1898: USS Maine Explodes in Havana Harbor

On February 15, 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine blew up in Havana Harbor, escalating tensions with Spain and contributing to the outbreak of the...

1964: The Beatles Arrive in New York

On February 7, 1964, the Beatles were greeted by thousands of screaming fans as they landed at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York...

1937: Gas Leak Causes New London School Explosion

On March 18, 1937, the worst school disaster in American history occurred when a gas explosion killed nearly 300 schoolchildren in Texas. Gas Explosion Destroys...

1979: Nuclear Meltdown Occurs at Three Mile Island

On March 28, 1979, the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant experienced a partial meltdown. It was the worst-ever commercial nuclear accident in American history. Meltdown...

1923: King Tut’s Tomb Unsealed

On February 16, 1923, King Tutankhamen’s tomb was unsealed and entered by an excavation team led by British archaeologist Howard Carter and financial backer...

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,...

1942: Roosevelt Authorizes Internment of Japanese-Americans

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the military to relocate Japanese-Americans from their homes to internment...

On This Day: Bodies of Three Civil Rights Workers Discovered in Mississippi

On Aug. 4, 1964, the bodies of missing civil rights volunteers Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman were discovered in a dam outside...

2002: The Trial of Slobodan Milosevic Begins

On February 12, 2002, the war crimes trial of Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic began at The Hague. The defendant died before a sentence was...

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...