Anyone interested in fundamental rights in the European Union (EU) can now have easy access to the text of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in all official languages on their mobile device: http://fra.europa.eu/en/charter4mobile

 

THANK   YOU,  Encyclopædia Britannica, FOR   PROVIDING THAT INFORMATION

This Day
January24

Biography of the Day

 
British statesman, orator, and author Winston Churchill, who as prime minister (1940–45, 1951–55)
rallied the British people during World War II and led his country from the brink of defeat to victory, died this day in
1965.
credit: Karsh/Woodfin Camp and Associates

This Day
January23

Biography of the Day

 
French painter Édouard Manet, born this day in 1832, defied traditional techniques of
representation and chose modern, urban subjects, antagonizing the critics but paving the way for Impressionism and
Post-Impressionism.
credit: Courtauld Institute Galleries, London (Courtauld Collection)

This Day
January22

Biography of the Day

 
Born this day in 1788, British Romantic poet and satirist Lord Byron captured the imagination of
Europe with his personality and work, notably Don Juan and the renowned autobiographical poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.
credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

This Day
January21

Biography of the Day

 
1793:
Louis XVI, the last Bourbon king of France, was executed by guillotine in Paris during the French Revolution.
© Archivo Iconografico, S.A./Corbis

This Day
January20

Biography of the Day

 
Italian director Federico Fellini, born this day in 1920, was one of the most celebrated filmmakers in
the post-World War II period, his distinctive style imposing dreamlike or hallucinatory imagery on ordinary situations.
credit: Paris Match/Pictorial Parade

This Day
January19

Biography of the Day

 
1966: Rule in India transferred to Indira Gandhi               
Following the sudden death of Indian Premier Lal Bahadur Shastri eight days earlier, Indira Gandhi became prime
minister of India on this day in 1966, assuming the office first held by her father, Jawaharlal Nehru.
credit: Bettmann/Corbis

This Day
January18

Biography of the Day

 
1871: German Empire established
The German Empire, forged as a result of diplomacy rather than an outpouring of popular nationalist feeling, was founded
this day in 1871 in the aftermath of three successful wars by the North German state of Prussia.

This Day
January17

Biography of the Day

 
Born this day in 1863, David Lloyd George, Liberal prime minister of Britain from 1916 to 1922,
led his country to victory in World War I after laying the foundation of the modern welfare state as chancellor of the Exchequer.
credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

This Day
January16

Biography of the Day

 
1991: Beginning of Persian Gulf War                              
The Persian Gulf War, triggered by Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait in August 1990, began on this day in 1991 with a
U.S.-led air offensive against Iraq that continued until a cease-fire was declared on February 28.
© Christopher Morris—Black Star/PNI

This Day
January15

Biography of the Day

 
Martin Luther King, Jr., born this day in 1929, led the civil rights movement in the United States from
the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968 and was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
credit: AP

This Day
January14

Biography of the Day

 
1900: Premiere of Giacomo Puccini’s opera Tosca                                                                     
The opera Tosca—a psychological drama of deceit and doubt composed by Giacomo Puccini, one of the greatest exponents
of operatic realism—made its world premiere in Rome’s Costanzi Theatre on this day in 1900.
Above: Poster for the first production of Giacomo Puccini’s opera Tosca, 1900.
credit: The Granger Collection, New York

This Day
January13

Biography of the Day

 
1898: Émile Zola’s “J’accuse” published                                                                
On this day in 1898, French author Émile Zola published an open letter in the newspaper L’Aurore denouncing the French
general staff for its role in the 1894 treason conviction of Jewish French army officer Alfred Dreyfus.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

This Day
January12

Biography of the Day

 
1876: American novelist Jack London, author of Call of the Wild (1903) and White Fang
(1906), was born in San Francisco.
credit: Jack London State Historic Park

This Day
January11

Biography of the Day

 
1935: Amelia Earhart’s Hawaii-to-California flight                                                                    
On this day in 1935, Amelia Earhart, one of the world’s most celebrated aviators, made the first successful solo flight
from Hawaii to California, a distance longer than that from the United States to Europe.
credit: The Granger Collection, New York

This Day
January10

Biography of the Day

 
1776: Common Sense published
On this day in 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense, a 50-page pamphlet that sold more than 500,000 copies within a few months and called for a war of independence that would become the American Revolution.
credit: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

This Day
January 9

Biography of the Day

 
1908:Simone de Beauvoir, French writer and feminist who gave a literary transcription to the themes of existentialism, was born in Paris.
credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

This Day
January 8

Biography of the Day

 
American popular singer and film star Elvis Presley, born this day in 1935, was widely known as the
“King of Rock and Roll” and was one of that genre’s dominant performers from the mid-1950s until his death in 1977.
photo: Elvis Presley, 1956
© Bettmann/Corbis

This Day
January 7

Biography of the Day

 
1610: Galileo’s discovery of Jupiter’s four moons             
During this month in 1610, Italian astronomer Galileo made the earthshaking discoveries that four moons revolve around
Jupiter and that the telescope reveals many more stars than are visible to the naked eye.
Photo: Two of Galileo’s first telescopes; in the Institute and Museum of the History of Science, Florence.
 credit: Scala/Art Resource, New York

This Day
January 6

Biography of the Day

 
Today: Epiphany
Celebrated annually this day, Epiphany is a major feast that commemorates, for Western Christians, the coming of
the Magi and, for Eastern Orthodox Christians, Jesus’ birth, baptism by John, and first miracle.
example: Ethiopian Orthodox priest during the Epiphany ceremony, Gonder, Ethiopia.
credit: Jialiang Gao

This Day
January 5

Biography of the Day

 
A renowned critic and semiotician (student of signs and symbols), Umberto Eco, born this day in 1932,
is perhaps better known as the author of the best-selling murder mystery and fantasy novel The Name of the Rose (1981).
credit: © Miki Kratsman/Corbis

This Day
January 4

Biography of the Day

 
1809: French educator Louis Braille, who developed a system of printing and writing that is extensively
used by the blind people and that was named for him, was born near Paris.
credit: Archiv für Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin

This Day
January 3

Biography of the Day

 
2001:
Hillary Rodham Clinton was sworn in as a U.S. senator from New York, having become the first first lady in U.S. history
to win elective office.
credit: U.S. Department of State

This Day
January 2

Biography of the Day

 
American biochemist and author Isaac Asimov, born in Russia this day in 1920, was a popularizer of
scientific ideas and a prolific writer of science fiction, in which he created an ethical system for humans and robots.
credit: Frank Capri—Hulton Archive/Getty Images

This Day
January 1 

Biography of the Day

 
2002: Euro introduced in Europe                                                                     
On this day in 2002 the euro, the monetary unit of the European Union, was introduced with the issuance of both
currency and coins, and by March 2002 it was the sole legal tender of participating member states.
Collage showing the various denominations of the euro currency.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

This Day
December 31

New Year’s Eve

This Day
December 30

Biography of the Day

 
 
1922: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics established               
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, formed this day in 1922 with its capital in Moscow, eventually incorporated
15 republics and constituted (in area) the largest country in the world until its dissolution in 1991.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

This Day
December 29

Biography of the Day

 
1809: British statesman William Ewart Gladstone, who served as prime minister of Great Britain four times
(1868-74, 1880-85, 1886, 1892-94), was born.
credit: Culver Pictures

This Day
December 28

Biography of the Day

 
1065: Westminster Abbey opened       
The original Westminster Abbey, located in London, was consecrated and opened this day in 1065 by Edward the
Confessor and became the site of coronations and other ceremonies of national significance in England.
credit: Dennis Marsico/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

This Day
December 27

Biography of the Day

 
French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur, born this day in 1822, made many valuable
contributions to the history of science, including originating vaccines for rabies and anthrax and developing
pasteurization.
credit: Photos.com/Jupiterimages

This Day
December 26

Biography of the Day

 
American writer Henry Miller, born this day in 1891, was a perennial bohemian with a gift for comedy whose
autobiographical novels achieved a candour that was considered liberating by many mid-20th-century readers.
credit: Camera Press/Globe Photos

This Day
December 25

Biography of the Day

 
Today: Christmas celebrated worldwide                                             
Though the precise origin of the date is unclear, Christmas, commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, is celebrated on
this day, having been first identified as the date of Jesus’ birth by Sextus Julius Africanus in 221.

