The world’s first national internet election is held
The Republic of Estonia became the first country in the world to hold a national election in which citizens could vote online. The election, which was for members of the parliament, allowed Estonian citizens living anywhere in the world to cast their vote electronically. The system was designed to be secure and anonymous, and it was hailed as a major step forward for online democracy.

Robert Mugabe becomes Zimbabwe’s first black prime minister
A hero of the black struggle against the white minority rule in his country, Mugabe won a landslide victory. More recently, his oppressive style of leadership has been condemned domestically and internationally.

The first documented cases of the Spanish flu herald a deadly worldwide pandemic
The Spanish flu, also known as the 1918 flu pandemic, was a global outbreak of a deadly strain of influenza that began in the spring of 1918. The first documented cases of the flu were reported in Kansas in March 1918, and within a month the virus had spread across the United States and Europe. Over the next two years, the pandemic claimed an estimated 50 to 100 million lives around the world, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history.

The U.S. Constitution is put into effect
The United States Constitution was officially put into effect, creating the world’s first modern democracy. The Constitution, which had been ratified by nine of the 13 states, established a strong federal government and defined the rights and responsibilities of the citizens of the new nation.