Yesterday was !
On this day in...
See what historic events that happened for yesterdays date. Click on a year to learn more.
2015
2015 – A ship carrying 458 people capsizes in the Yangtze river in China's Hubei province, killing 442 people.
2011
2011 – Space Shuttle Endeavour makes its final landing after 25 flights.
2011
2011 – A rare tornado outbreak occurs in New England; a strong EF3 tornado strikes Springfield, Massachusetts, during the event, killing four people.
2009
2009 – General Motors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is the fourth largest United States bankruptcy in history.
2009
2009 – Air France Flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. All 228 passengers and crew are killed.
2008
2008 – A fire on the back lot of Universal Studios breaks out, destroying the attraction King Kong Encounter and a large archive of master tapes for music and film, the full extent of which was not revealed until 2019.
2004
2004 – Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols is sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.
2001
2001 – Dolphinarium discotheque massacre: A Hamas suicide bomber kills 21 at a disco in Tel Aviv.
2001
2001 – Nepalese royal massacre: Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal shoots and kills several members of his family including his father and mother.
1999
1999 – American Airlines Flight 1420 slides and crashes while landing at Little Rock National Airport, killing 11 people on a flight from Dallas to Little Rock.
1994
1994 – Republic of South Africa becomes a republic in the Commonwealth of Nations.
1993
1993 – Dobrinja mortar attack: Thirteen are killed and 133 wounded when Serb mortar shells are fired at a soccer game in Dobrinja, west of Sarajevo.
1990
1990 – Cold War: George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty to end chemical weapon production.
1988
1988 – The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty comes into effect.
1988
1988 – European Central Bank is founded in Brussels.
1980
1980 – Cable News Network (CNN) begins broadcasting.
1979
1979 – The first black-led government of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 90 years takes power.
1978
1978 – The first international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty are filed.
1976
1976 – Aeroflot Flight 418 crashes in Bioko, Equatorial Guinea, killing 46.
1975
1975 – The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan was founded by Jalal Talabani, Nawshirwan Mustafa, Fuad Masum and others.
1974
1974 – The Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims is published in the journal Emergency Medicine.
1964
1964 – Kenya becomes a republic with Jomo Kenyatta as its first President.
1962
1962 – Adolf Eichmann, former SS officer in Nazi Germany, is hanged in Israel for having committed crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other offenses.
1961
1961 – The Canadian Bank of Commerce and Imperial Bank of Canada merge to form the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the largest bank merger in Canadian history.
1958
1958 – Charles de Gaulle comes out of retirement to lead France by decree for six months.
1950
1950 – The Chinchaga fire ignites. By September, it would become the largest single fire on record in North America.
1950
1950 – The Declaration of Conscience speech, by U.S. Senator from Maine, Margaret Chase Smith, is delivered in response to Joseph R. McCarthy's speech at Wheeling, West Virginia.
1946
1946 – Ion Antonescu, "Conducator" ("Leader") of Romania during World War II, is executed.
1943
1943 – BOAC Flight 777 is shot down over the Bay of Biscay by German Junkers Ju 88s, killing British actor Leslie Howard and leading to speculation that it was actually an attempt to kill British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
1941
1941 – The Farhud, a massive pogrom in Iraq, starts and as a result, many Iraqi Jews are forced to leave their homes.
1941
1941 – World War II: The Battle of Crete ends as Crete capitulates to Germany.
1939
1939 – First flight of the German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft.
1930
1930 – The Deccan Queen is introduced as first intercity train between Bombay VT (Now Mumbai CST) and Poona (Pune) to run on electric locomotives.
1929
1929 – The 1st Conference of the Communist Parties of Latin America is held in Buenos Aires.
1922
1922 – The Royal Ulster Constabulary is founded.
1919
1919 – Prohibition comes into force in Finland.
1918
1918 – World War I: Western Front: Battle of Belleau Wood: Allied Forces under John J. Pershing and James Harbord engage Imperial German Forces under Wilhelm, German Crown Prince.
1916
1916 – The United States Senate confirms the appointment of Louis Brandeis to the United States Supreme Court, making him the first Jew to be an Associate Justice.
1913
1913 – The Greek–Serbian Treaty of Alliance is signed, paving the way for the Second Balkan War.
1890
1890 – The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith's tabulating machine to count census returns.
1879
1879 – Napoléon Eugène, the last dynastic Bonaparte, is killed in the Anglo-Zulu War.
1868
1868 – The Treaty of Bosque Redondo is signed, allowing the Navajo to return to their lands in Arizona and New Mexico.
1862
1862 – American Civil War: Peninsula Campaign: The Battle of Seven Pines (or the Battle of Fair Oaks) ends inconclusively, with both sides claiming victory.
1861
1861 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fairfax Court House is fought.
1857
1857 – The Revolution of the Ganhadores begins in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
1857
1857 – Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal is published.
1855
1855 – The American adventurer William Walker conquers Nicaragua.
1854
1854 – Åland War: The British navy destroys merchant ships and about 16,000 tar barrels of the wholesale stocks area in Oulu, Grand Duchy of Finland.
1849
1849 – Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsey declared the Territory of Minnesota officially established.
1831
1831 – James Clark Ross becomes the first European at the North Magnetic Pole.
1815
1815 – Napoleon promulgates a revised Constitution after it passes a plebiscite.
1813
1813 – Capture of USS Chesapeake.
1812
1812 – War of 1812: U.S. President James Madison asks the Congress to declare war on the United Kingdom.
1796
1796 – Tennessee is admitted as the 16th state of the United States.
1794
1794 – The battle of the Glorious First of June is fought, the first naval engagement between Britain and France during the French Revolutionary Wars.
1792
1792 – Kentucky is admitted as the 15th state of the United States.
1779
1779 – The court-martial for malfeasance of Benedict Arnold, a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, begins.
1773
1773 – Wolraad Woltemade rescues 14 sailors at the Cape of Good Hope from the sinking ship De Jonge Thomas by riding his horse into the sea seven times. Both he and his horse, Vonk, are drowned on his eighth attempt.
1679
1679 – The Scottish Covenanters defeat John Graham of Claverhouse at the Battle of Drumclog.
1676
1676 – Battle of Öland: allied Danish-Dutch forces defeat the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea, during the Scanian War (1675–79).
1670
1670 – In Dover, England, Charles II of England and Louis XIV of France sign the Secret Treaty of Dover, which will force England into the Third Anglo-Dutch War.
1649
1649 – Start of the Sumuroy Revolt: Filipinos in Northern Samar led by Agustin Sumuroy revolt against Spanish colonial authorities.
1648
1648 – The Roundheads defeat the Cavaliers at the Battle of Maidstone in the Second English Civil War.
1535
1535 – Combined forces loyal to Charles V attack and expel the Ottomans from Tunis during the Conquest of Tunis.
1533
1533 – Anne Boleyn is crowned Queen of England.
1495
1495 – A monk, John Cor, records the first known batch of Scotch whisky.
1298
1298 – Residents of Riga and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeat the Livonian Order in the Battle of Turaida.
1252
1252 – Alfonso X is proclaimed king of Castile and León.