and Ernst Chain, are estimated to have saved over 200 million lives, and he is consequently regarded by the Australian scientific and medical community as one of its greatest figures.