The World Health Organization first learned of “viral pneumonia” cases in Wuhan, China. The disease was later determined to be COVID-19, which became a global pandemic the following year. 2019. 

Taipei 101 opened in Taipei, Taiwan. At 1,667 feet (508 metres), it was the tallest building in the world until the Burj Khalifa was completed in 2007. 2004. 

The United States officially handed over control of the Panama Canal to Panama. 1999. 

Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin became acting president; Putin was elected to the post the following year. 1999. 

The Soviet Union legally ceased to exist, Russia and other former Soviet republics having declared themselves independent and having founded the Commonwealth of Independent States on December 21, 1991. 1991.