Category: Date-A-Base

30 newsworthy historical anniversaries in September 2026

30 newsworthy historical anniversaries in September 2026

Posted on by admin

Here are 30 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in September 2026 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)

Historical anniversaries are ideal for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more. (Find out more at the end of this article.)

We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2026, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 are also available.

Each edition is available in British and U.S. versions. Both have the same content, but with different date formats, spelling and grammar. If you click on the links above, you should be directed to the correct version, based on your location. We’ve taken the anniversaries below from the British version.

1 Sep 1951 – 75 years ago
The ANZUS Pact, a mutual security treaty, was signed by the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

2 Sep 2001 – 25 years ago
Death of Christiaan Barnard, South African surgeon who performed the first human heart transplant.

3 Sep 1976 – 50 years ago
NASA’s Viking 2 lander landed on Mars. It photographed the surface, analysed soil samples and searched for signs of life.
As was the case with Viking 1, the Labeled Release experiment gave a positive result for signs of life, but this is now disputed and is generally considered a ‘false positive’.

4 Sep 1956 – 70 years ago
IBM introduced the world’s first commercial hard disk drive – the 350 Disk Storage Unit.
It could hold 5 Mb of data on a tower of fifty 24-inch magnetised platters.
On 14th September IBM launched the 305 RAMAC computer – the first commercial computer to be equipped with a hard disk drive.

5 Sep 1826 – 200 years ago
Birth of John Wisden, British cricketer (Kent, Middlesex, Sussex) and founder of Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanac.

6 Sep 1966 – 60 years ago
Death of Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa (1958–66).
He developed and implemented apartheid. (Assassinated.) Succeeded by John Vorster.

7 Sep 1776 – 250 years ago
American Revolutionary War: the first reported use of a submarine in combat. The American submarine Turtle attempted to attach explosives to the hulls of British ships including HMS Eagle in New York Harbor. The explosives failed to attach and the mission failed.

8 Sep 1966 – 60 years ago
The first episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek was broadcast on NBC in the USA. It ran for three seasons until 1969.

9 Sep 1776 – 250 years ago
American Revolution: the Second Continental Congress adopted the name United States, which replaced the previous name United Colonies.

10 Sep 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of Beryl Cook, British artist. Known for her instantly recognisable scenes of plump people enjoying themselves. (Died 2008.)

11 Sep 1961 – 65 years ago
The World Wildlife Fund (now the World Wide Fund for Nature) was founded in Switzerland.

12 Sep 1966 – 60 years ago
The first episode of the musical television sitcom The Monkees was broadcast on NBC in the USA. It ran until March 1968 and launched the music career of the pop/rock band The Monkees.

13 Sep 1826 – 200 years ago
Birth of Anthony Drexel, American banker and philanthropist. He played a leading role in the rise of modern global finance.
Co-founder of Drexel, Morgan & Co. (later J. P. Morgan & Co.). Founder of Drexel University. First president of the Association for Public Art.

14 Sep 1901 – 125 years ago
Death of William McKinley, 25th President of the USA (1897–1901).
(Fatally shot by an anarchist on 6th September, aged 58.) Succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.

15 Sep 1876 – 150 years ago
Birth of Frank Gannett, American publisher. Founder of Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the USA, which publishes USA Today and many others.

16 Sep 1956 – 70 years ago
Play-Doh modelling compound went on sale in the USA. It was originally sold as a wallpaper cleaning compound. It was relaunched as a modelling compound when the inventor’s nephew discovered that nursery school children were using it to make Christmas ornaments.

17 Sep 1976 – 50 years ago
NASA unveiled its first Space Shuttle, Enterprise. It was only used for testing, did not have an engine or heat shield, and was incapable of space flight. Its first test flight was on 18th February 1977. The first shuttle to travel into space, Columbia, was launched in April 1981.

18 Sep to 9 Oct 2001 – 25 years ago
Anthrax attacks in the USA. Contaminated letters were sent to two U.S. Senators and various news and media organisations in New York and Florida. Five people died and at least twelve were infected. The total cost of the damage was put at $1 billion (£625 million).

19 Sep 1876 – 150 years ago
American entrepreneur and inventor Melville Reuben Bissell was granted a U.S. patent for the modern carpet sweeper. (U.S. Patent 182,346.) He formed the Bissell corporation to manufacture and sell it.

20 Sep to 5 Oct 1946 – 80 years ago
The first Cannes Film Festival was held.

21 Sep 2006 – 20 years ago
Wal-Mart Stores in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA launched a $4 generic drug programme. Around 300 generic drugs were available on prescription at $4 for a 30-day supply. The test was soon expanded to cover the whole state. On 28th November it was expanded to the entire USA. Many competing stores later launched similar programmes.

22 Sep 1996 – 30 years ago
Death of Bob Dent, Australian cancer sufferer. The first person in the world to lawfully end his life by means of voluntary euthanasia.

23 Sep 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of André Cassagnes, French inventor, toy maker and kite designer. Best known for inventing the Etch A Sketch. (Died 2013.)

24 Sep 1776 – 250 years ago
The first St Leger Stakes horse race was held at Doncaster Racecourse, UK. The St Leger is the final leg of the English Triple Crown.

25 Sep 1956 – 70 years ago
The first undersea transatlantic telephone cable, TAT-1, went into service. It could carry 36 simultaneous calls (later increased to 48 and then to 72). It was retired in 1978. Earlier cables had only carried telegraph signals.

26 Sep 1986 – 40 years ago
William Rehnquist became Chief Justice of the United States (until his death in 2005).

27 Sep 2001 – 25 years ago
U.S. President George W. Bush announced that the federal government would take over airport security following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He also announced a range of airline security measures including reinforcing cockpit doors, banning passengers from entering the cockpit, and placing air marshals on commercial flights.

28 Sep 1901 – 125 years ago
The American Safety Razor Company was founded by King Camp Gillette. He changed the name to the Gillette Safety Razor Company in July 1902. The company began producing razors and razor blades in 1903.

29 Sep 1901 – 125 years ago
Birth of Enrico Fermi, Italian-born American physicist who created the first nuclear reactor and demonstrated the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. Known as the ‘architect of the nuclear age’ and the ‘architect of the nuclear bomb’. He also made important contributions to other fields including quantum theory, particle physics and statistical mechanics. Winner of the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics.

30 Sep 1966 – 60 years ago
Botswana gained its independence from the UK.
Seretse Khama became its first president.

More anniversaries:

You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2026.

The 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions are also available if you work further ahead.

Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with a free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book, in British or U.S. versions.

