On the news
The Day
18 May 2012
On This Day: 1974 – Nuclear test: under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
In the picture: Families take snapshots at the Wagha (Wagah) border in Kashmir, which separates nuclear rivals Pakistan and India in the disputed region.
The Day
17 May 2012
On This Day: 1849 – A large fire nearly burns St. Louis, Missouri to the ground.
In the picture: The St. Louis Gateway Arch is seen silhouetted against a morning sky in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Day
16 May 2012
On This Day: 2005 – Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35-23 National Assembly vote.
In the picture: Wealthy young Kuwaitis shop for jewelry at Bulgari in Kuwait City, Kuwait.
The Day
15 May 2012
On This Day: 1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture. It is later renamed the United States Department of Agriculture.
In the picture: Harvest in Logan County, Illinois.
The Day
14 May 2012
On This Day: 1889 – The children's charity National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children is launched in London.
In the picture: A child mines for gold in Watsa, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Day
13 May 2012
On This Day: 1989 – Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike.
In the picture: A Chinese guard puts up his hand to stop photos from being taken in front of Mao's portrait in Tiananmen Square at the entrance of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.
The Day
12 May 2012
On This Day: 2002 – Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro becoming the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.
In the picture: Dancers of the American Ballet Theater, ABT, Leanne Underwood and Thomas Forster, try some ballet moves at the beach during the first trip of the ABT to Cuba in 50 years, in Playa del Este, Havana, Cuba.
The Day
11 May 2012
On This Day: 1820 – Launch of HMS Beagle, the ship that took Charles Darwin on his scientific voyage.
In the picture: Sea lions rest on the beach on the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador.
The Day
10 May 2012
On This Day: 1877 – Romania declares itself independent from the Ottoman Empire following the Senate adoption of Mihail Kogalniceanu's Declaration of Independence. This act is recognized on March 26, 1881 after the end of the Romanian War of Independence.
In the picture: Romania, from the series "Broken Dream: Twenty Years of War in Eastern Europe," 1976-1995. Life during the depths of the Cold War--an era of immense corruption, pollution, loneliness, and terror reveals an unknown and desolate world of workers, gypsies, thieves, street kids, and refugees in the Communist countries of Eastern Europe.
The Day
09 May 2012
On This Day: 1960 – The Food and Drug Administration announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.
In the picture: An expectant mother awaits an ultrasound scan at Stepanakert Maternity Hospital in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
The Day
08 May 2012
On This Day: 1541 – Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River and names it Río de Espíritu Santo.
In the picture: Ears of corn peer out on a road ruined by flood waters that inundated the area and many other states in the Midwest when the Mississippi River crested due to heavy rains, in Oakville, Iowa.
The Day
07 May 2012
On This Day: 1832 – The independence of Greece is recognized by the Treaty of London. Otto of Wittelsbach, Prince of Bavaria is chosen King.
In the picture: Afghan men warm themselves by fire after crossing the Evros River, in Tychero, Greece. The Evros River, along the Greece-Turkey border, is the main entry point for 75 percent of illegal immigrants coming into the European Union.
The Day
06 May 2012
On This Day: 1940 – John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
In the picture: Migrant workers harvesting strawberries on a farm in Watsonville, California.
The Day
05 May 2012
On This Day: 1925 – Scopes Trial: serving of an arrest warrant on John T. Scopes for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
In the picture: A young monkey is seen at the North Zoo in Gaza City, Palestinian Territories.
The Day
04 May 2012
On This Day: 1904 – Charles Stewart Rolls meets Frederick Henry Royce at the Midland Hotel in Manchester, England.
In the picture: A Rolls Royce Phantom car is seen in a showroom in Vientiane, Laos.
The Day
03 May 2012
On This Day: 1802 – Washington, D.C. is incorporated as a city.
In the picture: U.S. President Barack Obama is seen at the White House, Washington D.C.
The Day
02 May 2012
On This Day: 2011 – Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted man is killed by the United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
In the picture: Spontaneous celebration broke out after news of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's death, at Ground Zero in New York City.
The Day
01 May 2012
On This Day: 1931 – The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.
In the picture: Rain clouds hover above the Empire State building in New York City.
The Day
30 April 2012
On This Day: 1789 – On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first elected President of the United States.
In the picture: President Barack Obama delivers a major speech about the financial crisis at Federal Hall on Wall Street, New York, New York.
The Day
29 April 2012
On This Day: 2011 – Wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Kate Middleton.
In the picture: Crowds gather to celebrate the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, London.
The Day
28 April 2012
On This Day: 1789 – Mutiny on the Bounty: Lieutenant William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift and the rebel crew returns to Tahiti briefly and then sets sail for Pitcairn Island.
In the picture: Young locals spend their day off relaxing in the warm waters of the lagoon of Moorea in Tahiti, French Polynesia.
The Day
27 April 2012
On This Day: 1950 – Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed formally segregating races.
In the picture: A surfer passes three swimmers taking a break at the beach in Durban, South Africa. During the Apartheid years, this beach was segregated for whites only.
The Day
26 April 2012
On This Day: 1963 – In Libya, amendments to the constitution transform Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya) and allows for female participation in elections.
In the picture: Libyan women take to the streets to celebrate their new found independence in Tripoli, Libya.
The Day
25 April 2012
On This Day: 1939 – DC Comics publishes its second major superhero in Detective Comics #27; he is Batman, one of the most popular comic book superheroes of all time.
In the picture: A beach-front photo stall advertises cut-out celebrities, including Batman, for tourists to pose with in Venice Beach, California.
The Day
24 April 2012
On This Day: 1479 BC – Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty).
In the picture: Pyramids, Cairo, Egypt.
The Day
23 April 2012
On This Day: 1927 – Turkey becomes the first country to celebrate Children's Day as a national holiday.
In the picture: People are seen in Uskudar, an Asian suburb on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Day
22 April 2012
On This Day: 1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.
In the picture: Women run into the water at Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Day
21 April 2012
On This Day: 1975 – Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyen Van Thieu flees Saigon, as Xuan Loc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.
In the picture: Tan Tri, 21, and his brother Tan Hau, 10, both afflicted with Agent Orange, relax together in their hamlet of Bo Ban #1, in the Hoa Vang district of Da Nang, Vietnam. The boys both have cerebral palsy and other ailments that were genetically handed down to them from their grandfather, who was a soldier in the Vietnam War.
The Day
20 April 2012
On This Day: 2010 – The Deepwater Horizon oil well explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing twelve workers and beginning an oil spill that would last six months.
In the picture: Oil, from the BP oil rig, floats on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, roughly 30 miles from Venice, Louisiana.
The Day
19 April 2012
On This Day: 1919 – Leslie Irvin of the United States makes the first successful voluntary free-fall parachute jump using a new kind of self-contained parachute.
In the picture: Sergei Ignatiev, a member of the Blagoveschensk Aero Club, prepares to board the plane for a parachute jump in Tambovka, Amur Oblast, Russia.
The Day
18 April 2012
On This Day: 1923 – Yankee Stadium, "The House that Ruth Built", opens.
In the picture: Construction at the new Yankee Stadium is seen from a helicopter in the Bronx, New York City, New York.
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