This Day
December 24

Biography of the Day

 
1814: Treaty of Ghent                                         
On this day in 1814, the United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium, ending the War of 1812,
marking a decline of American dependence on Europe, and stimulating a sense of U.S. nationalism.
picture: A tableau of the Treaty of Ghent, signed in Belgium, December 24, 1814.
credit: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

This Day
December 23

Biography of the Day

 
1941: Early in World War II, invading Japanese forces defeated U.S. troops at the Battle of Wake Island.
 

This Day
December 22

Biography of the Day

 
One of the greatest exponents of operatic realism, Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, born this day in 1858,
imbued each of his works with a distinctive ambiance, including the classics La Bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly.
credit: Photos.com/Jupiterimages
1989: The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin was reopened, signifying the reunion of East and West Germany.
credit: © Helga Lade/Peter Arnold, Inc.

This Day
December 21

Biography of the Day

 
1958: Charles de Gaulle was elected president of the French Fifth Republic.
credit:  Bruno Barbey/Magnum Photos

This Day
December 20

Biography of the Day

 
1999: Macau made an administrative region of China                                     
On this day in 1999, 12 years after an agreement was reached between China and Portugal, several centuries of
Portuguese rule ended in Macau when it became a special administrative region under Chinese sovereignty.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica

This Day
December 19

Biography of the Day

 
1915: French singer and actress Edith Piaf, whose interpretation of the chanson (French ballad) made her internationally famous, was born.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

This Day
December 18

Biography of the Day

 
1865: Slavery abolished in the United States               
On this day in 1865, by proclamation of the U.S. secretary of state, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution,
outlawing slavery, officially entered into force, having been ratified by the requisite states on December 6.
photo: Slaves picking cotton in the state of Georgia.
credit: Jupiterimages—Comstock/Thinkstock

This Day
December 17

Biography of the Day

 
2010: Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi (NAFTA) set himself on fire after being harassed by
municipal officials, giving rise to Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution and helping inspire the Arab Spring; he died from his
injuries the following month.
photo: Demonstrators in the capital city of Tunis sitting on a wall where “Free at last” was written after popular unrest forced
Tunisian Pres. Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to step down, January 2011.
credit: Christophe Ena/AP

This Day
December 16

Biography of the Day

 
English writer Jane Austen, born this day in 1775, gave the novel its distinctly modern character through
her treatment of ordinary people in everyday life and created comedies of contemporary middle-class manners in England.
credit: Stock Montage/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1944: In World War II, German forces attempted to push through Allied lines in the Ardennes, beginning
the Battle of the Bulge.
photo: American soldiers in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge.
credit: U.S. Army photograph

This Day
December 15

Biography of the Day

 
37: Roman emperor Nero–who was infamous for his personal debaucheries and
extravagances and, on doubtful evidence, for his burning of Rome and persecutions of Christians–was born.
credit: Photos.com/Thinkstock

This Day
December 14

Biography of the Day

 
1911: Amundsen’s arrival at the South Pole                                 
One of the greatest figures in the history of polar exploration was Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who left Norway
for Antarctica in June 1910 and became on this day in 1911 the first person to reach the South Pole.
credit: UPI/Bettmann
                    1960: The convention establishing the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
was signed by 18 European countries, the United States, and Canada.

