Wikipedia staged a 24-hour blackout to protest anti-piracy legislation
The blackout against SOPA and PIPA bills caused panic among students everywhere who suddenly couldn't finish their homework. Over 162 million people v...
Historical Events
2012
2005
The world's largest commercial aircraft, the Airbus A380, was unveiled in France
The double-decker superjumbo can carry up to 853 passengers and cost over $25 billion to develop. At the unveiling ceremony, leaders from France, Germ...
1990
Washington D.C.'s mayor Marion Barry was arrested by the FBI in a drug sting operation
Barry was caught on video smoking crack cocaine in a hotel room. His immediate response was the now-infamous line: 'Bitch set me up!' Despite the conv...
1943
The Nazis were stopped during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising when Jewish resistance fighters fought back
MajorThis was the first armed revolt against the Nazis in occupied Europe. Though the full uprising wouldn't happen until April, the January 18 resistance...
1919
The Paris Peace Conference began, where world leaders would redraw the map of Europe after WWI
MajorThe conference created new countries, assigned war guilt to Germany, and planted the seeds for WWII with its harsh Treaty of Versailles. President Woo...
1912
Robert Falcon Scott reached the South Pole only to discover Roald Amundsen had beaten him by 34 days
MajorAfter an exhausting journey, Scott's team arrived at the pole to find a Norwegian flag and a tent left by Amundsen. Scott and his entire party died on...
1903
The first radio message was sent across the Atlantic Ocean from President Theodore Roosevelt to King Edward VII
The message took 12 minutes to transmit and was relayed from Cape Cod to Cornwall, England. Roosevelt's message was incredibly formal and boring, wast...
1886
The modern field hockey game was born when the Hockey Association was formed in England
The association standardized rules that had varied wildly between regions, including banning players from raising their sticks above shoulder height....
1882
A.A. Milne, creator of Winnie-the-Pooh, was born in London
Milne based the beloved bear on a teddy bear owned by his son Christopher Robin, and the Hundred Acre Wood on Ashdown Forest near their home. Christop...
1689
Montesquieu, the French philosopher who invented the concept of separation of powers, was born
His idea that government should be divided into legislative, executive, and judicial branches became the foundation of the U.S. Constitution. The Amer...
1535
Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro founded Lima, Peru, which he called the 'City of Kings'
Pizarro chose the location because it had a good harbor and plenty of fresh water, though it almost never rains there. Lima would become the center of...