Today in History

Historical Events

2009

20th anniversary of the fall of Berlin Wall. On this day, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the last soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and Polish ex-president and Noble Prize winner Lech Walesa walked through Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

1994

Darmstadtium created for the first time. The heavily radioactive element with an atomic number of 110 and symbol Ds, was created at Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (Institute for Heavy Ion Research) in Darmstadt, Germany, the city after which the element is named.

1985

Youngest person to become World Chess Champion. 22-year-old Russian Gary Kasparov won the 13th World Chess Championship against Anatoly Karpov to become the youngest World Chess Champion.

1967

Rolling Stone makes its debut. The biweekly popular culture magazine was founded by Jann Simon Wenner in San Francisco. The magazine launched the careers of many famous authors and published the early versions of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

1938

Night of broken glass. A pogrom against Jewish businesses, synagogues, and Jews in Germany and Austria was carried out by Sturmabteilung troops and civilians. The series of attacks that killed about 70 people and put 30,000 jews in prison is known as night of broken glass or Kristallnacht

Famous Births

Born on this day

Alessandro Del Piero

Alessandro Del Piero

1974

Italian footballer

Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho

1970

American/Canadian wrestler, singer-songwriter, actor

Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan

1934

American astronomer, author

Anne Sexton

Anne Sexton

1928

American poet

Spiro Agnew

Spiro Agnew

1918

American politician, 39th Vice President of the United States

Famous Deaths

Died on this day

K. R. Narayanan

K. R. Narayanan

2005

Indian politician, 10th President of India

Stieg Larsson

Stieg Larsson

2004

Swedish writer

Charles de Gaulle

Charles de Gaulle

1970

French general, politician, President of France

Ibn Saud

Ibn Saud

1953

Saudi Arabian king

Neville Chamberlain

Neville Chamberlain

1940

English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom