Tag: This Day in History
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1957 Noel Coward comes home
Noel Coward has returned to Britain from the West Indies amid criticism that he is living abroad to avoid paying income tax. He arrived at Southampton ... -
1966 First US space probe lands on Moon
The United States has landed its first spacecraft on the Moon. Scientists were surprised and delighted that Surveyor 1 – America’s first attempt at a “soft” ... -
1985 Hippies clash with police at Stonehenge
More than 300 people have been arrested after an attempt by police to prevent a convoy of hippies reaching Stonehenge led to a violent confrontation. The ... -
1968 Manchester Utd win European Cup
Manchester United became the first English club to win the European Cup by beating Portuguese side Benfica 4-1. Ten years after the Munich air crash, which ... -
1959 Monkeys survive space mission
Two monkeys have become the first living creatures to survive a space flight. Able, a seven-pound female rhesus monkey, and Baker, a one-pound female squirrel monkey, ... -
1994 Dissident writer Solzhenitsyn returns
Alexander Solzhenitsyn has flown back to his native Russia after 20 years of exile in the United States. His plane touched down in the far eastern ... -
1991 Bomb kills India’s former leader Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi, the 46-year-old former Indian prime minister, has been assassinated. He was campaigning for the Congress Party on the second day of voting in the ... -
1973 Royal Navy moves to protect trawlers
Britain has sent in Royal Navy ships to protect trawlers in the disputed Icelandic 50-mile zone as the so-called “cod war” escalates. Three frigates – the ... -
2004 Angry dads hit Blair with purple flour
Protesters have hurled condoms full of purple flour at British Prime Minister Tony Blair as he addressed MPs in the House of Commons, prompting an urgent ... -
1944 Monte Cassino falls to the Allies
The Polish flag is flying over the ruins of the ancient Italian monastery which has been a symbol of German resistance since the beginning of the ... -
1954 Queen returns after lengthy voyage
The Royal Family has returned safely from their six-month tour of the Commonwealth to a rapturous welcome in London. Thousands flocked to the banks of the ... -
1991 Mandela’s wife jailed for kidnaps
Winnie Mandela, the wife of anti-apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela, has been given a six-year prison sentence for her part in the kidnap of four youths. Her ... -
1981 Thousands see Pope shot in Rome
The Pope has been shot four times as he blessed the crowds in St Peter’s Square in Rome. Surgeons have performed a five-hour operation and say ... -
1985 Fans killed in Bradford stadium fire
At least 52 people are known to have died and many are missing after fire engulfed the Bradford City football stadium. Hundreds of people are in ... -
1965 Huge Rhodesia election win for Smith
White voters in the African colony of Rhodesia have overwhelmingly backed Prime Minister Ian Smith’s Rhodesian Front which is demanding independence from the UK. Mr Smith’s ... -
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 the tunnel, ... -
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 life on ... -
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 from the ... -
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 Isle of ... -
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 theatre, was ... -
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 associates. Their ... -
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 was born ... -
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 guerrillas had ... -
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 research. The ... -
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 the device, ... -
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 Duke became ... -
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 Fletcher had ... -
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 years were ... -
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 kilometres) east ... -
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 three astronauts ... -
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. Reports are ... -
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 two years ... -
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 “tragic accident” ... -
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 of criticism. ... -
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 War II. ...
