Tag: This Day in History
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1991 US bombers strike civilians in Baghdad
Hundreds of Iraqi civilians have been killed and wounded in Baghdad by American bombers. Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz said: “This was a criminal, pre-meditated, planned ... -
1975 Tories choose first woman leader
The British Conservative Party has chosen Margaret Thatcher as its new leader. She will be the first woman to head a British political party after a ... -
1955 US evacuates Pacific islands
The American Navy has moved thousands of people from the Chinese Nationalist Tachen Islands. Communist forces on the Chinese mainland – within firing distance of the ... -
1987 S Korea clashes over student death
South Korean police have made hundreds of arrests in the country’s biggest demonstrations for six years. Rallies went ahead across the country to commemorate the recent ... -
2001 Sharon sweeps to power
The leader of the right-wing Likud party, Ariel Sharon, has won a landslide victory to become the new prime minister of Israel. He called for a ... -
1996 First GM food goes on sale in UK
The first genetically modified, or GM, food goes on sale today in British supermarkets. Genetically modified tomato puree, which will be available in Safeway and Sainsbury ... -
1987 Aquino suppresses rebel uprising
President of the Philippines Corazon Aquino has forced a group of heavily armed rebels occupying a television station to surrender. Her troops fired tear gas into ... -
1990 Romanians call for government change
Tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators have taken to the streets of Bucharest to protest against the interim government of Ion Iliescu. It was the biggest ... -
1945 Auschwitz death camp liberated
The Red Army has liberated the Nazis’ biggest concentration camp at Auschwitz in south-western Poland. According to reports, hundreds of thousands of Polish people, as well ... -
1961 End of the road for Monroe and Miller
The Hollywood screen star Marilyn Monroe has divorced her husband, playwright Arthur Miller, after less than five years of marriage. The divorce was granted in Mexico, ... -
1973 Nixon announces Vietnam peace deal
The US president, Richard Nixon, has appeared on national television to announce “peace with honour” in Vietnam. Statements issued simultaneously in Washington and Hanoi confirmed the ... -
1980 Soviet dissident Sakharov banished
One of the Soviet Union’s most outspoken critics, nuclear physicist Dr Andrei Sakharov, has been ordered into internal exile. Officials in Moscow were angered by an ... -
1950 Acclaimed author George Orwell dies
The writer, George Orwell, has died after a three-year battle against tuberculosis. Until the last, news had been positive and it was hoped Mr Orwell was ... -
1994: Massive earthquake hits Los Angeles
A huge earthquake has rocked Los Angeles, killing more than 20 people. The earthquake, which measured 6.6 on the Richter scale and lasted for 40 seconds, ... -
2001: DR Congo President Kabila shot
The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Laurent Kabila, is reported to be fighting for his life after being shot and seriously wounded by one ... -
1973: Nixon orders ceasefire in Vietnam
President Nixon has ordered a halt to American bombing in North Vietnam following peace talks in Paris. The decision comes after Dr Henry Kissinger, the president’s ... -
2002 UK declared free of foot-and-mouth
The foot-and-mouth crisis that began almost 11 months ago will officially end at midnight, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has said. ... -
2004 Serial killer Shipman found hanged
Harold Shipman, the former GP who is believed to have killed more than 200 people, has been found dead in his prison cell. He was found ... -
1954 Comet jet crashes with 35 on board
Thirty-five people are missing, feared dead, after a Comet jet airliner crashed into the Mediterranean. The plane – a British Overseas Airways Corporation jet – was ... -
1972 Miners strike against government
Coal miners walked out at midnight in their first national strike for almost 50 years. Three months of negotiations with the National Coal Board ended in ... -
1979 Vietnam forces Khmer Rouge retreat
Hundreds of Khmer Rouge troops have fled Cambodia after being crushed by Vietnamese-led rebel forces. The capital, Phnom Penh, has been seized and Pol Pot and ... -
1980 Gandhi returned by landslide vote
The people of India have voted Indira Gandhi back into power – less than three years after rejecting her “emergency dictatorship”. When the last of the ... -
2000 Flu outbreak stretches NHS resources
Hospitals around the UK are feeling the strain of the current flu outbreak even though it has not been classed as an epidemic. In Scotland latest ... -
1993: US and Russia halve nuclear warheads
The United States of America and the Russian Federation have agreed to cut the number of nuclear warheads they have by between 3,000 and 3,500. US ... -
1999: Putin takes over as Yeltsin resigns
Boris Yeltsin has resigned as Russian president, taking the country and the rest of the world completely by surprise. Mr Yeltsin made the shock announcement live ... -
1958: Castro’s rebels edge closer to capital
A vicious house-to-house battle between rebel guerrillas, led by Fidel Castro, and the Cuban army is raging around the town of Santa Clara, the capital of ... -
1968 First astronauts orbit Moon
The Apollo 8 spacecraft has taken its crew of three astronauts safely into orbit around the Moon, the first manned space mission to achieve the feat. ... -
1973 Spanish prime minister assassinated
The Spanish Prime Minister, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, has been killed in a car bomb attack in Madrid. The 70-year-old, his bodyguard and a driver died ... -
1950: Radio Times hits Christmas deadline
The Christmas edition of the Radio Times will be out in time for families to plan their festive viewing and listening – despite recent publishing difficulties. ... -
1976 Opec members split over prices
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have rejected an increase in the price of oil of 15% suggested by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries ... -
1969: MPs vote to abolish hanging
MPs have voted by a big majority for the permanent abolition of the death penalty for murder. A great cheer went up in the Commons as ... -
1995 Riots break out in Brixton
Hundreds of black and white youths have taken to the streets of Brixton, in south London attacking police, ransacking shops and burning cars after the death ... -
1967 Stones guitarist escapes jail for drugs
Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones has had a nine month jail sentence overturned at the Court of Appeal in London. He has been ordered instead to ... -
1941 Germany and Italy declare war on US
Germany and Italy have announced they are at war with the United States. America immediately responded by declaring war on the two Axis powers. Three days ... -
1961 Apartheid attacked at Nobel ceremony
Albert Luthuli, leader of the banned African National Congress, has appealed for racial equality in South Africa after accepting the Nobel peace prize for 1960 in ...
