The Day
22 February 2012by Christopher MorrisOn This Day: 1856 – The Republican Party opens its first national meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
In the picture: Supporters of President Bush listen to him speak at Ruiz Foods in Dinuba, Calififornia.
The Day
21 February 2012by Donald WeberOn This Day: 1848 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.
In the picture: A zek reveals his chest tattoo of Karl Marx, Joseph Stalin, and Vladmir Lenin in Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine. The zeks, from the Russian word zaklychennyi, “incarcerated,” constitute a special class within a country that has the fourth highest rate of imprisonment in the world, 360 per 100,000 people.
The Day
20 February 2012by Antonin KratochvilOn This Day: 1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.
In the picture: Soldiers wait outside a mess hall operated by Kellog, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.
The Day
19 February 2012by Christopher MorrisOn This Day: 1846 – In Austin, Texas the newly formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government officially transfers power to the State of Texas government following Texas' annexation by the United States.
In the picture: Flanked by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. President George W. Bush addresses reporters on a road outside his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
The Day
18 February 2012by Alexandra BoulatOn This Day: 1943 – Joseph Goebbels delivers his Sportpalast speech at the Berlin Sportpalast to a large but carefully selected audience on 18 February 1943 calling for a total war, as the tide of World War II had turned against Nazi Germany and its Axis allies.
In the picture: US Helmet (found in a tank off shore, belong to 741 Tank battalion ). On June 6th. 1944, five Normandy beaches were stormed by British, Canadian and American troops to free Europe from the German occupation.
The Day
17 February 2012by Ed KashiOn This Day: 1933 – Newsweek magazine is published for the first time.
In the picture: A U.S. soldier takes a break to read Newsweek while on duty at Bagram Air Base, in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The Day
16 February 2012by Tomas van HoutryveOn This Day: 1959 – Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.
In the picture: Street life is reflected in a shop window that has a poster of Fidel Castro posted inside in Havana, Cuba.
The Day
15 February 2012by Erin TriebOn This Day: 1989 – Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.
In the picture: Spc. Christopher Ostrander of Bravo Company,10th Mountain Division, is wounded after an Improvised Explosive Device, I.E.D., detonated under his vehicle during patrol in Logar Province, Afghanistan.
The Day
14 February 2012by Christopher MorrisOn This Day: 1778 – The United States Flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte rendered a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.
In the picture: United States Flag.
The Day
13 February 2012by Tomas van HoutryveOn This Day: 1971 – Vietnam War: Backed by American air and artillery support, South Vietnamese troops invade Laos.
In the picture: A girl on inline skates glides past a Communist poster showing the image of the first Communist leader of Laos, Kaysone Phomvihane, in Vientiane, Laos.
The Day
12 February 2012by Ashley GilbertsonOn This Day: 1429 – English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the Comte de Clermont and Sir John Stewart of Darnley in the Battle of Rouvray also known as the Battle of the Herrings.
In the picture: Maria Washburn, a food stylist, applies oil to European Herring, found in the Ukrainian Officer Military Ration, in a studio in New York City.
The Day
11 February 2012by Franco PagettiOn This Day: 1808 – Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal.
In the picture: A woman tends to smoking coals in the town of Jharia, Jharkhand, India. Jharia, located in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, is one of India's largest coalfields. Mine disasters are common in the mineral-rich state, home to a host of old, state-owned coal mines. Most of the people living in this highly dangerous area belong to the Untouchable caste and the indigenous minority group known as the Adivasi.
The Day
10 February 2012by Gary KnightOn This Day: 1258 – Baghdad falls to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed.
In the picture: Watched by hundreds of media and a handful of Iraqis the 3rd Battalion 4th Marines pull down a statue of Saddam Hussein outside the Palestine and Sheraton Hotel, a symbolic finale to the fall of Baghdad.
The Day
09 February 2012by Stefano de LuigiOn This Day: 1991 – Voters in Lithuania vote for independence.
In the picture: A student visits an exhibition for blind people at the Contemporary Art Museum in Kaunas, Lithuania.
