World Events

Ukraine Designates Start of Occupation

First Russian Parliamentary Elections Held in Crimea

Putin Addresses Crowd in Sevastopol Victory Rally

UN General Assembly Condemns Annexation

Russian Federation Ratifies Annexation

Treaty Signed Incorporating Crimea into Russia

Disputed Crimean Status Referendum

Putin Declares No Plans to Annex Crimea

Russian Federation Council Authorizes Military Intervention

Seizure of Crimean Parliament and Buildings

First national memorial ceremony held

Tribunal establishes national memorial day legislation

Order restored, massacre ends

Hisao Tani condemned and death sentence

Establishment of Nanjing Self‑Governing Committee

Japanese entry ceremony in captured Nanjing

Fall of Nanjing and start of massacre

Atrocities begin around Nanjing

Battle of Nanjing begins

Marco Polo Bridge Incident sparks full-scale war

Imposition of Western sanctions and initiation of Operation Yellowbird

Arrests of protest leaders begin

Government announces casualty figures

Crackdown: PLA clears square in early morning hours

Government orders clearing of Tiananmen Square

Martial law declared and PLA mobilised

Hunger strike galvanises national support

Clash between reformists and hardliners in CCP Politburo Standing Committee

Mass gathering of nearly 100,000 students in Tiananmen Square

Death of Hu Yaobang ignites student mourning and protests

Legacy and rise of localism

End of major protests

Clearance of Admiralty site

Night of clashes and arrests at Admiralty

Dialogue between government and students begins

Occupy Central campaign launched

Police use tear gas and pepper spray

Occupation of Civic Square

Student class boycott begins

NPCSC electoral reform decision

Media freedoms sharply curtailed domestically

Operation Yellowbird initiated to help dissidents flee

Protests erupt in other Chinese cities

Political purge of reform‑minded officials begins

Western sanctions and media condemnations

Massacre and square cleared by dawn

'Tank Man' iconic image captured

Troops ordered to seize control; crackdown begins

Martial law declared in Beijing

Zhao Ziyang appeals to students in the Square

Aftermath and nationwide suppression

Global reaction and international condemnation

Military crackdown and massacre

Troops move in on Beijing

Second hunger strike and rising tensions

Zhao Ziyang urges end to hunger strike

Martial law declared in Beijing

First student hunger strike begins

Mass student march to Tiananmen Square

Riots erupt in Changsha and Xi’an during memorials

Stockholm+50 commemorative conference

Sustainable Development Goals rooted in Stockholm’s conceptual legacy

Stockholm’s legacy cited in Rio Earth Summit

UN General Assembly establishes UNEP and World Environment Day

Adoption of the Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan

Opening of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm

Preparatory Committee drafts Declaration for Conference

UNEP leads to international environmental treaties

UNEP headquarters selected in Nairobi

UN General Assembly decides to convene the Stockholm Conference

Global Depression ends with WWII onset

Recession hits during recovery

Second New Deal passed with Relief Appropriation Act

London Economic Conference convenes

Roosevelt inaugurates New Deal reforms

Britain abandons the gold standard

Great Depression deepens globally

Black Tuesday marks collapse

Black Monday accelerates decline

Black Thursday triggers crash

Charges framed against Jagdish Tytler

First SIT convictions: Yashpal Singh and Naresh Sehrawat

U.S. civil suit filed by Sikhs for Justice

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s apology in Parliament

Air India Flight 182 bombing as a retaliatory act

Army and police regain partial control

Hondh‑Chillar and Pataudi massacres

Outbreak of mass violence in Delhi’s Sikh neighborhoods

Assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

Launch of Operation Blue Star

Official death toll announced by Beijing Party Secretary

“Tank Man” image appears globally

Tiananmen Square massacre and clearing of the Square

Troops advance and initial violence on Chang’an Avenue

Concert for Democracy in Hong Kong

Martial law declared and troop deployment begins

Students launch hunger strike

Mass student march into Beijing’s Tiananmen Square

Riots erupt in Xi’an and Changsha

Death of Hu Yaobang sparks student gatherings

Scientists publish the preliminary examination of Apollo 11 lunar samples

Apollo 11 astronauts receive massive public celebrations in the United States

Apollo 11 crew is released from quarantine

Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean

Apollo 11 begins its journey back to Earth

Buzz Aldrin joins Armstrong on the lunar surface

Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon

Eagle lifts off from the Moon and rejoins Columbia

Eagle separates from Columbia for the landing attempt

Apollo 11 lands at Tranquility Base

China marks the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up

Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee calls for comprehensive deepening of reform

Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone is launched

China joins the World Trade Organization

Party Congress endorses the socialist market economy

Deng Xiaoping’s southern tour revives stalled reforms

Pudong New Area is developed as a new opening-up frontier

Hainan becomes a province and a major special economic zone

Decision on economic system reform endorses market mechanisms

Fourteen coastal cities are opened to foreign investment

Apollo 11 astronauts address a joint session of Congress

Apollo 11 crew returns to Houston still inside the mobile quarantine facility

Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean

President Nixon greets the crew aboard USS Hornet during quarantine

Eagle lifts off from the Moon and rendezvous begins

Astronauts complete the Apollo 11 surface EVA and collect lunar samples

Eagle docks with Columbia in lunar orbit

Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon

Eagle lands in the Sea of Tranquility

Apollo 11 enters lunar orbit

Westphalia establishes the normal year of 1624 for confessional property settlements

