NASA's Cassini spacecraft made a close flyby of Saturn's moon Titan, gathering radar data that revealed hints of hydrocarbon lakes beneath its thick orange haze.

Pope John Paul II died at the Vatican after a 26-year papacy, having survived an assassination attempt and helped hasten the collapse of Soviet communism.

Vanity Fair revealed that former FBI official W. Mark Felt was 'Deep Throat,' the anonymous source who leaked Watergate secrets to Washington Post reporters over three decades earlier.

Dennis Rader, the BTK serial killer who taunted police for decades, pleaded guilty in a Wichita courtroom to ten murders committed between 1974 and 1991.

Ten simultaneous benefit concerts across G8 nations drew millions of viewers to press world leaders ahead of the Gleneagles summit on African debt and poverty.

Four suicide bombers detonated devices on three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus, killing 52 commuters and injuring over 700 during morning rush hour.

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope announced the discovery of two new moons orbiting Pluto, later named Nix and Hydra.

Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana, breaching levees and flooding 80% of New Orleans within hours.

Playwright Harold Pinter, too ill to travel, delivered a recorded Nobel Lecture excoriating US foreign policy, broadcast widely after the ceremony period.