TODAY IN HISTORY
1870
The Siege of Paris begins, which will result on January 28, 1871, in the surrender of Paris and a decisive Prussian victory.
1879
The Blackpool Illuminations are switched on for the first time.
1881
US President James A Garfield dies of wounds suffered in a July 2 shooting. Vice President Chester A Arthur becomes President.
1893
Women’s suffrage: In New Zealand, the Electoral Act of 1893 is consented to by the governor giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.
1916
During the East African Campaign of World War I, colonial armed forces of the Belgian Congo under the command of General Charles Tombeur capture the town of Tabora.
1944
Armistice between Finland and Soviet Union is signed, marking the end of the Continuation War.
1946
The Council of Europe is founded following a speech by Winston Churchill at the University of Zurich.
1957
First American underground nuclear bomb test (part of Operation Plumbbob).
1970
Kostas Georgakis, a Greek student of geology, sets himself ablaze in Matteotti Square in Genoa, Italy, as a protest against the dictatorial regime of Georgios Papadopoulos.
1976
Turkish Airlines Flight 452 hits the Taurus Mountains, outskirt of Karatepe, Osmaniye, Turkey, killing all 154 passengers and crew.
1978
The Solomon Islands join the United Nations.
1983
Saint Kitts and Nevis gains its independence.
1985
A strong earthquake kills thousands and destroys about 400 buildings in Mexico City.
1989
A terrorist bomb explodes UTA Flight 772 in mid-air above the Tùnùrù Desert, Niger, killing 171.
1995
The Washington Post and The New York Times publish the Unabomber’s manifesto.
2010
The leaking oil well in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is sealed.
2016
In the wake of a manhunt, the suspect in a series of bombings in New York and New Jersey is apprehended after a shootout with police.