The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years
MajorThe last American military flight departed Kabul airport just before midnight, ending America's longest war. The chaotic withdrawal left thousands of...
August 30 in History
Significant events that happened on this day.
Historical Events
2021
2019
Hong Kong police arrested prominent activist Joshua Wong during the pro-democracy protests
Wong was detained just before a major protest rally, sparking international criticism and galvanizing the protest movement. He had previously been jai...
1999
East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia in a UN-sponsored referendum
MajorDespite widespread violence and intimidation, 78.5% of voters chose independence, ending 24 years of Indonesian occupation. The result led to immediat...
1991
Azerbaijan declared independence from the Soviet Union
Following a failed coup attempt in Moscow, Azerbaijan became one of the first Soviet republics to declare independence. The country had been under Rus...
1983
Guion Bluford became the first African American astronaut in space
MajorAs a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, Bluford broke racial barriers in NASA's space program. The aerospace engineer had flown 1...
1967
Thurgood Marshall was confirmed as the first African American Supreme Court Justice
MajorThe Senate voted 69-11 to confirm Marshall, who had previously argued the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. He served on the Court for 24 yea...
1963
The first hotline between the United States and Soviet Union became operational
MajorThe Moscow-Washington hotline, famously known as the 'red telephone,' went live to reduce the risk of accidental nuclear war. Contrary to popular beli...
1941
The siege of Leningrad began when German forces cut off the last road to the city
MajorWhat followed was one of history's longest and most destructive sieges, lasting 872 days. Over a million civilians died from starvation, disease, and...
1918
Fanya Kaplan attempted to assassinate Vladimir Lenin in Moscow
MajorThe Socialist Revolutionary shot Lenin twice as he was leaving a factory, seriously wounding him. Lenin survived, but the incident triggered the Red T...
1871
Ernest Rutherford was born in New Zealand
The physicist who discovered the atomic nucleus and split the atom for the first time started life on a small farm. He would go on to win the Nobel Pr...
1860
The first British tramway opened in Birkenhead, England
George Francis Train's horse-drawn tramway revolutionized urban transport with its innovative grooved rails. The system was so successful that within...
1800
Gabriel Prosser's planned slave rebellion was betrayed in Virginia
An enslaved blacksmith had organized potentially thousands of enslaved people to march on Richmond and demand freedom. Two slaves revealed the plot du...
1797
Mary Shelley was born in London, England
MajorThe author of Frankenstein would write one of the most influential science fiction novels at age 18. Tragically, her mother, feminist writer Mary Woll...