1920: 19th Amendment Gives Women Right to Vote
On Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified after decades of struggle by women’s rights advocates, bringing a successful end to the U.S....
1977: Hanafi Muslim Gunmen End Siege in Washington, DC
On March 11, 1977, Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, leader of the Nation of Islam splinter group Hanafi Movement, ended a three-day siege of three buildings...
1960: South African Police Open Fire on Crowd in Sharpeville Massacre
On March 21, 1960, South African police fired into a crowd of black protesters who had surrounded a police station in Sharpeville, killing 69...
1633: Galileo Faces Inquisition
On February 13, 1633, Galileo arrived in Rome to be tried for promoting Copernican theories, such as the revolutionary idea that the Earth orbits...
On This Day: United States Drops Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima
On Aug. 6, 1945, U.S. war plane Enola Gay dropped “Little Boy,” a 8,900-pound atomic bomb, on Hiroshima, Japan. Within eight days, Japan surrendered,...
1991: “Birmingham Six” Freed After 16 Years in Prison
On March 14, 1991, six men wrongfully accused of carrying out Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombing attacks on two Birmingham pubs were released after...
1954: Puerto Rican Nationalists Launch Assault on U.S. Congress
On March 1, 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire on the House of Representatives, injuring five congressmen.
Nationalists Attack Congress
Three members of the Puerto Rico...
1974: Heiress Patty Hearst Kidnapped
On February 4, 1974, members of the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped Patty Hearst, 19, granddaughter of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst. After months of...
1970: Rhodesia Declares Itself a Republic
On March 2, 1970, Prime Minister Ian Smith severed Rhodesia’s remaining ties with Britain in an attempt to protect white minority rule. It would...