The treaties reshape the Holy Roman Empire and European diplomacy

Fighting at Prague shows the war’s momentum even as peace takes hold

The peace is proclaimed publicly from Osnabrück Town Hall

The Treaties of Münster and Osnabrück formally conclude the Peace of Westphalia

The Peace of Münster ends the Eighty Years’ War between Spain and the Dutch

Trauttmannsdorf secures major breakthroughs in the negotiations

The Battle of Jankau intensifies pressure for a general settlement

The Battle of Rocroi shifts the balance of power during the peace talks

The Congress of Westphalia begins sustained multilateral negotiations

Russia’s parliamentary authorization to use force in Ukraine is revoked

UN General Assembly affirms Ukraine’s territorial integrity

Ukraine orders the withdrawal of its remaining forces from Crimea

Russian law completes the formal incorporation of Crimea and Sevastopol

Russia and Crimean leaders sign the treaty of accession

Russia recognizes Crimea as an independent state

Disputed referendum is held in Crimea under Russian control

Crimea and Sevastopol declare independence in advance of annexation

Crimean parliament schedules a referendum on joining Russia

Russia’s upper house authorizes the use of military force in Ukraine

Antarctic Treaty Secretariat formally begins operations in Buenos Aires

Annex V on Area Protection and Management enters into force

Madrid Protocol enters into force and Committee for Environmental Protection begins

Madrid Protocol is signed, redefining Antarctica as a natural reserve

Minerals convention is concluded at Wellington

CCAMLR enters into force and strengthens ecosystem governance

CCAMLR Convention is signed in Canberra

Antarctic Seals Convention enters into force

Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals is signed

Agreed Measures for Antarctic fauna and flora are adopted

WHO ends the Zika Public Health Emergency of International Concern

Florida announces the first local mosquito-borne Zika transmission in the continental United States

CDC concludes Zika causes microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects

WHO says Zika is spreading explosively in the Americas

United States confirms probable sexual transmission and issues prevention guidance

WHO declares Zika-related clusters a Public Health Emergency of International Concern

CDC issues travel guidance for pregnant women

Brazil reports evidence linking Zika virus to fetal brain abnormalities

WHO alerts the world to Brazil’s unusual microcephaly cluster

Brazil declares a national public health emergency over microcephaly reports

Japan formally annexes Korea

Treaty of Portsmouth ends the Russo-Japanese War

Treaty of Shimonoseki confirms Japan’s victory over Qing China

Breakthrough treaty with Britain advances revision of unequal treaties

First Imperial Diet convenes

Meiji Constitution is promulgated

Government promises a constitution and national assembly

Satsuma Rebellion is crushed at Shiroyama

Conscription ordinance creates a national army

Education System Order launches national schooling reform

Royal Commission report is released

Royal Commission hearings begin in Canberra

Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements is established

Fire Fight Australia benefit concert raises bushfire relief funds

National Bushfire Recovery Agency is established

Australian Defence Force Reserve call-out broadens national response

Sea evacuation from Mallacoota begins aboard HMAS Choules

Kangaroo Island fire crisis intensifies

Victoria declares a State of Disaster

Mallacoota residents and tourists shelter on the foreshore

Flood songs and migration embed the disaster in American memory

Flood Control Act of 1928 commits the federal government to a new river regime

Waters recede and the scale of displacement becomes clear

Violence linked to coerced levee labor exposes racial brutality

A second major crest keeps pressure on New Orleans

Record crest reaches Baton Rouge

Mass refugee camps define the human crisis

Greenville camp conditions draw national criticism

Officials dynamite the Caernarvon levee to spare New Orleans

New Orleans reaches a major flood crest

Treaty of Paris formally ends the Spanish–American War

U.S. captures Manila after a staged final battle

Protocol of Peace ends major hostilities

U.S. invades Puerto Rico at Guánica

Santiago de Cuba surrenders

Spanish fleet is destroyed at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba

U.S. forces capture El Caney and San Juan Heights

U.S. Army lands in Cuba near Daiquirí and Siboney

U.S. forces seize Guam with almost no resistance

U.S. Navy wins the Battle of Manila Bay

Lunar samples from Apollo 11 go on public display

Apollo 11 crew receives a major public welcome in New York City

The crew enters quarantine aboard USS Hornet

Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean

Apollo 11 departs lunar orbit for Earth

Eagle lifts off from the Moon and rejoins Columbia

Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon

Buzz Aldrin joins Armstrong and the crew conducts lunar surface work

Eagle separates for the descent to the lunar surface

Apollo 11 lands at Tranquility Base

Religious settlement fixes the normative year and widens legal toleration

Swiss Confederation and Dutch Republic gain formal international recognition

Westphalia rebalances power inside the Holy Roman Empire and Europe

The settlement’s legacy becomes a model for congress diplomacy and state relations

Treaties of Münster and Osnabrück are signed as the Peace of Westphalia

Peace of Münster ends the Eighty Years’ War between Spain and the Dutch

Trauttmansdorff’s negotiations turn the congress toward agreement

The Congress of Westphalia begins assembling in Münster and Osnabrück

Hamburg preliminaries set the framework for a general peace congress

Peace of Prague reveals the limits of partial settlement

The African Union is launched as successor to the OAU

South Africa holds its first democratic multiracial election

Eritrea declares independence after referendum

Namibia becomes independent from South African rule

Zimbabwe attains internationally recognized independence

Mozambique becomes independent from Portugal

Portugal's Carnation Revolution accelerates decolonization in Lusophone Africa

Kenya achieves independence from Britain

The Organization of African Unity is founded in Addis Ababa

Algeria wins independence after a brutal war