This Day
December 13

Biography of the Day

 
1642: New Zealand sighted                                                                     
On this day in 1642, Dutch navigator Abel Tasman sighted South Island, New Zealand, and later, mistaking the strait north of the island for a bay, believed he had found the west coast of a hypothetical southern continent.
Credit: G.R. Roberts, Nelson, New Zealand

This Day
December 12

Biography of the Day

 
Novelist Gustave Flaubert–a leading figure in the realist school of French literature, best known for
his masterpiece, Madama Bovary–was born.
Courtesy of the Bibliothèque Municipale, Rouen
Edvard Munch – Norwegian artist, whose painting The Scream (1893) can be seen as a symbol of modern
spiritual anguish and whose works greatly influenced German Expressionism in the 20th century, was born this day in 1863.
credit: National Gallery, Oslo, Norway/Bridgeman Art Library, London/SuperStock
1964: Kenya became a republic on the first anniversary of its independence from Britain.
credit:  Encyclopædia Britannica

This Day
December 11

Biography of the Day

 
1946: UNICEF–a UN program devoted to improving the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children–was established.
photo: Elementary school students playing football (soccer) at a UNICEF “tent school” in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 2005.
 credit: Dimas Ardian/Getty Images

This Day
December 10

Biography of the Day

 
1901: Nobel Prizes first awarded                            
The first Nobel Prizes were distributed on this day in 1901, the fifth anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Bernhard Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who founded and endowed the awards through his will.
photo: Alfred Bernhard Nobel
Stock Montage/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1996: South African President Nelson Mandela signed a new constitution that completed a transition from a long period of white-minority rule (apartheid) to full-fledged democracy.
© David Turnley/Corbis
1948: The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
credit: U.N. Photo

This Day
December 9

Biography of the Day

 
1990: Lech Walesa elected president of Poland                                                                     
On this day in 1990, Lech Walesa—who had led Solidarity, Poland’s first independent trade union, and had received
the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1983—won Poland’s first direct presidential election by a landslide.
photo: Lech Wałęsa addressing striking workers in Gdańsk, Pol., May 1, 1988
credit: Chris Niedenthal—Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

This Day
December 8

Biography of the Day

 
1980: John Lennon fatally shot by deranged fan    
On this day in 1980, British musician John Lennon—who rose to fame with the Beatles and had a successful solo career—
was murdered outside his home in the Dakota building in New York City, causing a global outpouring of grief.
photo: The Beatles in A Hard Day’s Night (credit: United Artists/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
                              1987: The intifadah, an uprising of Palestinians in the territories occupied by Israel,
began this week.

This Day
December 7

Biography of the Day

 
Gian Lorenzo Bernini                                                                    
Perhaps the greatest sculptor-architect of the 17th century, Italian Gian Lorenzo Bernini, born this day in 1598, created
the Baroque style and refined it with such works as his masterpiece, The Ecstasy of St. Teresa.
credit: SCALA/Art Resource, New York
1941: Pearl Harbor attack                                                                    
On this day in 1941, Japanese bombers launched a surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on the island
of Oahu, Hawaii, precipitating the entry of the United States into World War II.
credit: Richard Nowitz—National Geographic/Getty Images

This Day
December 6

Biography of the Day

 
1917: Finland declared itself independent of Russia, following the Bolshevik Revolution.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica,  Inc.

This Day
December 5

Biography of the Day

 
Walt Disney, born in Chicago this day in 1901, pioneered animated cartoon films, created such beloved
characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, and founded what is now one of the world’s largest entertainment conglomerates.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica,  Inc.

This Day
December 4 

Biography of the Day

 
1996: The unmanned space vehicle Mars Pathfinder was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida,
in order to explore the surface of Mars.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

This Day
December 3

Biography of the Day

 
1967: Christiaan Barnard of South Africa performed the first human heart transplant,
at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.
credit: AP

This Day
December 2

Biography of the Day

 
1954: The U.S. Senate voted to censure Joseph R. McCarthy for his conduct in the investigation of
communism in the United States.
photo: U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy (covering microphones) during an investigation into communist infiltration of the government.
credit: Byron Rollins/AP

This Day
December 1

Biography of the Day

 
1955: Rosa Parks’s refusal to relinquish her bus seat                                                                   
This day in 1955, in violation of segregation laws in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat
 to a white passenger and was arrested, sparking a 381-day bus boycott led by Martin Luther King, Jr.
© Bettmann/Corbis
1988: The first World AIDS Day was held.
The red AIDS ribbon.
© AbleStock.com/Jupiterimages

