This Day In History
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1994 President and Queen open Chunnel
The Queen and France’s President Francois Mitterrand have formally opened the Channel Tunnel during two elaborate ceremonies in France and Britain. After travelling through ... -
1981 Bobby Sands dies in prison
Hunger striker Bobby Sands has died in prison 66 days after first refusing to eat. The 27-year-old republican spent the last days of his ... -
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 ... -
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 ... -
1958 My Fair Lady dazzles London
The Broadway musical My Fair Lady has opened for its first night in London, to a rapturous reception. The event, at the Drury Lane ... -
1945 Italian partisans kill Mussolini
Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy until his downfall in 1943, has been killed by partisans along with his mistress, Clara Petacci, and some close ... -
1961 Sierra Leone wins independence
Sierra Leone has become the latest West African state to win independence, after more than 150 years of British colonial rule. The new nation ... -
1975 Baader-Meinhof blow up embassy
A tense stand-off at the West German embassy in Stockholm has ended in violence, with the death of at least three people. Five Baader-Meinhof ... -
1984 Scientist finds Aids virus
The discovery of a virus which may cause Aids, the fatal disease sweeping through America, has been hailed as a “monumental breakthrough” in medical ... -
1971 Haitian dictator dies
Haiti’s ruler, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, has died after 14 years in power. President Duvalier, who declared himself “president for life” in 1964, died ... -
1987 Tamil Tigers blamed for bus garage blast
More than 100 people have been killed after a bomb exploded in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. Nearly three hundred others were wounded when ... -
1972 Apollo 16 safely on Moon after engine crisis
The Apollo 16 mission has landed on the Moon after a seven-hour crisis that nearly aborted the mission altogether. Astronauts John Young and Charles ... -
1984 Libyan embassy shots kill policewoman
A police officer has been killed and ten people injured after shots were fired from the Libyan People’s Bureau in central London. WPC Yvonne ... -
1964 ‘Great Train Robbers’ get 300 years
Some of the longest sentences in British criminal history have been imposed on men involved in the so-called “Great Train Robbery”. Sentences totalling 307 ... -
2000 White farmer shot dead in Zimbabwe
A white farmer in Zimbabwe has been shot dead by squatters occupying his land. David Stevens was taken from his property 75 miles (120 ... -
1970 Critical explosion cripples Apollo 13
An explosion on board Apollo 13 has caused one of the most critical situations in American space history and put the lives of the ... -
1975 Beirut street battle leaves 17 dead
At least 17 people have been killed and 30 wounded in an ambush by right-wing Lebanese forces on a bus carrying Palestinians in Beirut. ... -
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 ... -
1999 President of Niger ‘killed in ambush’
The president of Niger, Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, has been shot dead in an apparent coup attempt. However, his death has been described as a ... -
2000 Asylum voucher scheme enforced
Asylum seekers in the UK will now receive vouchers to buy food and clothes, under controversial plans which have come into effect despite months ... -
1998 Papon guilty of war crimes
Former French cabinet minister Maurice Papon has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for his part in deporting Jews from France during World ... -
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 ... -
1986 Greater London Council abolished
Thousands of people have taken part in festivities to mark the historic final hours of 97 years of local rule in London. A throng ... -
1981 President Reagan is shot
President Ronald Reagan has been shot and wounded after a lone gunman opened fire in Washington. He is currently undergoing emergency surgery at George ... -
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 ... -
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 ... -
1983 Reagan launches Cold War into space
President Reagan has unveiled plans to combat nuclear war in space. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) proposes a defensive shield, using laser or particle ... -
2003 US launches missiles against Saddam
American missiles have hit the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, signalling the start of the US-led campaign to topple Saddam Hussein. President George Bush delivered a ... -
1982 Argentine flag hoisted on S Georgia
A group of Argentines have landed at the British colony of the Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic and planted their nation’s flag. About ... -
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 ... -
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. ... -
2001 Teenage woman guilty of rape
An 18-year-old woman has been convicted of rape after she pinned down a victim during a horrific gang sex attack. Claire Marsh is thought ... -
1979 Grenada leader ousted by coup
A coup in the Caribbean island of Grenada has toppled the country’s controversial Prime Minister, Sir Eric Gairy. Sir Eric was at the United ...
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