World Events

The Cuban Missile Crisis globalizes the revolution's consequences

Bay of Pigs invasion fails and radicalizes the revolution

Agrarian reform begins the social transformation of the revolution

Castro enters Havana and consolidates revolutionary authority

Batista flees and the Cuban Revolution triumphs

The Battle of Santa Clara breaks Batista's final defenses

Batista's summer offensive fails in the Sierra Maestra

Victory at El Uvero strengthens the Rebel Army

Student assault on the Presidential Palace broadens the revolt

The Granma landing begins the guerrilla war in Cuba

Doha Amendment finally enters into force at the end of Kyoto's second period

Paris Agreement enters into force as the main global climate framework

Paris Agreement is adopted, overtaking Kyoto's model

Second commitment period begins under the amended protocol

Doha Amendment creates a second Kyoto commitment period

Canada announces withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol

First commitment period begins for emissions reductions

First Meeting of the Parties in Montreal begins Kyoto's implementation era

Kyoto Protocol enters into force

Russia ratifies, clearing the threshold for Kyoto to take effect

Allen v. Milligan reaffirms Section 2 in redistricting cases

Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee constrains Section 2 challenges

Shelby County v. Holder disables the preclearance formula

Congress reauthorizes the Voting Rights Act for 25 years

Thornburg v. Gingles defines the modern Section 2 framework

Congress restores and strengthens Section 2 in major amendments

City of Mobile v. Bolden narrows vote-dilution claims

Congress expands the Act to protect language minorities

Congress renews the Act’s special provisions for the first time

Supreme Court upholds the Act in South Carolina v. Katzenbach

Biden is inaugurated, concluding the election crisis

Capitol attack interrupts Congress during electoral vote count

The Electoral College formalizes Biden’s victory

Major news organizations project Biden as the winner

Election Day produces record turnout and a prolonged count

The final debate gives the candidates a last national forum

The second presidential debate is canceled

The vice-presidential debate highlights succession and health concerns

Trump announces that he tested positive for COVID-19

The first presidential debate becomes a defining spectacle

The Soviet Union is formally dissolved by its remaining legislature

Gorbachev resigns and the Soviet flag comes down

Alma-Ata Protocol broadens recognition of the breakup

Belavezha Accords declare the Soviet Union ended

Ukraine’s referendum confirms secession from the USSR

Ukraine declares independence after the failed coup

The coup collapses and the union center is fatally weakened

The August Coup begins against Gorbachev

Yeltsin wins Russia’s presidency by popular vote

Union referendum reveals a divided and weakening federation

Soviet Union is formally dissolved by its upper chamber

Gorbachev resigns and the Soviet flag is lowered

Alma-Ata Protocol broadens the post-Soviet settlement

Belavezha Accords declare the Soviet Union ended

Ukrainian referendum confirms independence overwhelmingly

Ukraine declares independence after the coup

Hardline coup attempt against Gorbachev collapses

Yeltsin elected president of the Russian republic

Union referendum reveals both support and fragmentation

Soviet force in Vilnius deepens legitimacy crisis

Rwanda adopts the law establishing modern gacaca courts

Kibeho massacre exposes the violence of the post-genocide transition

UN creates the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

RPF takes Gisenyi and the genocide is brought to an end

RPF captures Kigali, changing the course of the war and genocide

France launches Operation Turquoise in southwestern Rwanda

UN imposes an arms embargo and authorizes expansion of UNAMIR

The UN reduces UNAMIR at the height of the killing

Mass killing at Nyarubuye church reveals the nationwide scale of the genocide

Belgian peacekeepers withdraw from the ETO school as civilians are abandoned

The Berlin Airlift ends after months of continued precautionary flying

The Basic Law creates the Federal Republic of Germany in the blockade's aftermath

