Today in History

• 2006 The Three Gorges Dam is officially opened

  The hydroelectric dam is the world’s largest power station in terms of installed capacity. Despite its benefits, the project remains controversial because it flooded archeological and cultural sites and displaced some 1.3 million people.

• 1983 In South Africa, a car bomb planted by anti-Apartheid activists kills 19

  The Church Street Bombing was carried out by the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC). It was one of the bloodiest chapters in the ANC’s long and difficult struggle against racial segregation and oppression in South Africa.

• 1940 The first prisoners arrive at Auschwitz concentration camp

  Auschwitz was the biggest extermination camp during World War II. From 1940 to 1945, the Nazi regime murdered at least 1.1 million people here.

• 1927 Charles Lindbergh takes off on the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight

  He departed from Long Island in the United States and arrived in Paris, France at 22:22 on the next day.

• 1873 Blue jeans are patented

  Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis invented the garment, which today represents one of the most popular types of trousers worldwide.