“A brilliant resource as usual”

“This book continues to astound me with its meticulous attention to detail and painstaking research. I use it all the time to generate ideas for documentaries and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else who works in the media.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Chris

“A deeply researched goldmine of ideas”

“For journalists looking to plan ahead, the Date-a-base books offer a goldmine of ideas that are unavailable on the free internet. I’ve already recommended it to fellow colleagues at the BBC.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Richard

“Great reference”

“This is a fantastic and extremely useful book – very well compiled, detailed and organised.

Highly recommended for research or if you’re just curious about ‘on this day’ type history.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Mark

How to use the anniversaries:

How can you turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines, newspapers and websites? How do you get paid for writing them, and how can you make a great living from it?

Download our free guide Ditch Your Day Job. It tells you everything you need to know!

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in August 2026

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in August 2026

Posted on by admin

Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in August 2026 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)

Historical anniversaries are ideal for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more. (Find out more at the end of this article.)

We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2026, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 are also available.

Each edition is available in British and U.S. versions. Both have the same content, but with different date formats, spelling and grammar. If you click on the links above, you should be directed to the correct version, based on your location. We’ve taken the anniversaries below from the British version.

1 Aug 1876 – 150 years ago
Colorado was admitted as the 38th state of the USA.

2 Aug 1976 – 50 years ago
Death of Fritz Lang, Austrian-born American film director. Best known for Metropolis, M, The Big Heat and the Dr. Mabuse series.

3 Aug 1956 – 70 years ago
Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor was renamed Liberty Island. It is the site of the Statue of Liberty.

4 – 5 Aug 1966 – 60 years ago
U.S. newspapers and radio stations republished an extract from a British newspaper article (dated March 1966) in which John Lennon of the Beatles said his band was ‘more popular than Jesus’. It provoked widespread protests. Radio stations in many states refused to play their records. He apologised on 12th August during a press conference in Chicago, Illinois to promote the start of their final tour.

5 Aug 1966 – 60 years ago
The Beatles’ album Revolver was released in the UK. (USA: 8th August.)

6 Aug 1926 – 100 years ago
The Japanese Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) was established when radio stations in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya merged.

7 Aug 1926 – 100 years ago
The first British Grand Prix motor race was held at Brooklands in Surrey.

8 Aug 1901 – 125 years ago
Birth of Ernest Lawrence, American nuclear physicist. Winner of the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing the cyclotron, a type of particle accelerator. He also worked on uranium isotope separation for the Manhattan Project that developed the nuclear bomb. He founded the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The chemical element lawrencium (Lr, 103) is named in his honour.

9 Aug 1936 – 90 years ago
Sprinter Jesse Owens became the first American to win four gold medals at a single Olympic Games. German leader Adolf Hitler was using the 1936 Games in Berlin to demonstrate ‘Aryan supremacy’. Owens, an African American, was the most successful athlete at the games, and is considered to have single-handedly crushed this myth.

10 Aug 1961 – 65 years ago
Vietnam War: the U.S. Army began testing the use of herbicides and defoliants on crops and forests in South Vietnam to deprive the Viet Cong of food and cover. The testing proved successful and led to Operation Ranch Hand (1962–71) in which 5 million acres of forest and 500,000 acres of crops were seriously damaged or destroyed. The chemicals were sprayed at around 50 times the concentration used in agriculture. One of the chemicals was Agent Orange, which has since been found to cause long-term health issues.

11 Aug 1956 – 70 years ago
Death of Jackson Pollock, American abstract expressionist artist. Known for his drip paintings. (Car crash, aged 44.)

12 Aug 1851 – 175 years ago
American inventor Isaac Singer was granted a U.S. patent for his improved sewing machine. (U.S. Patent 8,294.)
He established I. M. Singer & Co. (later renamed the Singer Sewing Machine Company, now the Singer Corporation) to manufacture it.

13 Aug 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of Fidel Castro, President of Cuba (1976–2008). First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (1965–2011). (Died 2016.)

14 Aug 1901 – 125 years ago
The first claimed powered flight (disputed). German-born American aviation pioneer Gustave Whitehead is reported to have flown his flying machine Number 21 in Connecticut, USA. If this flight took place, as many witnesses and a newspaper report claim it did, then it would be the world’s first sustained powered flight, beating the Wright Brothers by more than two years. Whitehead died in relative obscurity in 1927.

15 Aug 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, President of Greece (1995–2005). (Died 2016.)

16 Aug 2001 – 25 years ago
Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, was charged with theft after reportedly stealing 342 items worth £5 million from her estate. The charges were dropped in November 2002 when the Queen came to his defence.

17 Aug 1986 – 40 years ago
Pixar released its first film, Luxo Jr. The two-minute film stars a computer-animated desk lamp. It was the first CGI film to be nominated for an Academy Award.

18 Aug – Sep 1966 – 60 years ago
The Cultural Revolution in China – Red August, Beijing. 1,772 people were killed by Red Guards. Many of the victims were school teachers and principals. Over 30,000 homes were also ransacked and more than 85,000 families forced to leave the city.

19 Aug 1826 – 200 years ago
The Canada Company was incorporated in the UK. It was formed to aid the colonisation of Upper Canada (now Ontario).

20 Aug 1986 – 40 years ago
The Edmond post office shooting, Oklahoma, USA. Postal worker Patrick Sherrill shot twenty co-workers, killing fourteen of them, then committed suicide. It was the deadliest incident of civilian workplace violence in U.S. history (until 2019), and inspired the phrase ‘going postal’.

21 Aug 1961 – 65 years ago
The song Please Mr. Postman by The Marvelettes was released.
It became Motown’s first #1 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 record chart.

22 Aug 1996 – 30 years ago
U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the Welfare Reform Act into law. It required welfare recipients to work in exchange for temporary relief, imposed a maximum limit of two years before returning to work or training, and a maximum limit of five years cumulatively.

23 Aug 1926 – 100 years ago
Death of Rudolph Valentino, (the ‘Great Lover’), Italian film actor. Noted for his romantic dramas (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle, The Son of the Sheik). (Sepsis following surgery for peritonitis, aged 31 – his death prompted a massive outpouring of grief and hysteria from his fans.)

24 Aug 2006 – 20 years ago
Pluto was downgraded from a planet to a dwarf planet when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefined the term ‘planet’.

25 Aug 1976 – 50 years ago
The album Boston by the American rock band Boston was released. It is one of the best-selling debut albums in history. It was played and recorded almost entirely by musician Tom Scholz in his basement.