This Day
November 30

Biography of the Day

 
Mark Twain                                                                    
American writer Mark Twain, born this day in 1835, won worldwide acclaim for his stories of youthful adventures,
especially The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
credit: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1874: British statesman, orator, and author Sir Winston Churchill was born in Oxfordshire, England.
credit: Karsh/Woodfin Camp and Associates

This Day
November 29

Biography of the Day

 

 
 
 
1947: United Nations resolution for the partition of Palestine
On this day in 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution (not implemented) calling
for the partition of Palestine into two separate states—an Arab and a Jewish one—that would retain an
economic union.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

This Day
November 28

Biography of the Day

 
1943: Opening of Tehran Conference
The Tehran Conference, attended by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill,
and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, at which Stalin pressed for an invasion of France, opened this day in 1943.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

This Day
November 27

Biography of the Day

 
1895: Nobel Prizes established                          
Through the will drawn up by Alfred Bernhard Nobel—the Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist
who invented dynamite and other, more powerful explosives—the Nobel Prizes were established
on this day in 1895.
 
The obverse side of the Nobel Prize medals for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature.
© The Nobel Foundation

This Day
November 26

Biography of the Day

 
1924:
After the defeat of the White Russians and the Chinese, the Mongolian People’s Republic was proclaimed.

This Day
November 25

Biography of the Day

 
 
1936: Germany and Japan formed the Anti-Comintern Pact against the Soviet Union.

This Day
November 24

Biography of the Day

 
1859:
Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection was published.
Darwin is an English naturalist whose theory of evolution by natural selection became the foundation of modern
evolutionary studies.
Courtesy of the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House, Rochester, New York

This Day
November 23

Biography of the Day

 
1855: Ley Juárez passed                                                                   
Passed this day in 1855 in Mexico, the Ley Juárez abolished special courts for the clergy and military in an attempt
by justice minister Benito Juárez to eliminate the remnants of colonialism in Mexico and promote equality.
credit: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

This Day
November 22

Biography of the Day

 
Charles de Gaulle                                                         
French soldier, writer, and statesman Charles de Gaulle, born this day in 1890, commanded the Free French Forces
during World War II and was France’s first leader after the war and the architect of the Fifth Republic.
credit: Bruno Barbey/Magnum Photos
1963: U.S. President John F. Kennedy assassinated       
The most notorious political murder in recent American history occurred this day in 1963, when John F. Kennedy,
the 35th U.S. president (1961–63), was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas, while riding in an open car.
credit: White House Collection

This Day
November 21

Biography of the Day

 
Voltaire                                                                     
One of the greatest French writers, famous for his critical capacity and satiric wit and still widely revered as a
courageous crusader against tyranny, bigotry, and cruelty, Voltaire was born this day in 1694.
credit: Stock Montage/Hulton Archve/Getty Images

This Day
November 20

Biography of the Day

 
1858:  Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman and first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for
Literature, was born.
Courtesy of the Nobel Foundation, Stockholm

This Day
November 19

Biography of the Day

 
1977: Anwar el-Sadat’s visit to Israel                                                                    
After the Arab-Israeli war of 1973–74, Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat began to work toward peace,
and on this day in 1977 he began his historic visit to Israel, during which he offered a peace plan to its parliament.
credit: Sahm Doherty/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

This Day
November 18

Biography of the Day

 
1477:William Caxton, a pioneering English printer, published Dictes and Sayenges of the
Phylosophers, the first dated book printed in England.
William Caxton, English etching, 1816.
credit:The Granger Collection, New York

This Day
November 17

Biography of the Day

 
French sculptor Auguste Rodin, known for his bronze and marble figures, including The Thinker (1880)
and The Kiss (1886), and considered one of the best portraitists in the history of sculpture, died this day in 1917.
Side view detail of The Kiss, marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin, 1886; in the Rodin Museum, Paris.
credit: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, New York
                      1989: Massive antigovernment demonstrations in Czechoslovakia were set off by police brutality at a
demonstration commemorating the 50th anniversary of the suppression of a student demonstration in German-occupied
Prague, and, under the leadership of Václav Havel, they continued until the communist government resigned.
1869: After 10 years of construction, the Suez Canal opened in Egypt.
Cargo ship in the Suez Canal near Ismailia, Egypt.
credit: Hubertus Kauns/SuperStock

This Day
November 16 

Biography of the Day

 
1988: Election of Bhutto as Pakistan’s prime minister
Benazir Bhutto, elected prime minister of Pakistan on this day in 1988, became the first woman in modern
history to lead a Muslim country, serving as prime minister from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996.
credit: Aamir Qureshi—AFP/Getty Images

On This Day
November 15 

Biography of the Day

 
 
1988: Palestinian statehood proclaimed by Yasir ‘Arafat Meeting at Algiers, the Palestine National Council,
at the urging of PLO chairman Yasir ‘Arafat, issued a declaration of independence for a state of Palestine in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip on this day in 1988.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1938: A farewell parade was held in Barcelona, Spain, for the volunteers of the International Brigades who
fought for the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War.
credit: Copyright © 2004 AIMS Multimedia

On This Day
November 14 

Biography of the Day

 
 
Born this day in 1922, Egyptian scholar Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who served as
secretary-general of the United Nations from January 1, 1992, to December 31, 1996, was the
first Arab and first African to lead the UN.
credit: AP/Wide World Photos
1969: Apollo 12 was launched, carrying a crew of Charles Conrad, Jr., Richard F. Gordon, Jr.,
and Alan L. Bean, and five days later the mission made the second landing on the Moon.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
                      1885: The Serbo-Bulgarian War began when Serbian King Milan Obrenovic IV declared war on Bulgaria.

On This Day
November 13 

 
 
1916: During World War I, the costly four-month Allied offensive against German
positions along the Somme River ended.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

On This Day
November 12 

Biography of the Day

 
 
1815: Elizabeth Cady Stanton
American activist who was a leader in the women’s rights movement and in 1848 formulated the first organized demand for woman suffrage in the United States, was born.
© Bettmann/Corbis
1980: The U.S. space probe Voyager 1 reached the planet Saturn.
credit: B.A. Smith/National Space Science Data Center
1931: Abbey Road Studios opened in London and was later made famous by the Beatles, who recorded most of their albums there.
credit: John Dominis—Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

On This Day
November 11 

Biography of the Day

 
1921: Armistice Day celebrated             
On this day in 1921, the anniversary of the end of World War I, the first Armistice Day was commemorated with the burial of the bodies of unknown soldiers in tombs in Paris, in London, and outside Washington, D.C.
Credit: Scott Barbour/Getty Images
1975: Angola declared independence after the Portuguese withdrew.
 

On This Day
November 10 

Biography of the Day

 
1871: Dr. David Livingstone found by Henry Stanley                      
On this day in 1871, according to his journal, explorer Henry Stanley greeted David Livingstone, the fellow explorer in search of the source of the Nile River, with the famous words “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”
©Photos.com/Thinkstock

On This Day
November 9 

Biography of the Day

 
1989: Opening of the Berlin Wall  
Long a symbol of the Cold War, the Berlin Wall, erected in 1961 and eventually extending 28 miles (45 km) to divide
the western and eastern sectors of Berlin, was opened by the East German government on this day in 1989.
credit: Sipa/AP
1938:Kristallnacht
Beginning on this night, called Kristallnacht (“Crystal Night” or “Night of Broken Glass”), some 48 hours of
Nazi-orchestrated anti-Jewish violence erupted throughout Germany and Austria, resulting in the destruction and vandalizing
of synagogues and Jewish businesses, along with the deaths of at least 91 Jews.
credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1922:Nobel Prize for Physics
Albert Einstein was named the winner of the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect;
the Nobel committee had delayed awarding the 1921 physics prize until 1922.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 

On This Day
November 8 

Biography of the Day

 
John Milton, whose Paradise Lost is regarded as the greatest epic poem in the English language and
who exerted a major influence on the history of English literature, culture, and libertarian thought, died this day in 1674.
John Milton, after a pastel by William Faithorne.
credit: The Granger Collection, New York

