Archive

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January

• January 1 January 1 is New Year's Day, the first day of the year on the modern civil calendar.
• January 15 Martin Luther King Jr. was born on this day in 1929, in Atlanta.
• January 24 On this day in 1848, James Marshall found gold at Sutter's Mill in California. The find set off the gold rush.
• January 27 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on this day in 1756, in Salzburg.

February

• February 4 Rosa Parks was born on this day in 1913.
• February 11 On this day in 1990, Nelson Mandela walked free after 27 years in prison.
• February 12 Abraham Lincoln was born on this day in 1809.
• February 14 February 14 is Valentine's Day, a day many people set aside for affection and small gifts.
• February 22 February 22 is the birthday observed for George Washington, who was born in 1732.

March

• March 1 On this day in 1872, Yellowstone became the first national park in the United States.
• March 10 On this day in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the first successful telephone call, asking his assistant to come to him.
• March 14 Albert Einstein was born on this day in 1879. The date is also marked as Pi Day, from the first digits of pi.
• March 17 March 17 is St. Patrick's Day, the feast day of the patron saint of Ireland.

April

• April 12 On this day in 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit Earth.
• April 14 On this day in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington. He died the next morning.
• April 15 In the early hours of this day in 1912, the ocean liner Titanic sank in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg.
• April 22 The first Earth Day was held on this day in 1970, with teach-ins and rallies across the United States.
• April 23 April 23 is the traditional date given both for William Shakespeare's birth in 1564 and for his death in 1616.

May

• May 5 Cinco de Mayo marks the Mexican army's victory over French forces at Puebla on this day in 1862.
• May 8 On this day in 1945, people across the Allied countries celebrated Victory in Europe Day after Nazi Germany's surrender.
• May 21 On this day in 1927, Charles Lindbergh landed near Paris after flying alone, nonstop, from New York.
• May 27 On this day in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge opened to people on foot. Cars crossed the next day.

June

• June 6 On this day in 1944, Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy. The invasion is remembered as D-Day.
• June 14 On this day in 1777, the Continental Congress resolved that the flag of the United States have thirteen stripes and thirteen stars.
• June 18 On this day in 1815, Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo by allied armies led by the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal Blücher.
• June 28 On this day in 1969, a police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York met resistance that carried into the modern movement for gay rights.

July

• July 1 July 1 is Canada Day. On this day in 1867, a confederation of colonies became the Dominion of Canada.
• July 4 On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.
• July 20 On this day in 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to walk on the Moon.

August

• August 4 Barack Obama was born on this day in 1961, in Honolulu.
• August 6 On this day in 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
• August 28 On this day in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave the "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington.

September

• September 2 On this day in 1945, Japan signed the formal surrender that ended World War II, aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
• September 11 On this day in 2001, hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and another crashed in Pennsylvania. Nearly three thousand people were killed.
• September 16 On this day in 1810, Miguel Hidalgo's call to arms in Dolores began Mexico's war of independence.
• September 17 On this day in 1787, delegates in Philadelphia signed the United States Constitution.

October

• October 1 On this day in 1908, Ford introduced the Model T, a sturdy car meant to be affordable enough for a wide public.
• October 2 Mohandas Gandhi was born on this day in 1869. The United Nations marks the date as the International Day of Non-Violence.
• October 3 October 3 is German Unity Day. On this day in 1990, East and West Germany became one country again.
• October 4 On this day in 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first satellite to orbit Earth.
• October 5 October 5 is World Teachers' Day, observed since 1994 in honor of teachers.
• October 6 On this day in 1927, The Jazz Singer opened in New York. Most of the picture was silent, but Al Jolson's spoken lines made it the film people remember as the first feature-length talkie.
• October 7 Edgar Allan Poe died on this day in 1849, in Baltimore.
• October 8 On this day in 1871, a fire broke out that burned across central Chicago and was not under control until October 10.
• October 9 John Lennon was born on this day in 1940, in Liverpool.
• October 10 On this day in 1911, an uprising in Wuchang grew into the revolution that ended imperial rule in China.
• October 11 Eleanor Roosevelt was born on this day in 1884. She became a writer, a delegate to the United Nations, and one of the most public first ladies the United States has had.
• October 12 On this day in 1492, Christopher Columbus's ships made landfall in what is now the Bahamas.
• October 13 On this day in 1792, workers laid the cornerstone of the president's house in Washington, the building now called the White House.
• October 14 On this day in 1947, Chuck Yeager flew the Bell X-1 faster than the speed of sound.
• October 15 On this day in 1951, I Love Lucy had its first broadcast, with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo.
• October 16 Oscar Wilde was born on this day in 1854, in Dublin.
• October 17 On this day in 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake shook the San Francisco Bay Area while fans waited at Candlestick Park for a World Series game.
• October 18 On this day in 1867, the United States took formal possession of Alaska in a transfer ceremony at Sitka.
• October 19 On this day in 1781, the British army under Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. Major fighting in the American Revolutionary War was over.
• October 20 On this day in 1973, Queen Elizabeth II opened the Sydney Opera House.
• October 21 On this day in 1805, the British fleet under Admiral Nelson defeated the French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar. Nelson was killed in the battle.
• October 22 On this day in 1962, President John F. Kennedy told the country that Soviet missiles were in Cuba and announced a naval quarantine.
• October 23 On this day in 2001, Apple introduced the iPod, a pocket music player it said could hold a thousand songs.
• October 24 October 24 is United Nations Day. The United Nations Charter took effect on this day in 1945.
• October 25 Pablo Picasso was born on this day in 1881, in Málaga, Spain.
• October 26 October 26 is National Tennessee Day.
• October 27 October 27 is National American Beer Day.
• October 28 October 28 is National Chocolate Day.
• October 29 On this day in 1929, prices on the New York Stock Exchange collapsed. The day is remembered as Black Tuesday.
• October 30 October 30 is National Checklist Day.
• October 31 October 31 is Halloween. It is also the traditional date, in 1517, of Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses.

November

• November 1 November 1 is National Cook for Your Pet Day.
• November 2 November 2 is Day of the Dead.
• November 3 November 3 is National Sandwich Day.
• November 4 November 4 is National Candy Day.
• November 5 November 5 is National Redhead Day.
• November 7 November 7 is National Canine Lymphoma Awareness Day.
• November 8 November 8 is STEM Day.
• November 9 November 9 is National Fried Chicken Sandwich Day.
• November 10 November 10 is International Accounting Day.
• November 11 November 11 is Veterans Day.
• November 12 November 12 is National Happy Hour Day.
• November 13 November 13 is National Hug a Musician Day.
• November 14 November 14 is National Pickle Day.
• November 15 November 15 is National Clean Out Your Fridge Day.
• November 16 November 16 is National Fast Food Day.
• November 17 November 17 is National Hiking Day. Get some fresh air and go for a hike.
• November 18 November 18 is National Princess Day.
• November 19 November 19 is World Toilet Day.
• November 20 November 20 is National Absurdity Day.
• November 21 November 21 is National Stuffing Day.
• November 22 On this day in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.

December

• December 1 On this day in 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, after she refused to give up her seat on a bus.
• December 7 On this day in 1941, Japanese aircraft attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbor. Congress declared war the next day.
• December 10 December 10 is the day the Nobel Prizes are traditionally presented. Alfred Nobel died on this day in 1896.
• December 17 On this day in 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first powered, controlled airplane flights, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
• December 25 December 25 is Christmas Day, a Christian feast of the Nativity and a public holiday in much of the world.