Today in History

Historical Events

1997

South Park Makes its Debut on Comedy Central. The popular American animated series is created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and it follows the lives and adventures of 4 boys – Eric Cartman, Kenny McCormick, Kyle Broflovski, and Stan Marsh – in a fictional town called South Park, Colorado. While being popular, the show has attracted widespread criticism for profane language and for addressing controversial subjects.

1961

Construction of Berlin Wall starts. The construction on the Berlin Wall, a wall that divided West Berlin from East Berlin started. It was built by the German Democratic Republic or East Germany.

1960

First Two-Way Telephonic Conversation With a Satellite. The conversation was made possible due to NASA’s Echo 1, a balloon satellite. It was launched into space on August 12. The satellite worked as reflector – signals sent to it were reflected back to the Earth.

1960

Central African Republic Gains its Independence From France.. The landlocked African Country came under French rule in the late 19th century. On this day, Barthélemy Boganda, a nationalist politician declared the creation of an independent Central African Republic and became the first Prime Minister of the country.

1918

First Woman enlists in the United States Marines. After joining the Marine corps, Opha May Johnson, was assigned desk duty at the Marine Corps headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

Famous Births

Born on this day

Sebastian Stan

Sebastian Stan

1983

Romanian/American actor

Alan Shearer

Alan Shearer

1970

English footballer

Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro

1926

Cuban lawyer, politician, 15th President of Cuba

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock

1899

English director, producer

Lucy Stone

Lucy Stone

1818

American activist

Famous Deaths

Died on this day

Les Paul

Les Paul

2009

American guitarist, songwriter, co-designed the Gibson Guitar

Julia Child

Julia Child

2004

American chef, author

Mickey Mantle

Mickey Mantle

1995

American baseball player

H. G. Wells

H. G. Wells

1946

English author

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale

1910

Italian/English nurse