The Soviet Union lifts the Berlin Blockade

The airlift reaches its peak on the 'Easter Parade' supply record

NATO is founded as the blockade pushes Western security integration

West Berlin elects Ernst Reuter's camp in a vote of confidence under blockade

The political split of Berlin is formalized with rival city administrations

Mass rally at the Reichstag shows West Berlin's resistance

Construction of Tegel Airport begins to expand airlift capacity

The Western Allies launch the Berlin Airlift

Taiwan is transferred from Japanese rule to the Republic of China

Japanese surrender ceremony in Nanjing ends the war in China

Soviet invasion of Manchuria destroys Japan's position in northeast Asia

Operation Ichi-Go becomes Japan's largest campaign in China

Cairo Declaration commits Allies to reversing Japanese conquests

China formally declares war on Japan after Pearl Harbor

Hundred Regiments Offensive shows Communist military reach

Wuhan falls but China preserves its war effort inland

Battle of Wuhan becomes the war's largest campaign

Chinese victory at Taierzhuang boosts resistance morale

Artemis I launches a new era of Moon missions

Chang’e 4 makes the first landing on the Moon’s far side

Apollo 17 makes the last human landing on the Moon

Apollo 11 returns safely to Earth

First moonwalk begins and samples are collected

Apollo 11 lands at Tranquility Base

Apollo 11 launches for the first crewed lunar landing attempt

Apollo 8 becomes the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon

Apollo 1 fire halts the program and forces major redesigns

Surveyor 1 makes the first American soft landing on the Moon

The Lockerbie bombing renews focus on Libya despite the 1986 raid

U.N. General Assembly condemns the U.S. raid on Libya

U.N. Security Council condemnation effort is blocked by Western vetoes

Reagan addresses the nation to justify the bombing as self-defense against terrorism

Bab al-Azizia compound and other command targets are hit in Tripoli

A U.S. F-111F is lost during the raid and its two-man crew are killed

Libya fires missiles toward Lampedusa in an immediate reprisal

Operation El Dorado Canyon strikes Tripoli and Benghazi

U.S. strike aircraft launch from British bases after overflight denials by European allies

Reagan authorizes Operation El Dorado Canyon after citing intelligence tying Libya to Berlin

Apollo 17 lands at Taurus-Littrow for the last human Moon walk of the Apollo era

Apollo 17 launches as the final lunar mission of the program

Apollo 16 explores the lunar highlands and broadens geological understanding

Apollo 15 introduces the lunar rover and expands surface exploration

Apollo 14 restores confidence in lunar landings after Apollo 13

Apollo 13 suffers an oxygen tank explosion and aborts its landing mission

Apollo 12 demonstrates precision landing and expanded lunar science

Apollo 11 makes the first human landing on the Moon

Apollo 10 performs the full dress rehearsal for a lunar landing

Apollo 9 tests the lunar module in Earth orbit

China executes two men convicted in the scandal

Court hands down death and life sentences

Sanlu executives go on trial in Shijiazhuang

Twenty-two dairy firms announce compensation plan

Court accepts bankruptcy petition against Sanlu

Official victim total is revised dramatically upward

Police expand arrests in the milk contamination case

China's food safety chief resigns amid expanding crisis

Authorities report thousands of sick children

National testing finds contamination at 22 dairy companies

The CCP’s historical resolution condemns the Cultural Revolution as a grave error

The Eleventh Party Congress officially declares the Cultural Revolution over

The arrest of the Gang of Four brings the movement’s radical leadership to an abrupt end

Mao Zedong dies, ending the era that had sustained the Cultural Revolution

The Tiananmen mourning protests become a mass repudiation of radical rule

The death of Zhou Enlai triggers mourning and a new political crisis

The Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius campaign revives ideological struggle

Lin Biao dies after his dramatic fall, shattering the regime’s official narrative

The Ninth Party Congress institutionalizes the Cultural Revolution and names Lin Biao successor

