Tag: This Day in History
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1968 Russia brings winter to ‘Prague Spring’
Dozens of people have been killed in a massive military clampdown in Czechoslovakia by five Warsaw Pact countries. Several members of the liberal Czechoslovak leadership have ... -
1992 Iraq jails ‘lost’ Briton
Iraq has sentenced a British man to seven years in jail for what it called “illegal entry” into the country. Paul Ride, a catering manager from ... -
1991 Hardliners stage coup against Gorbachev
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has been overthrown after a coup by Communist hardliners. Mr Gorbachev is reported to be under house arrest at his holiday home ... -
1964 South Africa banned from Olympics
South Africa has been barred from taking part in the 18th Olympic Games in Tokyo over its refusal to condemn apartheid. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) ... -
1945 Allied nations celebrate VJ Day
Japan has surrendered to the Allies after almost six years of war. There is joy and celebration around the world and 15 August has been declared ... -
1980 Shipyard Poles strike for their rights
Shipyard workers in Gdansk, Poland, have staged a successful strike in protest over the dismissal of militant crane driver Anna Walentinowicz. The strike at the Lenin ... -
1966 China announces Cultural Revolution
China has announced plans for a “new leap forward” after the first meeting in four years of the Communist Party’s Central Committee. The blueprint unveiled by ... -
1964 Great Train Robber escapes from jail
A massive manhunt is underway across Britain after one of the so-called Great Train Robbers escaped from Winson Green Prison in Birmingham. Charlie Wilson, 32, was ... -
2000 Air rage pair jailed
Two men have been jailed for causing a “bar room brawl” on board a holiday jet bound for Jamaica. Patrick Connors was sentenced to a year ... -
1963 Train robbers make off with millions
Thieves have ambushed the Glasgow to Euston mail train and stolen thousands of pounds. Banks estimate they have lost over £2m in used, untraceable banknotes in ... -
1972 Asians given 90 days to leave Uganda
The Ugandan leader, Idi Amin, has set a deadline for the expulsion of most of the country’s Asians. General Amin said all Asians who are not ... -
1962 Marilyn Monroe found dead
Screen icon Marilyn Monroe has been found dead in bed at her Los Angeles home. The 36-year-old actress’ body was discovered in the early hours of ... -
1964 Three civil rights activists found dead
The bodies of three civil rights workers missing for six weeks have been found buried in a partially constructed dam near Philadelphia, Mississippi. Agents from the ... -
1976 Lauda fights for life after Grand Prix crash
Formula One racing driver Niki Lauda is in a critical condition in hospital after an horrific accident at the Nurburgring Grand Prix in Germany. The Austrian-born ... -
1998 UK imposes total ban on landmines
The British Government has announced a total ban on the use of landmines. Parliament passed the Landmines Act last month – after public pressure to do ... -
1966 Football glory for England
England have won football’s World Cup for the first time since the tournament began in 1930. A crowd of 93,000 spectators – including the Queen and ... -
1981 Charles and Diana marry
Crowds of 600,000 people filled the streets of London to catch a glimpse of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on their wedding day. The couple ... -
1976 Chinese earthquake kills hundreds of thousands
Hundreds of thousands of people are feared dead following an 8.3 magnitude earthquake in China. The quake has virtually destroyed the city of Tangshan, north-east of ... -
1978 First ‘test tube baby’ born
The birth of the world’s first “test tube baby” has been announced in Manchester. Louise Brown was born shortly before midnight in Oldham and District General ... -
1974 Nixon ‘must hand over Watergate tapes’
The United States Supreme Court has ordered President Nixon to surrender tape recordings of White House conversations about the Watergate affair. Giving the judgement to a ... -
1974 Greek military rule gives in to democracy
The military government in Greece has collapsed and the former prime minister Constantine Karamanlis has been invited to return. Huge crowds gathered to greet him at ... -
1977 Deng Xiaoping back in power
The disgraced deputy Prime Minister of China, Deng Xiaoping, is to return to Chinese Government. The Chinese Communist Party conference has restored him to the offices ... -
1990 English teenagers held in Thailand over drugs
Two teenage girls from the Midlands have been arrested for drug smuggling in Thailand. Patricia Cahill, 17, and Karen Smith, 18, were stopped by customs officials ... -
1993 Secret Service goes public
Britain’s internal security service, MI5, has held the first photocall in its 84-year history. Stella Rimington, 56, became the first Director General of the MI5 to ... -
1997 Versace murdered on his doorstep
Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace has been shot dead on the steps of his Miami mansion. The incident happened shortly before 0900 local time (1400 GMT) ... -
1971 Suicide note reveals murder confession
Cheshire Police have called off the hunt for the murderer of three French tourists after another body was found in Staffordshire. The body of Michael Bassett, ... -
1977 Gay paper guilty of blasphemy
The Gay News and its editor Denis Lemon have been found guilty of blasphemous libel in the first case of its kind for more than 50 ... -
2000 UK tidal wave of web users
One in four British homes is now using the internet according to figures released by the government. A new survey by the Office for National Statistics ... -
1982 Queen fends off bedroom intruder
A man has broken into Buckingham Palace and spent ten minutes talking to the Queen in her bedroom. At around 0715 BST Michael Fagan, 31, scaled ... -
2000 New Harry Potter most magical yet
The latest story about boy wizard Harry Potter has broken all publishing records. The fourth instalment of JK Rowling’s series has been released simultaneously on both ... -
1976 Israelis rescue Entebbe hostages
Israeli commandos have rescued 100 hostages, mostly Israelis or Jews, held by pro-Palestinian hijackers at Entebbe airport in Uganda. At about 0100 local time (2200GMT), Ugandan ... -
1987 Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie gets life
The former Gestapo chief in Lyon, Klaus Barbie, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity. Nine jurors and three judges found Barbie – ... -
1964 President Johnson signs Civil Rights Bill
The Civil Rights Bill – one of the most important piece of legislation in American history – has become law. US President Lyndon B Johnson signed ... -
1997 Hong Kong handed over to Chinese control
Hong Kong has been handed back to the Chinese authorities – ending more than 150 years of British control. The British flag was lowered over Government ... -
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 ...
