Tag: This Day in History
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This day in history | 1971 Space mission ends in tragedy
Three Russian cosmonauts have been found dead in their space capsule after it made what looked like a perfect landing in Kazakhstan. Lieutenant-Colonel Georgi Dobrovolsky, Vladislav ... -
This day in history | 2001 Diana fountain given go-ahead
A memorial in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, is to be built in London’s Hyde Park, the government has announced. The £3m fountain will be ... -
This day in history | 2004 US transfers power back to Iraq
The United States has handed power back to the Iraqi people at a low-key ceremony in Baghdad. US administrator Paul Bremer transferred sovereignty to an Iraqi ... -
This day in history | 1970 New peace plan for Middle East
The United States has launched its latest plan to bring peace to the Middle East. US Secretary of State William Rogers announced his initiative to encourage ... -
This day in history | 1983 US astronaut Sally Ride returns
America’s first woman in space has returned safely to Earth in the Challenger space shuttle after a successful six-day flight. Sally Ride, aged 32, captured the ... -
This day in history | 1972 Chancellor orders pound flotation
The Chancellor, Anthony Barber, has announced his decision to temporarily float the pound. The news comes only a day after the bank lending rate was increased ... -
This day in history | 1981 Chapman pleads guilty to Lennon murder
A man has pleaded guilty to shooting dead former Beatle John Lennon in New York. The court heard Mark Chapman dramatically change his plea to admit ... -
This day in history | 1983 Filipino opposition leader shot dead
The Philippines opposition leader, Benigno Aquino, has been assassinated just minutes after returning home from exile. Mr Aquino, 50, had spent the last three years in ... -
This day in history | 1972 UK’s worst air crash kills 118
All 118 people on board a flight from London Heathrow to Brussels have died when the airliner crashed minutes after take-off. The British European Airways plane ... -
This day in history | 1974 IRA bombs parliament
A bomb has exploded at the Houses of Parliament, causing extensive damage and injuring 11 people. The IRA said it planted the 20 lb (9.1 kg) ... -
This day in history | 1963 Soviets launch first woman into space
A former textile worker from the Soviet Union has become the first woman in space. Lieutenant Valentina Tereshkova, 26, was the fifth Russian cosmonaut to go ... -
This day in history | 1991 Iraqi Kurds fear US troop withdrawal
More than a thousand Kurds have besieged a US military base near the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk, pleading with American troops not to withdraw. Kurdish ... -
This day in history | 1959 Hovercraft marks new era in transport
A revolutionary new form of transport which can operate on sea and land has been officially launched in the Solent, off England’s south coast. The Hovercraft, ... -
This day in history | 1967 Israel ends six-day war
Fighting in the Middle East has ended after Israel finally observed the UN ceasefire and halted her advance into Syria. Within the last six days Israeli ... -
This day in history | 1958 Queen opens revamped Gatwick
The Queen has opened London’s new and extended airport at Gatwick on the Surrey-Sussex border 25 miles (40km) south of the capital. Her Majesty and the ... -
This day in history | 1982 Fifty die in Argentine air attack
Up to 50 British servicemen have died in an Argentine air attack on two supply ships in the Falklands. Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram were anchored ... -
This day in history | 1942 Japanese beaten in Battle of Midway
The United States has routed the Japanese Navy in a major three-day battle over a remote US naval and air base at Midway Island in the ... -
This day in history | 1989 Massacre in Tiananmen Square
Several hundred civilians have been shot dead by the Chinese army during a bloody military operation to crush a democratic protest in Peking’s (Beijing) Tiananmen Square. ... -
This day in history | 1972 Protestant march ends in battle
A Protestant march against the creation of “no-go” areas in Londonderry has ended in a bloody battle on the Craigavon Bridge. Soldiers used rubber bullets and ... -
This day in history | 1979 Millions cheer as the Pope comes home
The Pope has returned home to Poland as the first Roman Catholic pontiff to visit a Communist-ruled country. As John Paul II set foot on his ... -
This day in history | 2001 Nepal royal family massacred
The King and Queen of Nepal have been shot dead after the heir to the throne went on the rampage with a gun before turning it ... -
This day in history | 1973 US Senate stops Cambodia bombing
The US Senate has voted to cut off funds for the bombing of Cambodia. The move is a serious blow to President Richard Nixon’s South-East Asia ... -
This day in history | 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, ... -
This day in history | 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 ... -
This day in history | 1998 Veterans reject Japanese ‘sorrow’
Emperor Akihito of Japan has spoken of his “deep sorrow and pain” over the suffering inflicted by his country during World War II, but did not ... -
This day in history | 1961 Kennedy pledges man on Moon
President John F Kennedy has called for millions of dollars to fund a space programme to get the first man on the Moon by 1970. In ... -
This day in history | 2001 Israel wedding party tragedy
At least 20 people have been killed and hundreds have been injured at a wedding party in Jerusalem after the dance floor collapsed. Guests were left ... -
This day in history | 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 ... -
This day in history | 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 ... -
This day in history | 1950 US and Europe agree Nato aims
Almost exactly a year after signing the North Atlantic Treaty, 12 nations have agreed a permanent organisation for the defence of the United States and Europe. ... -
This day in history | 1974 Bombs devastate Dublin and Monaghan
Three car bombs have exploded in Dublin, killing 23 people and injuring more than 100 others during rush hour. Five more people died and another 20 ... -
This day in history | 1955 Communist states sign Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc allies have signed a security pact in the Polish capital, Warsaw, after a three-day conference. Announcements in Warsaw and ... -
This day in history | 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 ... -
This day in history | 2000 Ford quits Dagenham after 70 years
Ford has confirmed that car production at its Dagenham plant in Essex is to end after more than 70 years. In total, it will mean the ... -
This day in history | 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 ...
