This Day in History
November 27, 2012
1095 — Pope Urban II orders first Crusade
On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II makes perhaps the most influential speech of the Middle Ages, giving rise to the Crusades by calling all Christians in Europe to war against Muslims in order to reclaim the Holy Land, with a cry of ...
This Day in History
November 26, 2012
1922 — Archaeologists enter tomb of King Tut
In Egypt's Valley of the Kings, British archaeologists Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first souls to enter King Tutankhamen's tomb in more than 3,000 years. Tutankhamen's sealed burial chambers were miraculously intact, and inside was a collection ...
This Day in History
November 16, 2012
1532 — Pizarro traps Incan emperor Atahualpa
On November 16, 1532, Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish explorer and conquistador, springs a trap on the Incan emperor, Atahualpa. With fewer than 200 men against several thousand, Pizarro lures Atahualpa to a feast in the emperor's honor and then opens fire on the ...
This Day in History
November 15, 2012
1777 — Articles of Confederation adopted
After 16 months of debate, the Continental Congress, sitting in its temporary capital of York, Pennsylvania, agrees to adopt the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union on this day in 1777. Not until March 1, 1781, would the last of the 13 states, Maryland, ratify ...
This Day in History
November 14, 2012
1851 — Moby-Dick is published
On this day in 1851, "Moby-Dick," a novel by Herman Melville about the voyage of the whaling ship Pequod, is published by Harper & Brothers in New York. Moby-Dick is now considered a great classic of American literature and contains one of the most famous opening lines ...
This Day in History
November 12, 2012
1954 — Ellis Island closes
On this day in 1954, Ellis Island, the gateway to America, shuts it doors after processing more than 12 million immigrants since opening in 1892. Today, an estimated 40 percent of all Americans can trace their roots through Ellis Island, located in New York Harbor off ...
This Day in History
November 09, 2012
1862— Burnside assumes command of the Union Army of the Potomac
On this day in 1862, General Ambrose Burnside assumes command of the Union Army of the Potomac following the removal of George B. McClellan.
McClellan was well liked by many soldiers, and had a loyal following among some in ...
This Day in History
October 24, 2012
1901 — First barrel ride down Niagara Falls On this day in 1901, a 63-year-old schoolteacher named Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to take the plunge over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
After her husband died in the Civil War, the New York-born Taylor moved all over the U ...
This Day in History
October 23, 2012
2002 — Hostage crisis in Moscow theater
On October 23, 2002, about 50 Chechen rebels storm a Moscow theater, taking up to 700 people hostage during a sold-out performance of a popular musical.
The second act of the musical "Nord Ost" was just beginning at the Moscow Ball-Bearing Plant's Palace ...
This Day in History
October 17, 2012
1931 — Capone goes to prison
On this day in 1931, gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion and fined $80,000, signaling the downfall of one of the most notorious criminals of the 1920s and 1930s.
Alphonse Gabriel Capone was born in Brooklyn, New ...
This Day in History
October 15, 2012
1917 — Mata Hari executed
Mata Hari, the archetype of the seductive female spy, is executed for espionage by a French firing squad at Vincennes outside of Paris.
She first came to Paris in 1905 and found fame as a performer of exotic Asian-inspired dances. She soon began touring all over ...
This Day in History
October 09, 2012
1967 — Che Guevara is executed
On this day in 1967, socialist revolutionary and guerilla leader Che Guevara, age 39, is killed by the Bolivian army. The U.S.-military-backed Bolivian forces captured Guevara on October 8 while battling his band of guerillas in Bolivia and assassinated him the following day ...
This Day in History
October 08, 2012
1780 — Patriots prevail in Carolinas
Patriot militia under Colonel William Campbell defeat Loyalist militia under Major Patrick Ferguson at the Battle of King's Mountain in North Carolina near the border with Blacksburg, South Carolina, on this day in 1780.
Major Ferguson's force, made up mostly of frontier Loyalists ...
This Day in History
October 03, 2012
1995 — O.J. Simpson acquitted
At the end of a sensational trial, former football star O.J. Simpson was acquitted of the brutal 1994 double murder of his estranged wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. In the epic 252-day trial, Simpson's "dream team" of lawyers employed ...
This Day in History
October 01, 2012
1890 — Yosemite National Park established
On this day in 1890, an act of Congress creates Yosemite National Park, home of such natural wonders as Half Dome and the giant sequoia trees. Environmental trailblazer John Muir (1838-1914) and his colleagues campaigned for the congressional action, which was signed into law by ...