26 Aug 1966 – 21 Mar 1990 – 60 years ago
The Namibian War of Independence (also known as the South African Border War). SWAPO victory. South-West Africa gained its independence from South Africa and became the Republic of Namibia.

27 Aug 1976 – 50 years ago
Biologists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced that they had created the first man-made gene. It was an E. coli gene that corrected a harmful mutation that can occur in natural E. coli.

28 Aug 1996 – 30 years ago
Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana were divorced. Princess Diana could no longer be addressed as Her Royal Highness but would be known as Diana, Princess of Wales.

29 Aug 1876 – 150 years ago
Birth of Charles Kettering, American inventor and automotive engineer. Head of research at General Motors (1920–47). Inventor of the electric starter motor. He also helped develop leaded fuel, two-stroke diesel engines, coloured paint for cars, the refrigerant Freon, and the first aerial missile.

30 Aug 1976 – 50 years ago
The Notting Hill Carnival riot, London. Black youths threw bottles, stones and other missiles at police officers, injuring more than 100 of them, and smashed windows and set fires. It was a time of racial upheaval, and huge numbers of police attended the carnival anticipating trouble. They seemed ill-prepared for what they faced.

31 Aug 1936 – 90 years ago
Elizabeth Cowell became the first female television announcer in the UK, as one of three BBC Television presenters at the Radiolympia Exhibition in London. BBC Television officially launched on 2nd November 1936.

More anniversaries:

You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2026.

The 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions are also available if you work further ahead.

Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with a free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book, in British or U.S. versions.

“A brilliant resource as usual”

“This book continues to astound me with its meticulous attention to detail and painstaking research. I use it all the time to generate ideas for documentaries and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else who works in the media.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Chris

“A deeply researched goldmine of ideas”

“For journalists looking to plan ahead, the Date-a-base books offer a goldmine of ideas that are unavailable on the free internet. I’ve already recommended it to fellow colleagues at the BBC.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Richard

“Great reference”

“This is a fantastic and extremely useful book – very well compiled, detailed and organised.

Highly recommended for research or if you’re just curious about ‘on this day’ type history.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Mark

How to use the anniversaries:

How can you turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines, newspapers and websites? How do you get paid for writing them, and how can you make a great living from it?

Download our free guide Ditch Your Day Job. It tells you everything you need to know!

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in July 2026

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in July 2026

Posted on by admin

Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in July 2026 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)

Historical anniversaries are great for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more. (Find out more at the end of this article.)

We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2026, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 are also available.

Each edition is available in British and U.S. versions. Both have the same content, but with different date formats and spellings. If you click on the links above, you should be directed to the correct version, based on your location. We’ve taken the anniversaries below from the British version.

1 Jul 1966 – 60 years ago
The Medicare health insurance programme began operating in the USA. It offered health insurance to those aged 65 and older.

2 Jul 1976 – 50 years ago
North Vietnam and South Vietnam were reunited as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with Hanoi as its capital. Hanoi was formerly the capital of North Vietnam.

3 Jul 1901 – 125 years ago
Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch carried out their last train robbery in the USA. They robbed a Great Northern Railway train near Wagner, Montana and stole more than $60,000 (equivalent to nearly $2 million today). Several members of the gang were captured or killed shortly afterwards. Cassidy and Harry Longabough (the Sundance Kid) fled to Argentina.

4 Jul 1776 – 250 years ago
American Revolution: the U.S. Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress.

5 Jul 1946 – 80 years ago
The first bikini two-piece swimsuit was unveiled at a fashion show in Paris, France. It was created by French designer Louis Réard. It was named after the U.S. atomic bomb test that took place at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week (1st July).

6 Jul 1976 – 50 years ago
The U.S. Naval Academy began admitting women.

7 Jul 1946 – 80 years ago
The first American saint, Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, was canonised by Pope Pius XII.
In 1900 she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, which supported Italian immigrants to the USA.

8 Jul 1996 – 30 years ago
British scientists Bob Sinden and Julian Crampton revealed their plan to use genetically engineered mosquitoes as ‘flying syringes’ that would immunise their victims against diseases such as malaria by biting them. A worldwide patent was granted in 2002.

9 Jul 1901 – 125 years ago
Birth of Dame Barbara Cartland, British romantic novelist.
She wrote 723 novels, including 23 in a single year (1973). She was one of the best-selling authors of the 20th century, selling more than one billion copies of her books.

10 Jul 1946 – 80 years ago
Hungary set the world record for hyperinflation: 348.46 percent per day.
Prices doubled every eleven hours. By the end of the month, its currency, the pengo, was effectively worthless. A new currency, the forint, was introduced on 1st August. (1 forint equalled 400 octillion pengos.)

11 Jul 1976 – 50 years ago
The last slide rule in the USA was produced by Keuffel & Esser.
It was presented to the Smithsonian Institution. The company had been making slide rules since 1891. They were rendered obsolete by electronic calculators.

12 Jul 1776 to 4 Oct 1780 – 250 years ago
British explorer Captain James Cook’s third and final voyage.
He travelled to New Zealand and Hawaii, where he was killed in a violent exchange with the local people. Charles Clerke then took command of the voyage, but died of tuberculosis on the return journey. John Gore commanded the final stage of the return.

13 Jul 1951 – 75 years ago
Death of Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian-born American composer.
One of the most influential composers of the 20th century. Leader of the Second Viennese School. The Nazi Party labelled his music ‘degenerate’ because he was Jewish. He emigrated to the USA.

14 Jul 1946 – 80 years ago
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care by Benjamin Spock was published. It is one of the best-selling books in history (second only to the Bible in the USA during the 20th century).

15 Jul 2006 – 20 years ago
Twitter (now X), the online micro-blogging service, was launched.

16 Jul 1926 – 100 years ago
The world’s first underwater colour photograph was published in National Geographic magazine. The photo of a hogfish was taken off the Florida Keys in the USA. The photographer detonated several pounds of magnesium flash powder on a raft to illuminate the scene fifteen feet beneath the surface.

17 Jul 1936 to 1 Apr 1939 – 90 years ago
The Spanish Civil War. Nationalist victory.
On 26th July 1936, Germany and Italy joined the war, supporting General Francisco Franco’s Nationalists. Portugal also joined later. The Soviet Union, Mexico and France supported the Republicans.

18 Jul 1976 – 50 years ago
Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, aged 14, became the first female to score a perfect 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. She defected to the USA in 1989 and became a naturalised citizen in 2001.

19 Jul 2001 – 25 years ago
British politician and novelist Jeffrey Archer was convicted of committing perjury and perverting the course of justice during his 1986 libel trial against the Daily Star newspaper. He was sentenced to four years in prison. He was released in July 2003.

