Significant events that happened on this day.
This speech to South Africa's parliament began the formal dismantling of apartheid. Mandela would be released nine days later after 27 years in prison...
After months of brutal urban warfare, the Soviet Union defeated the German Sixth Army in one of the deadliest battles in history. Over 2 million casua...
The lie detector made its courtroom debut in Portage, Wisconsin, though its results were not admitted as evidence. Despite decades of use, polygraphs...
After a grueling 674-mile journey through blizzards and -50°F temperatures, the final musher Gunnar Kaasen and his lead dog Balto arrived with diphthe...
The modernist masterpiece was published in Paris by Sylvia Beach after being rejected by publishers who feared obscenity charges. The book was banned...
The queen's beloved dog Turi rode atop the coffin during the funeral procession, per her explicit instructions. Victoria had left detailed plans for h...
A local newspaper editor declared that Phil, the Punxsutawney groundhog, was America's only true weather-forecasting groundhog. The tradition combined...
Born into a declining middle-class family, Joyce would become one of the 20th century's most influential writers. He strategically arranged for 'Ulyss...
Eight teams gathered in New York to create what would become Major League Baseball's oldest existing league. The league replaced the chaotic National...
Mexico ceded nearly half its territory to the United States, including California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of several other states. The U.S. paid $15...
This navigation manual became the sailor's bible and remains in print today, updated by the U.S. Navy. Bowditch revolutionized celestial navigation by...
The Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam received its municipal charter, establishing formal city governance. Just over a decade later, the English would...
Pedro de Mendoza established a settlement on the Río de la Plata, optimistically naming it 'Our Lady Saint Mary of the Fair Winds.' Within five years,...
A small Portuguese fleet defeated a combined Ottoman-Egyptian-Gujarati armada, securing European access to the lucrative spice trade. The battle demon...