Tag: This Day in History
-
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 Minister Harold ... -
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 Washington University ... -
1971 Manson sent to gas chamber
Charles Manson and three members of his hippy cult have been sentenced to death in Los Angeles. They were found guilty of the August 1969 murders ... -
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 black grievances. ... -
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. Fifteen sports ... -
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 almost 151 ... -
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 beam technology ... -
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 state of ... -
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 without a ... -
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 reports ... -
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. The St ... -
1953 Marshal Tito makes historic visit to London
Marshal Josef Tito of Yugoslavia has arrived in Britain, the first Communist head of state to visit the country. The Duke of Edinburgh, Prime Minister Winston ... -
1990 Observer journalist executed in Iraq
Britain has strongly condemned the Iraqi authorities over the execution of The Observer journalist Farzad Bazoft in Baghdad. Mr Bazoft – who came to live in ... -
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 a distance ... -
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, died yesterday ... -
1956 Riots erupt in Cyprus over Archbishop
Rioting and demonstrations have broken out in the crown colony of Cyprus after yesterday’s deportation by the British authorities of the head of the island’s Greek ... -
1972 TWA jet explodes at Las Vegas airport
A bomb has exploded aboard a Trans World Airlines Boeing 707 at Las Vegas airport. No-one was injured in the blast which destroyed the cockpit of ... -
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 drain shaft. ... -
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 The Great ... -
1966 BBC tunes in to colour
The BBC has announced plans to begin broadcasting television programmes in colour from next year. Britain will be the first country in Europe to offer regular ... -
2000 Pinochet escapes torture trial charges
Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet is heading home after being told the UK would not extradite him on torture charges. After 16 months of legal ... -
1950 Communist spy jailed for 14 years
A top nuclear scientist has been jailed for fourteen years at the Old Bailey for spying for the Soviet Union. Klaus Emil Julius Fuchs, 38, a ... -
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 were attacked ... -
1956 Khrushchev lashes out at Stalin
The Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, has denounced Joseph Stalin as a brutal despot. In a sensational speech to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party Mr ... -
1997 Dolly the sheep is cloned
Scientists in Scotland have announced the birth of the world’s first successfully cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep. Dolly, who was created at the Roslin Institute in ... -
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 between the ... -
1981 Thatcher gives in to miners
Mrs Thatcher’s Conservative Government has withdrawn plans to close 23 pits in its first major u-turn since coming to power two years ago. President of the ... -
This day in history | 1992 Cannibal killer jailed for life
Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer has been sentenced to life in prison by a court in Wisconsin for murdering and dismembering 15 young men and boys. Dahmer, ... -
This day in history | 1959 Castro sworn in as Cuban PM
Cuba’s revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has become the country’s youngest ever premier. At the age of 32, he has been sworn in as Prime Minister in ... -
This day in history | 1984 British ice couple score Olympic gold
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have been crowned the Olympic ice skating champions after scooping gold in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. More than 24 million people watched the ... -
This day in history | 1990 Freedom for Nelson Mandela
Leading anti-apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela has been freed from prison in South Africa after 27 years. His release follows the relaxation of apartheid laws – including ... -
This day in history | 1952 India passes first test of democracy
The Congress Party of India, led by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, has won an outright victory in the country’s first general election. The party has won 249 ... -
This day in history | 1950 McCarthy launches anti-red crusade
United States Senator Joe McCarthy has accused more than 200 staff in the State Department of being members of the Communist Party. He made the startling ... -
This day in history | 1952 New Queen proclaimed for UK
Princess Elizabeth has formally proclaimed herself Queen and Head of the Commonwealth and Defender of the Faith. Lords of the Council – numbering 150 – representatives ... -
This day in history | 1964 Beatlemania arrives in the US
The four members of the British hit band, the Beatles, have arrived in New York at the start of their first tour of the United States. ...
