Category: This Day in History

2007 Argentina Elects its First Female President Former First Lady of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, won the elections with over 45% of all votes cast. She was re-elected to the office again in 2011, this time with over 50% of the…

1682 City of Philadelphia Founded The historical city in the State of Pennsylvania was founded by English entrepreneur, William Penn. Penn received the land as a payment to fulfill a debt that King Charles II owed to Penn’s father. Philadelphia is the…

1964 Zambian independence The African country gained independence from British rule with the passage of the Zambia Independence Act 1964 by the UK Parliament. 2007 China Launches Chang’e 1 It was the first spacecraft of China’s Lunar Exploration Program, which is responsible…

2001 Apple announces the first iPod Player The iPod is the world’s best-selling portable media player. Already 6 years after its initial launch, Apple announced that 100 million devices had been sold. The company has been criticized for its aggressive policies forcing…

2008 India Launches its First Lunar Mission The unmanned space probe called Chandrayaan-1 was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation. The probe successfully landed on the Moon on November 14, 2008, making India the 5th country to land a spacecraft on…

2014 Oscar Pistorius Convicted for 5 Years The South African Paralympic Champion was on trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. He was sentenced to a maximum of five years for culpable homicide. He was released on parole for good…

2011 Muammar Gaddafi is Captured The deposed leader of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, is captured by the National Transitional Council Forces. He was killed by the troops soon after. 1982 Luzhniki Disaster A stampede during a UEFA Cup soccer (football) match between Dutch…

2005 Trial of Saddam Hussein Begins The Iraqi Special Tribunal started the trial of deposed President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, and 7 other defendants for crimes against humanity. Hussein, who was the fifth President of Iraq was found guilty and was executed…

1867 Alaska Becomes a Part of the United States US had purchased the large and sparsely populated territory of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. The purchase was not seen as a positive acquirement by many American citizens who believed that adding…