Tag: This Day in History
-
This Day in History | 1993 Queen to open Palace doors
The public will be allowed inside Buckingham Palace for the first time this summer for an adult entrance fee of £8. Much of the Palace, including ... -
This Day in History | 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 ... -
This Day in History | 1945 Russians and Americans link at Elbe
Russian and American troops have joined hands at the River Elbe in Germany, bringing the end of the war a step closer. Statements have been released ... -
This Day in History | 1984 Reagan arrives in China
The US President, Ronald Reagan, has landed in China at the start of a six-day visit – the first by an American president since Nixon in ... -
This Day in History | 1980 Tehran hostage rescue mission fails
A top-secret attempt by the United States to free American hostages held in Iran’s capital, Tehran, has collapsed in failure, with the death of eight soldiers. ... -
This Day in History | 1997 Troops storm embassy in Peru
Troops have stormed the Japanese embassy in Peru and freed all but one of 72 hostages held inside, ending a four-month siege of the building by ... -
This Day in History | 1945 Red Army enters outskirts of Berlin
Russian troops have captured some outlying suburbs of Berlin at the beginning of what promises to be a bitter battle for control of the city. The ... -
This Day in History | 1953 UN and Korea begin prisoner exchange
The Allies and Korea have exchanged sick and wounded prisoners of war at Panmunjon, just a mile away from continued fighting at the north-south border. One ... -
This Day in History | 2005 Ratzinger is elected as new Pope
Taking the name Pope Benedict XVI, the 78-year-old German appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica. His arrival was greeted by loud cheers from the ... -
This Day in History | 1994 Killing spreads in Rwanda
The ethnic violence in the Rwandan capital Kigali is now spreading throughout the country, aid officials have said. Tens of thousands of people are believed to ... -
This Day in History | 1989 Football fans crushed at Hillsborough
At least 93 football supporters have been killed in Britain’s worst-ever sporting disaster. They were crushed to death at Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield during the FA ... -
This Day in History | 1968 Berlin student unrest worsens
A massive student rally in West Berlin has ended in violent clashes between police and protesters. Students blocked the city’s main thoroughfare, the Kurfurstendamm, in protest ... -
This Day in History | 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 ... -
This Day in History | 1997 Bosnian bomb plot fails to stop Pope
The Pope arrived in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, this afternoon at the start of a two-day visit to the war-torn city undeterred by the discovery of ... -
This Day in History | 1961 Nazi war crimes trial begins
The trial has begun in Israel of the man accused of helping Hitler in his plan to exterminate the Jews. Adolf Eichmann faces 15 charges, including ... -
This Day in History | 1997 BBC TV newsman turns politician
Veteran war reporter Martin Bell has vowed to fight on to victory over disgraced Conservative MP Neil Hamilton in the general election battle for the constituency ... -
This Day in History | 1978 Carter delays N-bomb production
The controversial neutron bomb developed by the Americans has been put on the back burner. The bomb – properly called an Enhanced Radiation Weapon or ERW ... -
This Day in History | 1989 Dockers’ ‘jobs for life’ scrapped
Chaos in Britain’s ports is looming after the government announced it is to abolish legislation which, in effect, guarantees work for more than 9,000 dockers. Employment ... -
This Day in History | 1968 Martin Luther King shot dead
The American black civil rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King, has been assassinated. Dr King was shot dead in the southern US city of Memphis, Tennessee, ... -
This Day in History | 2001 Ex-Yugoslav leader arrested after siege
Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has been arrested and taken to prison, ending a heavily-armed standoff at his Belgrade villa. The news came shortly after five ... -
This Day in History | 1959 Dalai Lama escapes to India
The spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, has crossed the border into India after an epic 15-day journey on foot from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, ... -
This Day in History | 1951 Rosenbergs guilty of espionage
An American electrical engineer and his wife have been found guilty by New York’s Federal Court of passing atomic secrets to the Russians. Julius Rosenberg, 33, ... -
This Day in History | 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 ... -
This Day in History | 2000 Trimble narrowly wins leadership challenge
David Trimble has narrowly beaten off a challenge to his leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party casting doubt on its unity and the future of the ... -
This Day in History | 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 ... -
This Day in History | 1981 New measures to contain farm disease
The government has banned all animal transport on the Isle of Wight and in southern Hampshire in an attempt to contain a new outbreak of foot-and-mouth ... -
This Day in History | 2002 Woman granted ‘right to die’
A woman paralysed from the neck down has won the legal right to die by having her treatment withdrawn. The judge in the case then urged ... -
This Day in History | 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 ... -
This Day in History | 1950 Government falls as Belgians vote for king
The Belgian government has collapsed over a referendum on the return from exile of King Leopold III. Sunday’s vote showed a narrow majority of 57.7% of ... -
This Day in History | 1995 Killer Ronnie Kray dies
Notorious gangland killer Ronnie Kray has died in hospital two days after he collapsed in his ward at Broadmoor where he was serving a life sentence ... -
This Day in History | 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 ... -
This Day in History | 1974 Architect jailed over corruption
Architect John Poulson has been jailed for five years for corruption after being found guilty of bribing public figures to win contracts. Poulson, who was found ... -
This Day in History | 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 ... -
This Day in History | 1977 Roman Polanski charged with rape
Film director Roman Polanski has been charged with raping a 13-year-old girl at the home of Hollywood star Jack Nicholson. The 43-year-old, who is out on ... -
This Day in History | 1990 Observer ‘spy’ sentenced to die
A court in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has imposed the death sentence on The Observer journalist Farzad Bazoft. He has been convicted of spying for Israel ...
