This Day in History

1967

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara announces his resignation after disagreements with President Johnson on the handling of the Vietnam War.

Archived Facts

1991

South Ossetia declares independence from Georgia.

1978

The PKK (Kurdistan Worker’s Party) is founded in the city of Urfa, Turkey.

2008

Terrorists launch commando-style raids on two luxury hotels, a Jewish center, and a crowded train station in Mumbai, killing 166 people.

1977

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel.

1985

U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time in Geneva.

1914

The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens.

1971

Intel releases the world's first commercial single-chip microprocessor.

1922

The BBC begins radio service in the United Kingdom.

2001

President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing detention and military tribunals for foreigners suspected of connections to terrorist acts on United States.

1999

President Bill Clinton signs legislation removing Depression-era barriers and allowing banks, investment firms, and insurance companies to sell each other's products.

1918

Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates his reign and Germany is proclaimed a republic.

1933

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration to create short-term construction jobs during the Great Depression.

1916

Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana is the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress.

1962

The UN General Assembly condemns South Africa's apartheid policies and calls for all member states to sever military and economic relations.

2006

Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is sentenced to death for his role in a 1982 massacre of 148 Shi'as in Dujail.

1963

South Vietnamese President Ngô Ðình Diem is assassinated following a military coup.

1993

The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.

1984

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two security guards, sparking the Sikh Massacre.

1922

Benito Mussolini becomes Prime Minister of Italy.