This Day In History
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1996 ‘Unabomber’ suspect arrested
Police in the United States have arrested a man they believe to be the notorious “Unabomber” who has killed three people and maimed 23 ... -
1982 Argentina invades Falklands
Argentina has invaded the British territory of the Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic. The islands, off the coast of Argentina, have been a ... -
1957 BBC fools the nation
The BBC has received a mixed reaction to a spoof documentary broadcast this evening about spaghetti crops in Switzerland. The hoax Panorama programme, narrated ... -
1966 Harold Wilson wins sweeping victory
The Labour party is on course to win the general election with a majority of about 100 seats in the House of Commons. Prime ... -
1979 Nuclear leak causes alarm in America
Radioactive steam has leaked into the atmosphere in Pennsylvania, USA. The accident happened when a water pump broke down at the Three Mile Island ... -
1980 North Sea platform collapses
At least 120 oil rig workers are feared dead after a North Sea accommodation platform collapsed during gales. Reports say a massive wave hit ... -
2000 Pope prays for Holocaust forgiveness
Pope John Paul II has prayed for forgiveness of the sins of those involved in the Holocaust. However, he avoided any admission of Church ... -
1975 Saudi’s King Faisal assassinated
King Faisal of Saudi Arabia has died after a gun attack in Riyadh despite the efforts of doctors to save him. The king was ... -
1992 Punch ends 150 years of satire
Punch, Britain’s oldest satirical magazine, is to close after suffering crippling losses of £1.5m a year. The decision ends a publishing tradition dating back ... -
1984 EEC summit collapses over rebate row
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has come under attack for the breakdown of negotiations at the European Economic Community common market summit in Brussels. Mrs ... -
1966 Football’s World Cup stolen
The football World Cup has been stolen while on exhibition at Central Hall in Westminster, London. The £30,000 solid gold Jules Rimet trophy disappeared ... -
1964 ‘Ambitious’ plans for south east
Three new cities are proposed for south east England as part of the largest regional expansion plan in Britain. A study, published today, estimates ... -
1992 South Africa votes for change
White South Africans have backed an overwhelming mandate for political reforms to end apartheid and create a power-sharing multi-racial government. In a landslide victory ... -
1968 Anti-Vietnam demo turns violent
More than 200 people have been arrested after thousands of demonstrators clashed in an anti-Vietnam war protest outside the United States embassy in London. ... -
1958 Historic Sheerness docks to close
The government has announced the closure of one of the oldest naval dockyards in the UK. All 2,500 jobs at Sheerness Docks on the ... -
1961 Five Britons accused of spying for Moscow
Three men and two women have gone on trial at the Old Bailey charged with plotting to pass official secrets to the Russians. All ... -
1964 Hoffa faces eight years behind bars
The president of the powerful American Teamsters union has been sentenced to eight years in jail on bribery charges. James Hoffa has also been ... -
1985 Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader
There is a new man in charge at the Kremlin – Mikhail Gorbachev has taken over following the death of Konstantin Chernenko. Chernenko, 73, ... -
1969: Martin Luther King’s killer gets life
James Earl Ray has been jailed for 99 years by a court in Memphis, Tennessee, after admitting he carried out the murder of the ... -
1945 Black Sea talks plan defeat of Germany
Plans are being drawn up by London, Washington and Moscow for the final phase of the war against Germany. Leaders of the three countries, ... -
1993 Angolans die in battle for Huambo
More than 350 people have died in a battle between Unita rebels and Angolan government forces in the city of Huambo, according to Angolan ... -
1953 Soviet leader ‘on brink of death’
Rumours are circulating in Moscow that Joseph Stalin, the long-time leader of the Soviet Union, is near death. The first official news of Mr ... -
1975 Comic genius Chaplin is knighted
Silent film legend Charlie Chaplin has become Sir Charles after a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. The star of such films as The Kid and ... -
1974 Turkish jet crashes killing 345
A Turkish Airlines DC10 has crashed near Paris killing all 345 people on board. The plane was on a regular flight from Ankara to ... -
1986 Swedish prime minister assassinated
The Swedish prime minister has died after being shot in a street ambush in central Stockholm. His wife was wounded. Olof and Lisbeth Palme ... -
1963 Argoud charged over de Gaulle plot
Antoine Argoud, President De Gaulle’s arch enemy and a former colonel in the French Army, has been charged with an assassination attempt on the ... -
1984 US troops withdraw from Beirut
American forces have withdrawn almost all of their troops from the Lebanese capital, Beirut. About 1,000 US Marines left the coast beside the international ... -
1964 Cassius Clay crowned world champion
Cassius Clay, 22, has been crowned heavyweight champion of the world after beating Sonny Liston in one of the biggest upsets in boxing’s history. ... -
1968: South Vietnamese recapture Hue
The South Vietnamese are celebrating the recapture of the country’s third city, Hue, after a battle lasting three weeks. Their allies, American Marines, finally ... -
1972 Nixon makes historic visit to China
The American President Richard Nixon has arrived in China at the start of a week-long summit aimed at ending 20 years of frosty relations ... -
1986 Soviets launch space station Mir
The Soviets have opened a new phase in space exploration with the launch of the world’s biggest space station, Mir. The successful launch of ... -
1997 China’s reformist Deng Xiaoping dies
China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping has died at the age of 92. He had been suffering from failing health for several years and was ... -
1954 McCarthy hunts ‘army Communists’
The Secretary of the US army has ordered two generals, subpoenaed by anti-Communist senator Joseph McCarthy, to ignore the summons. The move by Robert ... -
1959 Turkish leader involved in fatal crash
Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes has survived an air crash near London that killed 12 people. Mr Menderes was on his way to the ... -
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. ...
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