Today in History

• 1978 Naomi Uemura becomes of the first person to reach the North Pole alone

  The Japanese adventurer is also credited with the first solo ascent of Mount McKinley and the first solo rafting of the Amazon river. He disappeared in 1984 during a winter ascent of Mount McKinley.

• 1961 Fidel Castro declares Cuba a socialist nation and bans elections

  A month after Cuban troops had fought off a U.S. backed military invasion at the Bay of Pigs, Castro announces that “The revolution has no time for elections.”

• 1945 Adolf Hitler’s death is announced on German radio

  As the Soviet flag is raised over the Reich Chancellery, the German people are informed that “our leader, Adolf Hitler, has fallen for Germany, fighting to his last breath against Bolshevism.”

• 1925 The world’s largest trade union is founded

  The All-China Federation of Trade Unions has more than 300 million members.

• 1840 The world’s first adhesive postage stamp is issued in the United Kingdom

  The Penny Black shows a portrait of Queen Victoria. Despite its historical significance, the stamp can be bought for around £25 as over 68 million copied