The Down to the Countryside Movement sends urban youth to rural China

Tiananmen Mothers emerges to seek truth, accountability, and remembrance

Zhao Ziyang is removed from power as the leadership consolidates

Deng Xiaoping publicly praises the troops and justifies the repression

“Tank Man” confronts a column of tanks

Tiananmen Square and surrounding Beijing are cleared by force

PLA advances on central Beijing and opens the crackdown

Goddess of Democracy statue is erected in the square

Martial law is declared in Beijing

Zhao Ziyang makes his final public appeal to the protesters

Gorbachev’s visit internationalizes the protests

Party leadership is reshaped and the crackdown’s political aftermath is sealed

The ‘Tank Man’ confrontation becomes an enduring symbol of defiance

Tiananmen Square is cleared and the crackdown is completed

PLA troops advance into Beijing and open fire on civilians

The Goddess of Democracy is erected in Tiananmen Square

Martial law is declared in Beijing

Zhao Ziyang makes his final public appearance in the square

Around a million people march in Beijing in support of the protesters

Gorbachev visit brings global attention as the square remains occupied

Student hunger strike begins in Tiananmen Square

Ford introduces the moving automobile assembly line

The Sherman Antitrust Act becomes law

The first long-distance automobile journey proves the car’s usefulness

Richmond opens the first practical electric streetcar system

A transformer-based AC power system is demonstrated in Massachusetts

Benz patents the gasoline-powered motorcar

The Berlin Conference formalizes rules for the Scramble for Africa

A practical incandescent light bulb is demonstrated

Bell makes the first successful telephone call

The Suez Canal opens to global shipping

Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean

Recovery aboard USS Hornet begins post-flight quarantine

Apollo 11 performs trans-Earth injection for the journey home

Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon

Eagle lifts off from the Moon to rendezvous with Columbia

Buzz Aldrin joins Armstrong and the lunar surface exploration begins

Eagle separates and begins powered descent

Apollo 11 lands in the Sea of Tranquility

Apollo 11 enters lunar orbit

Translunar injection sends Apollo 11 toward the Moon

India and Pakistan sign the Simla Agreement

UN Security Council adopts Resolution 307

Cease-fire takes effect on the western front

Pakistani Eastern Command signs the Instrument of Surrender in Dhaka

Killing of Bengali intellectuals marks a final atrocity

Tangail airdrop accelerates the drive toward Dhaka

Operation Python renews Indian naval attacks on Karachi

UN General Assembly calls for cease-fire and withdrawal

India recognizes Bangladesh as a sovereign state

Battle of Longewala halts Pakistani thrust in Rajasthan

Black Power salute at the Mexico City Olympics globalizes protest symbolism

Tlatelolco massacre ends Mexico's student protest movement in bloodshed

Violence outside the Democratic convention shocks national television audiences

Democratic National Convention protests begin in Chicago

Warsaw Pact invasion crushes the Prague Spring

De Gaulle's response marks the turning point of May 1968 in France

French general strike links workers and students

Night of the Barricades intensifies the French crisis

Sorbonne confrontation opens the Paris May uprising

Students occupy buildings at Columbia University

Fleming, Florey, and Chain receive the Nobel Prize

Dorothy Hodgkin confirms penicillin's structure by X-ray crystallography

Mass-produced penicillin supports Allied troops on D-Day

First large-scale Brooklyn penicillin plant begins operation

Pfizer acquires Brooklyn site for the first large-scale penicillin factory

British War Cabinet establishes the Penicillin Committee

Anne Miller becomes the first patient successfully saved by penicillin in the United States

Florey and Heatley travel to the United States to seek large-scale production

Albert Alexander becomes the first patient treated with Oxford penicillin

Peoria researchers boost yields with new culture media

South Sudan becomes independent, extending Africa’s decolonisation story into the 21st century

The African Union is launched after the formal decolonisation era

South Africa holds its first democratic all-race election

Namibia wins independence from South African rule

Zimbabwe achieves internationally recognized independence

Angola declares independence from Portugal

The Carnation Revolution in Portugal accelerates African independence

The Organisation of African Unity is founded

Armed struggle begins in Angola

The Congo gains independence from Belgium

Centenary commemorations mark 100 years since the sinking

Titanic Belfast opens for the centenary year

Titanic wreck is discovered on the Atlantic seabed

First SOLAS convention is signed in response to the disaster

British Wreck Commissioner's inquiry begins in London

United States Senate inquiry opens in Washington

Carpathia arrives in New York with Titanic survivors

Carpathia rescues survivors from the lifeboats

Titanic sinks in the early hours with massive loss of life

Titanic strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic

China's leadership issues its official verdict on the protests

Authorities publish wanted lists and begin a broad repression

The 'Tank Man' standoff becomes an enduring global image

Troops clear Tiananmen Square and crush the movement

People's Liberation Army advances into Beijing by force

Protesters erect the Goddess of Democracy

Martial law is declared in parts of Beijing

Zhao Ziyang makes his final conciliatory visit to the square

Gorbachev visit turns the protests into a global spectacle

Hunger strike begins in Tiananmen Square