The Day
08 February 2012by Christopher MorrisOn This Day: 1948 – The formal creation of the Korean People's Army of North Korea is announced.
In the picture: North Korean soldiers performing during the country's famed Arirang Festival at the May Day stadium in central Pyongyang, North Korea.
The Day
07 February 2012by Ashley GilbertsonOn This Day: 1962 – The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports.
In the picture: At the U.S. Military base, Lt. Col. Bill Raben of the Alpha Battery, Third Field Artillery, First Armored Division smokes a Cuban cigar after a raid just as midnight breaks in Adhamiyah, Baghdad, Iraq.
The Day
06 February 2012by John StanmeyerOn This Day: 1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore.
In the picture: Passengers admire the view from a traditional ferry boat that takes tourists around various parts of gleaming downtown Singapore.
The Day
05 February 2012by Christopher MorrisOn This Day: 2000 – Russian forces massacre at least 60 civilians in the Novye Aldi suburb of Grozny, Chechnya.
In the picture: Grozny Landscape, mortar Impact.
The Day
04 February 2012by Ed KashiOn This Day: 1846 – The first Mormon pioneers make their exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, westward towards Utah Territory.
In the picture: Mormon missionaries in Harlem, New York City.
The Day
03 February 2012by Gary KnightOn This Day: 1969 – In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is appointed Palestine Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress.
In the picture: A Palestinian man reflects on the news of Yasser Arafat's death in Ramallah.
The Day
02 February 2012by Erin TriebOn This Day: 1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.
In the picture: An empty intersection during Hurricane Irene. New York, N.Y.
The Day
01 February 2012by Christopher MorrisOn This Day: 1893 – Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey.
In the picture: The president's personal movie theater is seen in the White House in Washington, D.C.
The Day
31 January 2012by Lynsey AddarioOn This Day: 1747 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
In the picture: Josie walks through the street early Sunday morning in Manhattan's West Village, New York City.
The Day
30 January 2012by Ed KashiOn This Day: 1972 – Bloody Sunday: British Paratroopers kill fourteen unarmed civil rights/anti internment marchers in Northern Ireland.
In the picture: Children play around an impromptu bonfire in The Fountain, a Loyalist housing estate in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
The Day
29 January 2012by Stefano de LuigiOn This Day: 2002 – In his State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush describes "regimes that sponsor terror" as an Axis of Evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
In the picture: A shop owner modifies a mannequin in a shop along trendy Mofateh Avenue, Tehran, Iran. Mannequins are modified to safeguard Muslim morals.
The Day
28 January 2012by Maciek NabrdalikOn This Day: 1887 – In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick.
In the picture: Members of Brenna Winter Bathing Club during their regular Sunday meeting.
The Day
27 January 2012by Tomas van HoutryveOn This Day: 1967 – The United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union sign the Outer Space Treaty in Washington, D.C., banning deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and limiting use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes.
In the picture: The movement of stars in the night sky caused by the earth's rotation is revealed during a 20 minute time exposure in Joshua Tree National Park in California, United States.
The Day
26 January 2012by Antonin KratochvilOn This Day: 1905 – The world's largest diamond ever, the Cullinan weighing 3,106.75 carats (0.62135 kg), is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa.
In the picture: Young men gather at a residence for amputees in Koidu, eastern Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone rebels, financed in part by diamond smuggling, dismembered thousands during a decade of war.
The Day
25 January 2012by Christopher MorrisOn This Day: 1858 – The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn becomes a popular wedding recessional after it is played on this day at the marriage of Queen Victoria's daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia.
In the picture: Crowds gather to celebrate the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, London.
The Day
24 January 2012by Ed KashiOn This Day: 1984 – The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.
In the picture: Steve Jobs
The Day
23 January 2012by Lynsey AddarioOn This Day: 1912 – The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague.
In the picture: Hundreds of heroin addicts gather in the former Russian Cultural Center, where they buy and use drugs in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The Day
22 January 2012by Christopher MorrisOn This Day: 1506 – The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrives at the Vatican.
In the picture: Swiss Guards stand on duty inside the Vatican.
