This Day In History
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1997 Troops storm embassy in Peru
Troops have stormed the Japanese embassy in Peru and freed all but one of 72 hostages held inside, ending a four-month siege of the ... -
1993 Waco cult siege ends with inferno
At least 70 people are feared to have died in a fire at the besieged headquarters of the Branch Davidian sect near Waco, Texas. ... -
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 ... -
1969 Devlin is youngest-ever woman MP
A 21-year-old woman, Bernadette Devlin, has become Britain’s youngest ever female MP and the third youngest MP ever. Standing as an independent Unity candidate, ... -
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 ... -
1986 US launches air strikes on Libya
At least 100 people have died after USA planes bombed targets in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and the Benghazi region. Around 66 American jets, ... -
1975 US pulls out of Cambodia
The US has admitted defeat in Cambodia and removed its remaining embassy personnel from the capital, Phnom Penh. Early this morning 276 people were ... -
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 ... -
1976 Young Liberal leader cleared of robbery
The president of the Young Liberals, Peter Hain, has been acquitted of stealing £490 from a branch of Barclays bank last October. Supporters in ... -
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 ... -
1971 Calley guilty of My Lai massacre
Lieutenant William Calley has been found guilty of murder at a court martial for his part in the My Lai massacre which claimed the ... -
1965 Thousands join Dr King in Alabama rally
Dr Martin Luther King has taken a crowd of nearly 25,000 people to the steps of the state capital of Montgomery, Alabama to highlight ... -
1989 Millions of Russians go to the polls
Millions of Russian voters have gone to the polls, with early results suggesting that a number of Communist candidates have been rejected by the ... -
1979 Israel and Egypt shake hands on peace deal
Israel and Egypt have ended 30 years of war with an historic peace treaty brokered by the United States. The ceremony on the White ... -
1980 Britain will go to Moscow Olympics
The British Olympic Association (BOA) has voted by a large majority to defy the government and send athletes to the Olympic Games in Moscow. ... -
1956 King convicted for bus boycott
Civil rights leader, the Reverend Martin Luther King, has been convicted of organising an illegal boycott by black passengers of buses in the US ... -
1963 Train drives itself
The first automatic train on the London underground could be hurtling into stations in three weeks, the government has revealed. The trains, which operate ... -
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 [of England]
Three new cities are proposed for south east England as part of the largest regional expansion plan in Britain. A study, published today, estimates ... -
1974 Violent border clashes at Golan Heights
Two Israeli soldiers have been killed and three others injured in the worst day of violence along the Golan Heights in three months. Initial ... -
1981 Pakistani jet hostages released
The passengers and crew of a Pakistan Airways plane held hostage for nearly two weeks have been released in Syria. They were freed after ... -
1960 Radio telescope makes space history
The British radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire has set a new space record making contact with the American Pioneer V satellite at ... -
1970 Conservative victory in first teen election
The Conservatives are celebrating a record majority in the Bridgwater by-election. They won by 10,915 votes, the largest in the constituency for 50 years. ... -
1969 Paul McCartney weds Linda Eastman
Paul McCartney has married Linda Eastman in a civil ceremony in London. Hundreds of people gathered outside the Marylebone Register Office to catch a ... -
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, ... -
1971 Post strike ends with pay deal
British postal workers have gone back to work today after seven weeks on strike. The 200,000 postmen and women voted by 14-1 yesterday in ... -
1975 Kidnapped heiress found strangled
The body of Lesley Whittle, the 17-year-old heiress kidnapped from her Shropshire home 52 days ago, has been found at the bottom of a ... -
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 ... -
1954 US tests hydrogen bomb in Bikini
The US has produced the biggest ever man-made explosion so far in the Pacific archipelago of Bikini, part of the Marshall Islands. It is ... -
1956 Hopes for Mid East peace mission
The British Foreign Secretary, John Selwyn Lloyd, left London this morning for a tour of the Middle East, Pakistan and India. Before he left, ... -
2000 Nuclear chief quits over safety scandal
British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) has confirmed its chief executive, John Taylor, has resigned over the safety scandal that has attracted severe criticism from watchdogs. ...
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