20 Jul 1976 – 50 years ago
NASA’s Viking 1 lander successfully landed on Mars and sent back the first photo taken from the surface of Mars.

21 to 23 Jul 1976 – 50 years ago
The first Legionnaire’s Disease outbreak.
The American Legion held its annual convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Within a week, 25 attendees had died from the first recognised cases of Legionnaire’s Disease. 221 attendees contracted the disease and 34 of them eventually died (some sources give different figures). The bacterium was discovered in the hotel’s air conditioning system, and was named Legionella after its first victims.

22 Jul 1976 – 50 years ago
Japan made its last reparation payment to the Philippines in respect of war crimes it committed during WWII. In 1956 it had been ordered to pay $550 million, spread over twenty years. Much (or all?) of this was paid in products and services rather than cash.

23 Jul 1986 – 40 years ago
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first genetically engineered vaccine for humans – a hepatitis B vaccine. The recombinant vaccine was derived from yeast and is still in use today. Previous hepatitis B vaccines were made from human blood, meaning that supply was low and there was a risk of contamination from HIV/AIDS and other infections. (Germany was the first to approve it in May 1986.)

24 Jul 1851 – 175 years ago
Window tax was abolished in England and Wales. The tax was introduced in 1696 and was based on the number of windows in a house. It led to many windows being bricked up. It was replaced by a tax on inhabited buildings. Scotland also had a window tax from 1748 to 1798, and France had one from 1798 to 1926.

25 Jul 1976 – 50 years ago
NASA’s Viking 1 spacecraft took the famous photo of the ‘Face on Mars’.
NASA released the photo on 31st July. Images from more recent missions show that it was an optical illusion.

26 Jul 1951 – 75 years ago
The world première of the Walt Disney film Alice in Wonderland, in London, UK. Released USA: 28th July. UK: 20th August.

27 Jul 1996 – 30 years ago
The Centennial Olympic Park bombing, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
A bomb exploded during the 1996 Olympic Games. Two people were killed and more than 100 injured.

28 Jul 1986 – 40 years ago
British estate agent (realtor) Suzy Lamplugh failed to return from an appointment in London, sparking the biggest missing person investigation since Lord Lucan. She has never been found.

29 Jul 1951 – 75 years ago
The first Miss World beauty pageant was held in London, UK.
The first pageant was known as the Festival of Britain Bikini Contest, but it became an annual event afterwards.

30 Jul 1966 – 60 years ago
The 1966 FIFA World Cup final. England beat Germany 4-2.
English player Geoff Hurst became the first (and only) player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final. At the time of writing this remains England’s only World Cup win.

31 Jul 1876 – 150 years ago
The U.S. Coast Guard Academy was established near New Bedford, Massachusetts (as the School of Instruction of the Revenue Cutter Service). It relocated to New London, Connecticut in 1932.

More anniversaries:

You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2026.

The 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions are also available if you work further ahead.

Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with a free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book, in British or U.S. versions.

“A brilliant resource as usual”

“This book continues to astound me with its meticulous attention to detail and painstaking research. I use it all the time to generate ideas for documentaries and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else who works in the media.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Chris

“A deeply researched goldmine of ideas”

“For journalists looking to plan ahead, the Date-a-base books offer a goldmine of ideas that are unavailable on the free internet. I’ve already recommended it to fellow colleagues at the BBC.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Richard

“Great reference”

“This is a fantastic and extremely useful book – very well compiled, detailed and organised.

Highly recommended for research or if you’re just curious about ‘on this day’ type history.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Mark

How to use the anniversaries:

How can you turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines, newspapers and websites? How do you get paid for writing them, and how can you make a great living from it?

Download our free guide Ditch Your Day Job. It tells you everything you need to know!

The Date-A-Base Book 2026 (Additions)

The Date-A-Base Book 2026 (Additions)

Posted on by admin

A reader has notified us that the following entry was omitted from The Date-A-Base Book 2026 but should have been included.

1 April 1876 – 150 years ago
English writer Lewis Carroll’s epic nonsense poem The Hunting of the Snark was published.
(Some sources give the publication date as 29th March 1876. Presentation copies he gave to his friends have this date, but the official publication date was 1st April 1876.)

If you spot any other entries that should have been included, please contact us at mail@ideas4writers.com

You can see our complete range of current Date-A-Base Books of historical anniversaries here.

30 newsworthy historical anniversaries in June 2026

30 newsworthy historical anniversaries in June 2026

Posted on by admin

Here are 30 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in June 2026 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)

Historical anniversaries are great for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more. (Find out more at the end of this article.)

We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2026, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 are also available.

Each edition is available in British and U.S. versions. Both have the same content, but with different date formats and spellings. If you click on the links above, you should be directed to the correct version, based on your location. We’ve taken the anniversaries below from the British version.

1 Jun 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of Marilyn Monroe, American film actress, model, singer and sex symbol (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, There’s No Business Like Show Business, The Seven Year Itch, Bus Stop, Some Like It Hot, The Misfits). (Died 1962.)

2 Jun 1966 – 60 years ago
NASA’s space probe Surveyor 1 landed on the Moon to collect data for the Apollo programme. It was the first U.S. craft to soft-land on another extraterrestrial body. (The Soviet Union’s Luna 9 achieved this four months earlier, on 3rd February.)

3 Jun 1956 – 70 years ago
British Rail renamed its Third Class service as Second Class. Second Class had been abolished in 1875, leaving First Class and Third Class. Second Class was renamed Standard Class in 1987.

4 Jun 1966 – 60 years ago
American singer Janis Joplin joined the psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company. Her first live performance with them was on 10th June at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, California.

5 Jun 1986 – 40 years ago
Excedrin deaths in the USA. Bruce Nickell from Auburn, Washington collapsed and died after taking four extra-strength Excedrin capsules. On 11th June, local bank manager Sue Snow died after taking two capsules. Investigations found they had both died from cyanide poisoning, and the product was withdrawn from sale. After further investigations, Stella Nickell, Bruce’s wife, was arrested. She was convicted of five counts of product tampering in May 1988, and was sentenced to 90 years in prison.

6 Jun 1946 – 80 years ago
The National Basketball Association (NBA) was founded in the USA (as the Basketball Association of America).

7 Jun 1951 – 75 years ago
The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) and International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) signed a cross-licensing patent agreement. This led to the standardisation of the U.S. telephone industry, with interchangeable telephone hardware being used throughout the country.

