This Day in History

1923

The Republic of Turkey is declared in Ankara, succeeding the Ottoman Empire.

Archived Facts

1925

The Erie Canal opens, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River in upstate New York and opening a crucial trade route to the west.

1983

The United States invades Grenada following a military coup on the island.

1940

The United States adopts the forty-hour work week.

2002

Chechen gunmen seize control of a Moscow theater, launching a three-day siege ending in the deaths of more than 120 hostages.

1962

U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces the discovery of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba.

1989

The United States takes possession of Puerto Rico.

1973

OPEC starts an oil embargo against a number of Western countries supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur War.

1964

The People's Republic of China detonates its first nuclear weapon.

1990

Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to reduce Cold War tensions.

1984

The IRA bombs the Brighton Grand Hotel in an attempt to assassinate British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

1965

Paul VI becomes the first Pope to visit the United States and the Western hemisphere.