On This Day

This Day in History

1. 2008Believing that the United States and Israel were preparing an attack on its nuclear program, Iran carried out war games and the Great Prophet III missile test.
2. 2006Italy secured their fourth FIFA World Cup title by defeating France 5–3 in a penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw following extra time.
3. 1995During the Sri Lankan civil war, the Sri Lanka Air Force bombed a church in Navaly, killing a minimum of 147 people after previously telling civilians to shelter in places of worship.
4. 1982A British man named Michael Fagan broke into Buckingham Palace and entered the bedroom of a sleeping Queen Elizabeth II.
5. 1981Nintendo released the arcade game Donkey Kong, introducing Mario, who became one of the most famous characters in the history of video games.
6. 1962The United States carried out the Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear test, resulting in the largest nuclear explosion ever conducted in outer space.
7. 1962In a seminal moment for pop art, Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans exhibition opened at Los Angeles's Ferus Gallery.
8. 1958An earthquake hit Lituya Bay, Alaska, generating the largest megatsunami of modern times, which reached a height of 1,720 feet (524 meters).
9. 1955Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein, and nine other preeminent scientists and intellectuals issued the Russell–Einstein Manifesto, requesting a conference to evaluate the dangers of weapons of mass destruction.
10. 1943During World War II, the Battle of Saipan came to an end after American forces repelled a mass Japanese suicide attack.
11. 1937Nitrate film stored at a 20th Century Fox facility spontaneously combusted, destroying over 40,000 reels of film prints and negatives.
12. 1896Politician William Jennings Bryan delivered his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism, an address regarded as one of the greatest political speeches in American history.
13. 1877The inaugural Wimbledon Championship, recognized as the oldest tennis tournament in the world, commenced in London.
14. 1868The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, featuring the Equal Protection Clause and the Citizenship Clause, was ratified by the minimum required twenty-eight states.
15. 1850Millard Fillmore became president of the United States after the death of Zachary Taylor, serving as the final member of the Whig Party to hold the presidency.
16. 1811British explorer David Thompson claimed the area for Great Britain by posting a notice at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers in present-day Washington state, U.S.