1960:
John F. Kennedy was narrowly elected president of the United States.
© Arthur Rickerby—Black Star/PNI
1932:
During the Great Depression, Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt easily defeated incumbent Republican
Herbert Hoover to win the presidency of the United States.
credit: UPI/Bettmann Archive
1900:
Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind, was born in Atlanta, Georgia.
credit: William F. WarneckeNew—York World-Telegram & Sun Collection/Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZ62-109613)
1656:
English astronomer and mathematician Edmond Halley, the first to calculate the orbit of Halley’s Comet, was born
in Greenwich, Kent, England.
Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London

On This Day
November 7 

Biography of the Day

 
Marie Curie   
Polish-born French physicist Marie Curie, famous for her groundbreaking work on radioactivity and winner of both the
Nobel Prize for Physics and the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, was born in Warsaw this day in 1867.
credit: The Granger Collection, New York

On This Day
November 6 

Biography of the Day

 
1860: Abraham Lincoln elected president of the United States        
On this day in 1860, Americans elected as their president Abraham Lincoln, whose victory led to the secession of
Southern states and the long and bloody Civil War that lasted until 1865 and ended slavery in the U.S.
credit: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1917:
The second phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917 began (October 25, Old Style) as the Bolsheviks
seized power in Russia.
Picture above: First Days of the October Revolution, painting by Savitsky (1887–1949).
© Photos.com/Jupiterimages

On This Day
November 5 

Biography of the Day

 
Eugene V. Debs, born this day in 1855, was a five-time Socialist candidate for U.S. president and won
nearly one million votes in 1920 while in prison for his criticism of prosecutions under the 1917 Espionage Act.
credit: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1605: Gunpowder Plot    
Celebrated with fireworks as Guy Fawkes Day, this English holiday marks the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot,
when Roman Catholics led by Robert Catesby tried to blow up Parliament, the king, and his family this day in 1605.
credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

On This Day
November 4  

Biography of the Day

 
1946:
UNESCO was officially established as its constitution entered into force; this specialized agency of the
UN called for the promotion of international collaboration in education, science, and culture.
© UNESCO/Eclair Mondial

On This Day
November 3  

Biography of the Day

 
 

1957:

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2, which carried the dog Laika, the first living creature to be shot into space and orbit the Earth.

Henri Matisse, who died this day in 1954 and is often regarded as the most important French painter
of the 20th century, led the Fauvist movement about 1900 and pursued the expressiveness of colour throughout his career.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

On This Day
November 2  

Biography of the Day

 
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin – French painter Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, whose famous
still lifes and domestic scenes were remarkable for their intimate realism, tranquil atmosphere, and luminous quality,
was born this day in 1699.
 
1976: Jimmy Carter elected 39th U.S. president
Jimmy Carter, former Democratic governor of Georgia and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002,
was elected 39th president of the United States this day in 1976, narrowly defeating Republican Gerald R. Ford.
Courtesy: Jimmy Carter Library
1936: The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) officially launched this day its first television
channel, which was also the world’s first regular TV service.
credit: Carl de Souza—AFP/Getty Images

On This Day
November 1  

Biography of the Day

 
Sholem Asch – Born this day in 1880, Polish American writer Sholem Asch, whose work entered the
literary mainstream through translation, was among the most controversial and most widely known writers in modern
Yiddish literature.
credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

   On This Day
October 31  

Biography of the Day

 
 Indira Gandhi, the four-term prime minister of India (1966–77; 1980–84) and daughter of independent India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was assassinated this day in 1984 by two of her own Sikh bodyguards.
credit: Bettmann/Corbis; Tim Graham/Getty Images; AP

In Memory of the Victims of WWII (Anzio, Italy) – 18 – 27.01.2013.

The Municipality of Anzio, Italy held events for the 69th Anniversary of the Allies Landing during the WWII.

photo 1 ; photo 2; photo 3

The Anthology “In the Hug of Arms” was shortly presented on January 21 alongside two historical books. To order a hardcopy of the Anthology, please follow the link: Send an email to order an Anthology hardcopy