On This Day

This Day in History

1. 2013Unidentified gunmen launched a three-day assault on the upmarket Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya. The attack resulted in 67 deaths and left at least 175 other people wounded.
2. 2004American Idiot, the seventh studio album by the American rock band Green Day, was released.
3. 2001The murder of 17-year-old Ross Parker by several British Muslim youths in Peterborough, England, sparked debate regarding whether British media failed to report racially motivated crimes involving white victims.
4. 2001More than 35 network and cable channels broadcast America: A Tribute to Heroes, raising over $200 million to support victims of the September 11 attacks.
5. 1999A 7.7 Mw earthquake struck Jiji, Taiwan, killing 2,415 people, injuring over 11,000 others, and inflicting approximately NT$300 billion (US$10 billion) in damage across the island.
6. 1996The United States Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act, banning federal recognition of same-sex marriage while permitting individual states to establish their own marital definitions.
7. 1968The Soviet Union's Zond 5 landed in the Indian Ocean, making it the initial spacecraft to travel around the Moon and safely return to Earth.
8. 1965Portugal accepted a diplomatic mission from Southern Rhodesia over objections from Britain, which had demanded the colony establish black majority rule as an independence condition.
9. 1958The initial section of Interstate 80 in Iowa opened within the Des Moines metropolitan area.
10. 1958The inaugural segment of Interstate 80 in Iowa opened in the Des Moines metropolitan region.
11. 1943During the Second World War, the German Army initiated the Massacre of the Acqui Division on Cephalonia, executing 5,155 Italian soldiers on the Greek island over five days.
12. 1938Making landfall on Long Island, New York, the Great New England Hurricane killed an estimated 682 people and injured 1,754 others.
13. 1937J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy children's novel The Hobbit was published for the first time, later functioning as a prelude to The Lord of the Rings.
14. 1934The Muroto typhoon, then the strongest in Japanese history, struck the mainland, killing over 3,000 individuals and leaving roughly 200,000 homeless.
15. 1934Chandrashekhar Agashe founded the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate Ltd., which became one of the oldest companies in India.
16. 1918The Battle of Nazareth concluded during World War I with the British Empire securing victory against the Ottomans.