On July 1, 1916, the British Army launched what would become one of the bloodiest days in its entire history. At precisely 7:30 in the morning, tens of thousands of British soldiers climbed out of their trenches and began advancing across open ground toward German positions along the Somme River in northern France. The generals…
On June 10, 1935, in Akron, Ohio, Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith held the meeting that would mark the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, one of the most influential self-help movements in history. Their conversation that day, and the program they developed together, would eventually help millions of people around the world overcome addiction to…
On December 8, 1980, the world lost one of its most influential musicians when John Lennon was shot and killed outside his apartment building in New York City. The former Beatle, who had helped revolutionize popular music and become a symbol of peace and artistic expression, was only 40 years old. His death sent shockwaves…
On February 3, 1959, a small plane crashed in an Iowa cornfield near Clear Lake, killing three of rock and roll’s brightest young stars: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson. The tragedy, which also claimed the life of pilot Roger Peterson, would later become known as “The Day the Music Died,”…
On January 31, 1958, the United States launched Explorer 1, the nations first artificial satellite, marking Americas entry into the Space Age and its first major achievement in the emerging Space Race with the Soviet Union. The successful launch came just four months after the Soviets had stunned the world with Sputnik 1, and it…
On June 9, 1870, Charles Dickens, one of the greatest novelists in the English language, died at his home at Gads Hill Place in Kent, England at the age of 58. His death marked the end of a literary career that had produced some of the most beloved characters in fiction and novels that continue…
On the morning of December 7, 1941, the United States was thrust into World War II when the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a devastating surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In less than two hours, Japanese aircraft killed 2,403 Americans, wounded over 1,000 more, and destroyed or damaged 19 U.S….
On June 8, 1949, George Orwells dystopian masterpiece Nineteen Eighty-Four was published, introducing readers to a nightmarish vision of a totalitarian future that would become one of the most influential novels of the twentieth century. The books concepts of Big Brother, thoughtcrime, and Newspeak have become embedded in our cultural vocabulary, serving as warnings about…
On January 30, 1948, Mahatma Gandhi, the preeminent leader of Indias independence movement and one of historys most influential advocates of nonviolent resistance, was assassinated in New Delhi. The 78-year-old spiritual and political leader was shot three times at point-blank range by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist who opposed Gandhis efforts to promote harmony between…
On December 6, 1877, in a small laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison achieved something that had never been done before in human history: he successfully recorded and played back the human voice. Speaking the words Mary had a little lamb into his newly invented phonograph, Edison created the first audio recording, fundamentally…