On This Day
2018 - Mercury (planet)
The BepiColombo spacecraft is launched on an Ariane 5 rocket to study Mercury.
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1935 - Long March
The Long March, a mammoth retreat undertaken by the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party a year prior, ends.
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1803 - Louisiana Purchase
The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase.
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2005 - Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity.
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1900 - Planck's law
Max Planck discovers Planck's law of black-body radiation.
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1781 - Siege of Yorktown
American Revolutionary War: The siege of Yorktown comes to an end with the British surrender.
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1967 - Venus
The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.
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1867 - Russian Empire
United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day.
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1565 - Battle of Fukuda Bay
Ships belonging to the Matsura clan of Japan fail to capture the Portuguese trading carrack in the Battle of Fukuda Bay, the first recorded naval battle between Japan and the West.
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1973 - 1973 oil crisis
OPEC imposes an oil embargo against countries they deem to have helped Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
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1956 - Sellafield
The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield, England.
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1806 - Emperor Jacques I Meets a Violent End
On October 17, 1806, Haiti’s first emperor was ripped from power by the very men who had helped forge its independence. The murder of Jacques I reshaped a newborn nation and left a legacy that still haunts Haiti today.