Today in History

Historical Events

1972

Home Box Office launched. The premium TV channel, informally known as HBO, is the oldest paid TV channel in the United States. The first program to screen on the channel was Sometimes a Great Notion, a movie starring Paul Newman and Henry Fonda.

1971

Coup in Thailand. Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn staged a coup against his own government and dismissed the parliament citing increasing communist influence.

1939

Assassination attempt on Hitler. Johann Georg Elser, a German woodworker, attempted to kill Adolf Hilter and other high ranking members of the Nazi party during the 16th anniversary observances of the Beer Hall Putsch, a failed coup attempt by Hitler in 1923. The time bomb Elser used in a beer hall called Bürgerbräukeller in Munich went off but failed to kill Hitler. Elser was caught and imprisoned in Dachau for 5 years.

1923

Beer Hall Putsch. On this day, Adolf Hitler and other members of the Nazi party attempted to overthrow current government by marching to Berlin. They started the march at the Bürgerbräu Keller in Munich. The coup attempt was eventually unsuccessful and Hitler was captured and imprisoned for 2 years.

1895

First person to observe X-rays. German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen accidentally discovered X-rays, also sometimes called Röntgen rays while working on cathode rays. X-rays are a type of electromagnetic radiation that are often used today in medicine. Röntgen was awarded the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 for his discovery.

Famous Births

Born on this day

Aaron Swartz

Aaron Swartz

1986

American computer programmer, activist

Gordon Ramsay

Gordon Ramsay

1966

Scottish chef, television host

Micky Adams

Micky Adams

1961

English footballer, manager

Nguyen Khanh

Nguyen Khanh

1927

Vietnamese general, politician, 3rd President of South Vietnam

Margaret Mitchell

Margaret Mitchell

1900

American author

Famous Deaths

Died on this day

Vyacheslav Molotov

Vyacheslav Molotov

1986

Soviet politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs fr the Soviet Union

Dorothy Kilgallen

Dorothy Kilgallen

1965

American journalist

Ivan Bunin

Ivan Bunin

1953

Russian author, poet, Nobel Prize laureate

Doc Holliday

Doc Holliday

1887

American gambler, dentist

John Milton

John Milton

1674

English poet