8 Jun 1876 – 150 years ago
Death of George Sand, French novelist. One of the most popular writers in Europe during her lifetime.

9 Jun 1946 – 80 years ago
Death of Rama VIII (also known as Ananda Mahidol), King of Siam/Thailand (1935–46).
(Shot dead in his bedroom – probably murdered.) Succeeded by Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX).

10 Jun 1901 – 125 years ago
Birth of Frederick Loewe, German-born American composer. Best known for his collaborations with the lyricist Alan Jay Lerner on Broadway musicals including Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady and Camelot.

11 Jun 1776 – 250 years ago
Birth of John Constable, British landscape artist.

12 Jun 1986 – 40 years ago
South Africa declared a national state of emergency following a wave of social and political unrest. News coverage was restricted, filming was banned in areas where there was unrest, security forces were given almost unlimited power, curfews were imposed and some gatherings were banned.

13 Jun 1966 – 60 years ago
In a landmark case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police must inform suspects of their constitutional rights (commonly known as the Miranda rights) before questioning them. (Miranda v. Arizona.)

14 Jun 1951 – 75 years ago
UNIVAC I, the first commercial computer built in the USA for business/administrative use (rather than scientific/military use) was officially dedicated at the U.S. Census Bureau.

15 to 18 Jun 1966 – 60 years ago
The world’s first hovercraft show (hovershow) was held at Browndown near Gosport in Hampshire, UK. The show was intended to promote export sales of hovercraft. On the first day of the show the Ministry of Defence announced that they had placed a £1 million order.

16 Jun 1966 – 60 years ago
The Black Power movement was established in the USA by civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael. It operated until the 1980s.

17 Jun 1946 – 80 years ago
The first mobile phone service in the USA was inaugurated in St. Louis, Missouri. SW Bell’s service used radio telephones installed in cars, allowing them to connect to the landline network. The equipment weighed around 80 pounds (36 kg).

18 Jun 1901 – 125 years ago
Birth of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. Youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II.
(Killed by Bolsheviks in 1918, aged 17, along with the rest of her family.)

19 Jun 1926 – 100 years ago
NBC, the American radio and television network, was founded.
It launched its radio service on 15th November 1926 and its television service in 1939.

20 Jun 2006 – 20 years ago
The Blu-ray high-definition digital video disc system was launched worldwide, beginning a format war with the rival HD DVD system. Blu-ray won the war, and the HD DVD format was discontinued in March 2008.

21 Jun 1961 – 65 years ago
The first full-scale seawater desalination plant in the USA was officially opened in Freeport, Texas by U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The plant actually began producing fresh water on 8th May.

22 Jun 1276 – 750 years ago
Death of Pope Innocent V (January – June 1276).
Succeeded by Adrian V on 11th July (but he also died a month later).

23 Jun 1926 – 100 years ago
The first SATs (Scholastic Aptitude Tests) were administered by the College Board in the USA. More than 8,000 students sat the test at over 300 test centres.

24 Jun 1901 – 125 years ago
Spanish artist Pablo Picasso held his first major solo exhibition, in Paris, France. He was 19 years old.

25 to 26 Jun 1876 – 150 years ago
Custer’s Last Stand.
The Great Sioux War of 1876 – the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Lakota/Northern Cheyenne/Arapaho victory.
The commander of the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry, George Armstrong Custer, and 267 of his cavalrymen and scouts were killed.

26 Jun 1976 – 50 years ago
The CN Tower in Toronto, Canada opened to the public. (The official opening was on 1st October.)
It was the world’s tallest free-standing building until it was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010.

27 Jun to Nov 1976 – 50 years ago
The first known outbreak of the Ebola virus occurred in Sudan (now South Sudan).
The first known victim was a storekeeper at a cotton factory in Nzaram, who died on 6th July. 284 people became infected in the first outbreak, and 151 died. A second outbreak occurred in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in August.

28 Jun 1926 – 100 years ago
Mercedes-Benz, the German luxury and commercial vehicle manufacturer, was founded when the Benz and Daimler companies merged.

29 Jun 1956 – 70 years ago
The Federal Aid Highway Act came into effect in the USA. It authorised the construction of the Interstate Highway System – the largest public works project in U.S. history at that time. Construction was meant to take 10 to 12 years but it actually took 35 years. The system was declared complete in October 1992.

30 Jun 2006 – 20 years ago
The USA removed Libya from its list of terrorist states.

More anniversaries:

You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2026.

The 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions are also available if you work further ahead.

Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with a free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book, in British or U.S. versions.

“A brilliant resource as usual”

“This book continues to astound me with its meticulous attention to detail and painstaking research. I use it all the time to generate ideas for documentaries and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else who works in the media.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Chris

“A deeply researched goldmine of ideas”

“For journalists looking to plan ahead, the Date-a-base books offer a goldmine of ideas that are unavailable on the free internet. I’ve already recommended it to fellow colleagues at the BBC.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Richard

“Great reference”

“This is a fantastic and extremely useful book – very well compiled, detailed and organised.

Highly recommended for research or if you’re just curious about ‘on this day’ type history.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Mark

How to use the anniversaries:

How can you turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines, newspapers and websites? How do you get paid for writing them, and how can you make a great living from it?

Download our free guide Ditch Your Day Job. It tells you everything you need to know!

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in May 2026

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in May 2026

Posted on by admin

Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in May 2026 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)

Historical anniversaries are great for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more. (Find out more at the end of this article.)

We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2026, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 are also available.

Each edition is available in British and U.S. versions. Both have the same content, but with different date formats and spellings. If you click on the links above, you should be directed to the correct version, based on your location. We’ve taken the anniversaries below from the British version.

1 May 1776 – 250 years ago
The Illuminati (officially the Bavarian Illuminati), a secret society, was founded in Bavaria, Germany. Its purpose was to oppose superstition, religious influence on public life, the government’s abuse of power, and the deliberate presentation of information in an obscure manner to prevent understanding and inquiry. The society was banned in 1784, but continued to operate underground. Other secret groups have used the same name, and are the subject of conspiracy theories.

2 May 1946 to 4th – 80 years ago
The Battle of Alcatraz. Alcatraz federal prison in San Francisco Bay, California, USA was taken over by prisoners after a failed escape attempt. A violent battle ensued.

3 May 1966 – 60 years ago
The game Twister was featured on The Tonight Show in the USA. Host Johnny Carson played it with actress and socialite Eva Gabor. It became an immediate success with people queuing up to buy it the next day. The manufacturer, Milton Bradley, had been considering withdrawing it as they thought it was too risqué.

