Category Archives: History

June 6 1944 D Day

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2013 The trial against whistleblower Bradley Manning begins

The American soldier, a trans woman now called Chelsea Manning, was responsible for leaking classified videos documenting U.S. war atrocities during the Iraq War. She was sentenced to 35 years confinement.
1998 101 people die in the Eschede train disaster

Traveling at 200 km/h (120 mph), a high-speed ICE train derailed and crashed into a bridge. The accident was caused by a fatigue crack in one of the train’s wheels. It was the deadliest high-speed train disaster in history.
1982 The Israeli ambassador to the U.K. is shot

Shlomo Argov survived the assassination attempt by a Palestinian terrorist group, but he was permanently paralyzed. The event triggered the 1982 Lebanon War.
1973 The world’s first supersonic airliner crashes

The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144, sometimes referred to as Concordski, disintegrated in mid-air during the 1973 Paris Air Show. 14 people died.
1492 Martin Behaim presents the world’s first globe

The German geographer called his terrestrial globe Erdapfel, or Earth Apple. It is kept in a darkened room at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, Germany.

2013 The widest tornado ever recorded hits El Reno, Oklahoma

The storm had a width of 4.2 km (2.6 mi). Nine people were killed as it swept over rural areas of Central Oklahoma.
2005 Deep Throat reveals himself

Former FBI agent Mark Felt admitted that he was the most important informant in the 1970’s Watergate scandal which uncovered the dirty tricks of the Nixon administration, ultimately leading to Nixon’s resignation.
1961 South Africa becomes an independent republic

Following international criticism of the country’s Apartheid regime, it had to leave the Commonwealth of Nations. The system of racial segregation was gradually abolished in the early 1990s.
1879 Werner von Siemens presents the world’s first electric locomotive

Von Siemens’ landmark invention was soon used in trams. 1881 saw the introduction of the world’s first electric tram in Berlin, Germany.
1859 The Great Clock housing Big Ben starts keeping time

The clock at the top of Elizabeth Tower at the north end of the British Houses of Parliament is one of the world’s best-known timekeepers.

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.