This Day In History
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1991 UK army spending to be cut
Britain is to reduce the amount it spends on the army by more than a quarter over the next five years, Defence Secretary Tom ... -
1957 Noel Coward comes home
Noel Coward has returned to Britain from the West Indies amid criticism that he is living abroad to avoid paying income tax. He arrived ... -
1981 Bangladeshi president assassinated
The president of Bangladesh, Zia Rahman, has been assassinated in the south-eastern city of Chittagong. President Zia is believed to have died at 0430 ... -
1972 Japanese kill 26 at Tel Aviv airport
Three Japanese gunmen have opened fire on crowds at Lod International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing 26 people and injuring dozens more. The ... -
1959 Monkeys survive space mission
Two monkeys have become the first living creatures to survive a space flight. Able, a seven-pound female rhesus monkey, and Baker, a one-pound female ... -
1964 Light goes out in India as Nehru dies
Jawaharlal Nehru, founder of modern India and its current prime minister, has died suddenly at the age of 74. He was taken ill in ... -
1998 Veterans reject Japanese ‘sorrow’
Emperor Akihito of Japan has spoken of his “deep sorrow and pain” over the suffering inflicted by his country during World War II, but ... -
1977: Dutch children held hostage
More than 100 children and six teachers have been taken hostage in a primary school in northern Holland. The Dutch Prime Minister, Joop den ... -
1972 President Nixon arrives in Moscow
America’s President Richard Nixon has arrived in Moscow for talks with Soviet leaders. He was given a modest welcome as he stepped off the ... -
1991 Bomb kills India’s former leader Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi, the 46-year-old former Indian prime minister, has been assassinated. He was campaigning for the Congress Party on the second day of voting ... -
1983 Car bomb in South Africa kills 16
At least 16 people have been killed and more than 130 people injured in a car bomb explosion in South Africa’s capital city, Pretoria. ... -
1980 Nine dead after Mount St Helens eruption
At least nine people have died after the massive eruption of Mount St Helens volcano in Washington State, USA. Many more are missing and ... -
1943 Germans crush Jewish uprising
All resistance in the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw has ended after 28 days of fighting. In his operational report, the local SS commander, Brigadier ... -
2001 UK supermarkets slash price of drugs
British consumers are already reaping the benefits of cheaper over-the-counter medicine after a court ruling today put an end to the drug industry’s price-fixing ... -
1955 Communist states sign Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc allies have signed a security pact in the Polish capital, Warsaw, after a three-day conference. Announcements in ... -
1967 Stansted to become London’s third airport
The British Government has given the green light to plans to convert Stansted into London’s third airport. President of the Board of Trade Douglas ... -
1979 El Salvador cathedral bloodbath
At least 18 demonstrators have been killed and many wounded after police opened fire on anti-government protesters outside the Metropolitan Cathedral in San Salvador, ... -
1978 ‘Son of Sam’ pleads guilty to murders
The man alleged to have murdered six people in a killing spree last year has pleaded guilty to all the charges against him. David ... -
2001 Thousands greet Pope in Syrian visit
Thousands of people have turned out to greet Pope John Paul II on his historic visit to Syria. The pontiff drove in his popemobile ... -
1945 Germany announces Hitler is dead
Adolf Hitler has been killed at the Reich Chancery in Berlin, according to Hamburg radio. At 2230 local time a newsreader announced that reports ... -
1973 Nixon takes rap for Watergate scandal
President Richard Nixon has taken full responsibility for the Watergate scandal but has denied any personal involvement. In a speech broadcast to the American ... -
1986 Soviets admit nuclear accident
The Soviet Union has acknowledged there has been an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The report, from the official news ... -
1974 Rebels seize control of Portugal
Army rebels are in control of Portugal tonight after an almost bloodless dawn coup ended nearly 50 years of dictatorship. Shortly after midnight, tanks ... -
1967 Russian cosmonaut dies in space crash
The Soviet Union has announced the catastrophic failure of its latest space mission, with the crash of Soyuz 1 and the death of the ... -
1955 Albert Einstein dies
Albert Einstein has died in hospital in Princeton, New Jersey, aged 76. The eminent scientist and originator of the theory of relativity was admitted ... -
1961 Exiles invade Cuba at Bay of Pigs
Reports from Cuba say the island has been invaded by counter-revolutionary forces trying to overthrow the country’s leader, Fidel Castro. The only news coming ... -
1987 MP on gay sex charges
Conservative MP Harvey Proctor has appeared in court charged with indecency. Mr Proctor, who represents Billericay in Essex, said nothing to waiting journalists at ... -
1998 Former Cambodian dictator dies
The former Cambodian dictator, Pol Pot, whose regime led to the deaths of millions of his people, has died. Journalists who were shown his ... -
1989 Ayatollah sentences author to death
Iranian Muslim leader Ayatollah Khomeini has issued a death threat against British author Salman Rushdie and his publishers over the book Satanic Verses. Scotland ... -
1957 Britain agrees to Singapore self-rule
The British government is to allow the island colony of Singapore to govern itself under a new constitution agreed in London. The Singapore Constitutional ... -
1998 Northern Ireland peace deal reached
The Northern Ireland peace talks have ended with an historic agreement. The accord – dubbed the Good Friday Agreement – was reached after nearly ... -
2003 Saddam statue topples with regime
There have been scenes of jubilation in Baghdad as US tanks rolled into the very heart of the Iraqi capital, confirming that the government ... -
1994 Rock musician Kurt Cobain ‘shoots himself’
The lead-singer of American grunge rock band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, has been found dead in his Seattle home. The 27-year-old rock star had a ... -
1968 Martin Luther King shot dead
The American black civil rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King, has been assassinated. Dr King was shot dead in the southern US city of ...
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