4 May 1776 – 250 years ago
American Revolution: Rhode Island became the first of the Thirteen Colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown and declare independence.

5 May 1961 – 65 years ago
Alan Shepard became the first American to travel into space. He made a fifteen-minute sub-orbital flight aboard Freedom 7.

6 May 1966 – 60 years ago
The Moors Murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, were sentenced to life imprisonment in the UK. Brady was convicted of three murders and Hindley of two, though they later confessed to a total of five. Their victims were aged between 10 and 17.

7 May 1946 – 80 years ago
Sony, the Japanese consumer electronics company, was founded (as the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation).

8 May 1946 – 80 years ago
Two schoolgirls blew up a Soviet war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia to avenge the Soviet destruction of Estonian war memorials. They were arrested and sent to a forced labour camp. The memorial was replaced in September 1947 with a new memorial: the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn.

9 May 1951 – 75 years ago
The Lake District National Park was established in England. It was Britain’s second national park.

10 May to 10 Nov 1876 – 150 years ago
The Centennial International Exposition was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It celebrated the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was the first World’s Fair to be held in the USA.

11 May 2001 – 25 years ago
Death of Douglas Adams, British comic writer and dramatist. Best known for the radio/TV/novel series and film The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

12 May 1926 – 100 years ago
The first undisputed flight over the North Pole was made by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and fifteen others in the airship Norge. (Three earlier claims in 1908, 1909, and 9th May 1926 are all disputed.)

13 May 1946 – 80 years ago
The first trial of staff from the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria ended. All 61 defendants were convicted, with 58 sentenced to death and the others to life imprisonment. Nine of those sentenced to death later had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. The others were executed in May 1947.

14 May 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of Eric Morecambe, British comedian (Morecambe and Wise). (Died 1984.)

15 May 2001 – 25 years ago
The British High Court abolished price-fixing on non-prescription drugs. Supermarkets immediately slashed the price of over-the-counter medicines.

16 May 1966 – 60 years ago
The Beach Boys’ album Pet Sounds was released.

17 May 1996 – 30 years ago
Megan’s Law came into effect in the USA. The public must be notified if dangerous sex offenders are released into their community.

18 May 1961 – 65 years ago
The first community nuclear fallout shelter in the USA was dedicated: the Highlands Community Fallout Shelter in Boise, Idaho. It could hold 1,000 people. Family membership cost $100.

19 May 2001 – 25 years ago
Apple opened its first two retail stores in the USA, at Tysons Corner Center in Virginia, and Glendale Galleria in California.

20 to 29 May 526 – 1500 years ago
Antioch earthquake, Syria. Around 250,000 people were killed, especially in the city of Antioch where a fire destroyed most of the buildings that had been left standing. The ruins of the city are near the modern city of Antakya in Turkey.
The exact date of the earthquake is uncertain.

21 May 1901 – 125 years ago
Connecticut became the first U.S. state to introduce speed limits for motor vehicles: 12 mph in cities and 15 mph on rural roads.

22 May 1946 – 80 years ago
The first U.S. rocket to reach space (a WAC Corporal) was launched at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. (A German V-2 was the first rocket to reach space, in June 1944.)

23 May 1951 – 75 years ago
China annexed Tibet after pressuring Tibetan negotiators to sign the Seventeen Point Agreement – which many argue they had no real authority to sign and is therefore invalid. The Tibetan government remained in place, but was dissolved in 1959 following an uprising that forced the Dalai Lama into exile. Tibet Autonomous Region was established in 1965.

24 May 1956 – 70 years ago
The first Eurovision Song Contest was held in Lugano, Switzerland. It was won by Switzerland.

25 May 1726? – 300 years ago
The world’s first Circulating Library (lending library) was launched by Scottish poet and bookseller Allan Ramsay at his bookshop in Edinburgh, Scotland. He rented the books from his shop to his customers. Lending libraries soon became popular – several opened in England in 1728. (The date is uncertain. Sources give various dates between 1725 and 1728.)

26 May 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter, bandleader and composer. (Died 1991.)

27 May 1926 – 100 years ago
The Rif War in Morocco ended and the Republic of the Rif was dissolved.

28 May 1951 – 75 years ago
The first episode of the radio comedy series The Goon Show was broadcast in the UK. It ran until 1960. (The first series was called Crazy People).

29 May 1826 – 200 years ago
Birth of Ebenezer Butterick, American tailor who invented tissue paper dress patterns in multiple sizes with his wife Ellen. Their invention revolutionised home dressmaking.

30 May 1966 – 60 years ago
British rock band the Beatles released the song Paperback Writer. The B-side of the single was the song Rain, which was the first record to feature backward vocals.

31 May 1996 – 30 years ago
Death of Timothy Leary, American psychologist and writer. A leading advocate of LSD and other psychedelic drugs.

More anniversaries:

You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2026.

The 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions are also available if you work further ahead.

Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with a free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book, in British or U.S. versions.

“A brilliant resource as usual”

“This book continues to astound me with its meticulous attention to detail and painstaking research. I use it all the time to generate ideas for documentaries and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else who works in the media.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Chris

“A deeply researched goldmine of ideas”

“For journalists looking to plan ahead, the Date-a-base books offer a goldmine of ideas that are unavailable on the free internet. I’ve already recommended it to fellow colleagues at the BBC.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Richard

“Great reference”

“This is a fantastic and extremely useful book – very well compiled, detailed and organised.

Highly recommended for research or if you’re just curious about ‘on this day’ type history.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Mark

How to use the anniversaries:

How can you turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines, newspapers and websites? How do you get paid for writing them, and how can you make a great living from it?

Download our free guide Ditch Your Day Job. It tells you everything you need to know!

30 newsworthy historical anniversaries in April 2026

30 newsworthy historical anniversaries in April 2026

Posted on by admin

Here are 30 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in April 2026 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)

Historical anniversaries are great for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more. (Find out more at the end of this article.)

We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2026, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 are also available.

Each edition is available in British and U.S. versions. Both have the same content, but with different date formats and spellings. If you click on the links above, you should be directed to the correct version, based on your location. We’ve taken the anniversaries below from the British version.

1 Apr 1826 – 200 years ago
American inventor Samuel Morey was granted a U.S. patent for one of the first internal combustion engines. His engine worked in a different way to modern ones, and was more complex and less efficient. (U.S. Patent 4,378.)

2 Apr 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of Jack Brabham, Australian racing driver. Formula One world champion in 1959, 1960 and 1966. Founder of the Brabham racing team. The only driver to win the Formula One world championship in one of his own cars. (Died 2014.)

