Today in History

Historical Events

2011

Lone wolf extremist goes on a massacre in Norway. Anders Behring Breivik an anti-Islamist extremist placed a car bomb in front of the Norwegian Prime Minister's office in Oslo. A few hours after the bomb exploded, killing 8 people and injuring about 200 others, Breivik opened fire at a youth summer camp at the island of Utøya killing 69 participants. This was the deadliest incident of violence in the Scandinavian country since the Second World War.

2003

Raid in Mosul. A raid on a compound near Mosul, Iraq by United States Army 101st Airborne Division ended with the deaths of killing Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay and Qusay's 14-year old son.

1983

First solo helicopter flight around the world. Australian Dick Smith became the first person to fly a helicopter around the world solo. He started his trip in August, 1982 and it took him around a year to finish his trip.

1933

American aviator Wiley Post becomes the first person to fly solo around the Earth. Post landed on Floyd Bennett Field in New York 7 days after he departed alone from the same airfield in a Lockheed Vega aircraft known as Winnie Mae.

1894

World's first competitive motor race. The Paris–Rouen, Le Petit Journal Competition for Horseless Carriages was the world's first city to city motoring competition. Staring in Paris and ending in Rouen, the race was organized by the newspaper Le Petit Journal.

Famous Births

Born on this day

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez

1992

American actress, singer

Despina Vandi

Despina Vandi

1969

German/Greek singer, actress

Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels

1965

American wrestler

Danny Glover

Danny Glover

1946

American actor

The Fabulous Moolah

The Fabulous Moolah

1923

American wrestler

Famous Deaths

Died on this day

Ulrich Mühe

Ulrich Mühe

2007

German actor

Harold Larwood

Harold Larwood

1995

English cricketer

William Lyon Mackenzie King

William Lyon Mackenzie King

1950

Canadian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Canada

John Dillinger

John Dillinger

1934

American bank robber, murderer

James Whitcomb Riley

James Whitcomb Riley

1916

American poet