On This Day — historical anniversaries
A daily piece on an event or life that marks this date in history, published every morning by Vesper's editors. Browse the full archive by date.
June
July
July 11916On this day, 1 July 1916: the first day of the Battle of the SommeJuly 21937On this day, 2 July 1937: Amelia Earhart vanishes over the PacificJuly 31938On this day, 3 July 1938: Mallard sets the steam speed record still unbeatenJuly 41934On this day, 4 July 1934: Marie Curie, pioneer of radioactivity, diesIn memoriamJuly 51996On this day, 5 July 1996: Dolly the sheep, the first cloned mammal, is bornJuly 61885On this day, 6 July 1885: Pasteur first uses the rabies vaccine on a humanJuly 71930On this day in 1930: Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, diesIn memoriamJuly 81889On this day, 8 July 1889: the first issue of The Wall Street JournalJuly 91816On this day, 9 July 1816: Argentina declares independence at the Congress of TucumánJuly 101962On this day, 10 July 1962: Telstar, the first active communications satellite, launchesJuly 111804On this day, 11 July 1804: the Hamilton-Burr duel that shook American politicsJuly 131930On this day: the first FIFA World Cup kicks off in UruguayJuly 141789On this day, 14 July 1789: the storming of the BastilleJuly 151799On this day: the 1799 discovery of the Rosetta Stone that unlocked hieroglyphsJuly 161969On this day, 16 July 1969: Apollo 11 launches for the MoonJuly 171918On this day: the execution of the Romanov family, July 17, 1918In memoriamJuly 181918On this day: Nelson Mandela was born in 1918July 1964On this day: the Great Fire of Rome broke out in 64 ADJuly 211861On this day, 21 July 1861: the First Battle of Bull Run shocks a nation expecting a short warJuly 221934On this day: John Dillinger is killed by federal agents outside a Chicago theaterIn memoriamJuly 231885On this day: Ulysses S. Grant dies while racing to finish his memoirsIn memoriamJuly 251978On this day: Louise Brown, the world's first IVF baby, is bornJuly 271953Korean Armistice Agreement: how a 1953 ceasefire still divides KoreaJuly 281914On this day: Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on Serbia begins World War IJuly 291958On this day, 29 July 1958: the act that created NASA is signed into lawJuly 301966On this day in 1966: England's only World Cup win, and the goal still argued aboutJuly 311971On this day: humans drove a vehicle on the Moon for the first time (31 July 1971)
August
August 11981On this day in 1981: MTV launches and changes how the world watches musicAugust 21923On This Day: President Warren G. Harding dies suddenly in office in 1923In memoriamAugust 31936Jesse Owens Wins 100m Olympic Gold in Berlin, Rebutting Nazi PropagandaAugust 41944On this day: Anne Frank and seven others are arrested in Amsterdam's Secret AnnexAugust 51962Marilyn Monroe's Death: What Really Happened on August 5, 1962In memoriamAugust 61991On this day: the World Wide Web is made publicly available (1991)August 71974On this day: Philippe Petit walks a tightrope between the Twin Towers (1974)August 82008On this day: Beijing turned an opening ceremony into legend on 08-08-08August 91945On this day: the atomic bombing of Nagasaki (1945)August 101920On This Day: The Treaty of Sèvres was signed on August 10, 1920August 112014On this day: remembering Robin Williams, August 11, 2014In memoriamAugust 121981On this day: IBM launches the PC that defined personal computing (1981)August 131961On this day in 1961: East Germany began building the Berlin WallAugust 141935On this day: the US Social Security Act is signed into law (1935)August 151914On this day in 1914: the Panama Canal opened, rewriting the map of global trade