3 Apr 1901 – 125 years ago
Death of Richard D’Oyly Carte, British theatrical impresario. He built the Savoy Theatre and the Palace Theatre in London, managed some of the most important theatrical stars of the era, founded a touring opera company, and owned a chain of luxury hotels.

4 Apr 1826 – 200 years ago
Birth of Zénobe Gramme, Belgian electrical engineer. Best known for inventing the Gramme machine, the first successful industrial electric motor. It was also reversible and could function as a dynamo.

5 Apr 1976 – 50 years ago
Death of Howard Hughes, American business tycoon, record-breaking aviator, Hollywood film producer and philanthropist. One of the world’s richest people. Noted for his eccentric/reclusive lifestyle in later years.

6 Apr 1926 – 100 years ago
United Airlines was founded in the USA (as Varney Air Lines).
It became Boeing Air Transport in 1927 and United Air Lines in 1931.

7 Apr 1986 – 40 years ago
British home computer pioneer Sir Clive Sinclair sold his entire computer product range and the Sinclair brand name to Amstrad for £5 million ($6.73 million).

8 Apr 1946 – 80 years ago
Électricité de France (EDF), the world’s largest utility company, was founded when around 1,700 French energy producers, transporters and distributors were nationalised.

9 Apr 1626 – 400 years ago
Death of Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban, English philosopher and politician. Attorney General of England and Wales (1613–17), Lord High Chancellor of England (1617–21). He is known as the ‘Father of empiricism’ and his works influenced the scientific revolution in Europe.

10 Apr 1966 – 60 years ago
Death of Evelyn Waugh, British satirical novelist, biographer and travel writer (Decline and Fall, A Handful of Dust, Brideshead Revisited, Sword of Honour).

11 Apr 1951 – 75 years ago
Korean War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his command in Korea for insubordination. MacArthur retired from the military on 19th April. In his speech to Congress he said, ‘Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.’

12 Apr 1961 – 65 years ago
The first person in space.
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space and the first to orbit the Earth, in Vostok I.
He was made a Hero of the Soviet Union.

13 Apr 1986 – 40 years ago
The first recorded papal visit to a synagogue. Pope John Paul II visited the Great Synagogue of Rome in Italy.

14 Apr 1956 – 70 years ago
Ampex Corporation demonstrated the world’s first commercially successful videotape recorder (the VRX-1000) at the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
It was first used on the CBS Evening News in November 1956 to time delay the New York-based show by three hours for the West Coast. It cost $50,000, which only networks and large TV stations could afford.

15 Apr 1901 – 125 years ago
Birth of Joe Davis, British snooker and billiards player. He co-founded the World Snooker Championship in 1927, and won the first 15 championships. He was also the first recorded snooker player to score a maximum break (147).

16 Apr 1996 – 30 years ago
France Télécom launched its Wanadoo internet service. It took over the British service Freeserve in 2000 and was rebranded as Orange in 2006.

17 Apr 1951 – 75 years ago
The Peak District National Park was established. It was Britain’s first national park.

18 Apr 1946 – 80 years ago
Nuclear physicists John von Neumann from Hungary and Klaus Fuchs from Germany invented the hydrogen bomb at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, USA. (Secret U.S. Patent S-5292X.)

19 Apr 1951 – 75 years ago
The first Miss World beauty contest was held, in London, UK.

20 Apr 1951 – 75 years ago
Whirlwind I, the first real-time digital computer began operating. It was the first computer to allow interactive computing via a keyboard and visual display unit. It was built by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the U.S. Navy, who wanted it to control a flight simulator. It was also connected to a radar system and used for tracking aircraft and warning of air attacks.

21 Apr 1966 – 60 years ago
Grounation Day. Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visited Jamaica. This day is now celebrated annually by the Rastafari movement as one of their most important holy days.

22 Apr 2001 – 25 years ago
The world premiere of the computer-animated comedy film Shrek, in Westwood, California, USA.
Released USA: 18th May. UK: 29th June.

23 Apr 1951 – 75 years ago
The Associated Press began using the first teletypesetter. It allowed newspapers to automatically set type directly from wire transmissions.

24 Apr 1926 – 100 years ago
The Treaty of Berlin was signed by Germany and the Soviet Union. They pledged to remain neutral in the event of an attack on the other country by a third party during the next five years.
The treaty was renewed in 1931, but relations broke down after Hitler’s rise to power in 1933.

25 Apr 1961 – 65 years ago
American engineer Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor was granted a U.S. patent for the integrated circuit. (U.S. Patent 2,981,877.)

26 Apr 1956 – 70 years ago
The world’s first commercially successful container ship went into service, launching a revolution in transportation. The SS Ideal X was a converted WWII oil tanker, which carried 58 containers from Newark, New Jersey to Houston, Texas on its first voyage.
(It was not the first container ship. The first was the Clifford J. Rodgers, which went into service in 1955.)

27 Apr 1956 – 70 years ago
American heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano retired undefeated: 49 wins and no losses.

28 Apr 2001 – 25 years ago
American businessman Dennis Tito became the world’s first space tourist. He travelled on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a seven-day visit to the International Space Station. He paid $20 million (£12.5 million).

29 Apr 1946 – 80 years ago
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East was convened to try Japanese war criminals following the end of WWII. Those indicted included former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and 28 other leaders.

30 Apr 1961 – 65 years ago
The Soviet submarine K-19 was commissioned. It was the first Soviet nuclear submarine to be equipped with nuclear ballistic missiles. It remained in service until 1990, but experienced several breakdowns and accidents while in service.

More anniversaries:

You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2026.

The 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions are also available if you work further ahead.

Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with a free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book, in British or U.S. versions.

“A brilliant resource as usual”

“This book continues to astound me with its meticulous attention to detail and painstaking research. I use it all the time to generate ideas for documentaries and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else who works in the media.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Chris

“A deeply researched goldmine of ideas”

“For journalists looking to plan ahead, the Date-a-base books offer a goldmine of ideas that are unavailable on the free internet. I’ve already recommended it to fellow colleagues at the BBC.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Richard

“Great reference”

“This is a fantastic and extremely useful book – very well compiled, detailed and organised.

Highly recommended for research or if you’re just curious about ‘on this day’ type history.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Mark

How to use the anniversaries:

How can you turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines, newspapers and websites? How do you get paid for writing them, and how can you make a great living from it?

Download our free guide Ditch Your Day Job. It tells you everything you need to know!

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in March 2026

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in March 2026

Posted on by admin

Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in March 2026 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)

Historical anniversaries are great for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more. (Find out more at the end of this article.)

