Taylor Swift was named Time magazine's Person of the Year
The pop star was recognized for her massive cultural influence and her decision to speak out on political issues after years of staying silent. At 27,...
Historical Events
2017
2013
A woman in China attempted to smuggle 102 iPhones strapped to her body through customs
Chinese border officials noticed the woman walking oddly and discovered phones wrapped around her torso, thighs, and calves. The 44 iPhones and 58 oth...
2003
Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces hiding in a spider hole near Tikrit, Iraq
MajorThe former Iraqi dictator was found disheveled and disoriented in an underground hideout barely large enough to lie down in. He was captured without r...
2001
The Pentagon released a video tape showing Osama bin Laden discussing the September 11 attacks
The tape, found in a house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, showed bin Laden discussing foreknowledge of the attacks with associates. It was presented as ke...
2000
Al Gore conceded the presidential election to George W. Bush after 36 days of legal battles
MajorThe concession came after the Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore decision halted the Florida recount. The election was one of the closest and most controver...
1996
Kofi Annan was elected as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations
The Ghanaian diplomat became the first person from sub-Saharan Africa to hold the position. He would go on to serve two terms and win the Nobel Peace...
1988
A man in France was arrested for stealing the Eiffel Tower by convincing a scrap dealer it was being torn down
Victor Lustig, a con artist, had actually pulled off this scam decades earlier in 1925, but the story resurfaced in news on this date. He posed as a g...
1978
The Philadelphia Mint produced the first Susan B. Anthony dollar coins
The coin was revolutionary as the first U.S. circulating coin to honor a real woman. However, it was widely rejected by the public who complained it w...
1967
The Mothman, a legendary creature, was allegedly sighted for the last time before the Silver Bridge collapse
Over 100 people reported seeing the mysterious winged humanoid creature with glowing red eyes in Point Pleasant, West Virginia over the preceding 13 m...
1939
The Winter War began when Finland fought back against the Soviet Union's invasion with only 300,000 soldiers against 1 million Soviets
MajorFinnish troops, many on skis and dressed in white camouflage, inflicted devastating casualties on the Red Army in what would become one of military hi...
1920
A woman in New York became the first person to receive a ticket for jaywalking
As automobiles became more common, cities began enforcing pedestrian crossing laws more strictly. The term "jaywalking" came from "jay," a slang term...
1862
The Battle of Fredericksburg concluded with one of the most lopsided Union defeats of the Civil War
Union forces suffered over 12,000 casualties compared to 5,000 Confederate losses in a series of disastrous frontal assaults. The Union army made 14 s...
1769
Dartmouth College was founded in New Hampshire with a mission to educate Native Americans
Reverend Eleazar Wheelock established the college, though it would ironically end up educating primarily white students. The institution would later b...
1577
Sir Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth, England on his voyage to circumnavigate the globe
MajorDrake's expedition would take nearly three years and make him only the second person to complete a circumnavigation. Along the way, he plundered Spani...