We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2026, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 are also available.

Each edition is available in British and U.S. versions. Both have the same content, but with different date formats and spellings. If you click on the links above, you should be directed to the correct version, based on your location. We’ve taken the anniversaries below from the British version.

1 Mar 1901 – 125 years ago
The Australian Army was founded.

2 Mar 1901 – 125 years ago
U.S. Steel (the United States Steel Corporation) was founded by J. P. Morgan when the Carnegie Steel Company merged with the Federal Steel Company and the National Steel Company.
Andrew Carnegie announced his retirement on 13th March and said he would become a philanthropist and give away his fortune.

3 Mar 1951 – 75 years ago
The first rock and roll record, Rocket 88, was recorded by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
(The Delta Cats were actually Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm). The record was released in April.

4 Mar 1966 – 60 years ago
British rock musician John Lennon famously said the Beatles were ‘more popular than Jesus’ in an interview for the London Evening Standard. His comment drew no complaints in the UK, but generated huge controversy when it was reprinted in the USA in July. In August, many U.S. radio stations staged public burnings of the Beatles’ records and memorabilia.

5 Mar 1936 – 90 years ago
The Supermarine Spitfire fighter plane made its first flight, in Eastleigh, Southampton, UK.

6 Mar 1951 – 75 years ago
Death of Ivor Novello, Welsh composer, playwright, actor, songwriter, entertainer and manager.

7 Mar 1876 – 150 years ago
Scottish-born American inventor Alexander Graham Bell was granted a U.S. patent for the telephone. The patent application was hotly contested by Elisha Gray, who had filed his own patent on the same day as Bell (14th February). (U.S. Patent 174,465.)

8 Mar 1936 – 90 years ago
The first stock car race was held at Daytona Beach, Florida, USA.

9 Mar 1946 – 80 years ago
The Burnden Park football (soccer) stadium disaster, Bolton, UK.
33 people were killed and hundreds injured in a crush during a match between Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City. The crush was caused by overcrowding, and led to a control on crowd sizes being introduced.

10 Mar 1876 – 150 years ago
The world’s first telephone call. Alexander Graham Bell used his telephone to call his assistant, Thomas Watson, after spilling acid in his laboratory. The first words spoken by telephone were: ‘Mr Watson, come here. I want you.’

11 Mar 2011 – 15 years ago
The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Japan. 15,897 people were killed, 2,533 went missing and nearly a quarter of a million were made homeless. The earthquake shifted Japan’s main island, Honshu, eight feet (2.4 metres) east. Three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant went into meltdown. It was the second-largest nuclear accident in history, after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

12 Mar 1951 – 75 years ago
Hank Ketcham’s comic strip Dennis the Menace first appeared in 16 newspapers in the USA.
(Not to be confused with the British comic strip of the same name, which first appeared in the British children’s comic The Beano a few days later. (Issue dated 17th March. On sale from 15th March.)

13 Mar 1996 – 30 years ago
The Dunblane massacre, Scotland.
Thomas Hamilton, a former scout leader, entered Dunblane Primary School, shot dead 16 children and a teacher, and wounded 15 others. He then committed suicide. As a result, the private ownership of handguns was banned in the UK.

14 Mar 1976 – 50 years ago
Death of Busby Berkeley, American film director and choreographer. Known for his elaborate musical production numbers, which often featured large numbers of dancing girls forming kaleidoscopic patterns.

15 Mar 1986 – 40 years ago
Cosmonauts Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyev became the first occupants of the Soviet Union’s Mir space station. They remained on board for 50 days.

16 Mar 1926 – 100 years ago
American physicist and inventor Robert H. Goddard launched the world’s first successful liquid-fuelled rocket, in Auburn, Massachusetts. It reached a height of 41 feet (12.5 metres) and landed 184 feet (56 metres) away, demonstrating that liquid propellants were possible. (The site is now a National Historic Landmark: the Goddard Rocket Launching Site.)

17 to 18 Mar 1936 – 90 years ago
The Great St. Patrick’s Day flood, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Warm weather melted snow and ice, and combined with torrential rain to flood the city. About 100,000 buildings were destroyed, steel mills were devastated and workers were made unemployed. The flood caused $250 million worth of damage (equivalent to around $4.75 billion today).

18 Mar 1996 – 30 years ago
The Ozone Disco fire, Quezon City, Philippines.
The worst fire in Philippine history broke out in the nightclub. There were around 350 patrons and 40 staff inside the club at the time, though it was only licensed to hold 35 people. The only exit was a small door that opened inwards, fire extinguishers were defective, and the sprinklers did not work. 162 people were killed and 95 injured. (Cause: electrical fire in the DJ’s booth.) The club’s owners and numerous government officials were subsequently convicted of negligence.

19 Mar 1951 – 75 years ago
The novel The Caine Mutiny by American author Herman Wouk was published.
Wouk was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the book, and it was adapted into a film of the same name in 1954.

20 Mar 1956 – 70 years ago
Tunisia gained its independence from France.

21 Mar 2006 – 20 years ago
Twitter (later renamed X), the online social networking/micro-blogging service, was founded. Its website went live on 15th July.

22 Mar 2001 – 25 years ago
Death of William Hanna, American cartoon animator. Co-founder of Hanna-Barbera (with Joseph Barbera). They created popular characters including Tom and Jerry, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, the Flintstones, and the Jetsons.

23 Mar 1956 – 70 years ago
Pakistan became the world’s first Islamic Republic.

24 Mar 1776 – 250 years ago
Death of John Harrison, British carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, which enabled sailors to calculate longitude at sea.

25 Mar 1946 – 80 years ago
London’s Heathrow Airport was opened (as London Airport – it was renamed Heathrow Airport in 1966).

26 Mar 2001 – 25 years ago
The UK Post Office was rebranded as Consignia, at a cost of around £2 million. The new name proved extremely unpopular and it was renamed Royal Mail Group in 2002.

27 Mar 1851 – 175 years ago
The first recorded sighting of Yosemite Valley in California, USA by non-Native Americans (the Mariposa Battalion).

28 Mar 1776 – 250 years ago
The Presidio of San Francisco was established in California, USA. It became a fortified U.S. Army post and is now a park and a National Historic Landmark.

29 and 30 Mar 1901 – 125 years ago
The first federal elections were held in Australia, to elect members of the first Parliament of Australia.

30 Mar 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of Ingvar Kamprad, Swedish businessman who founded the furniture retail company IKEA. (Died 2018.)

31 Mar 1951 – 75 years ago
UNIVAC I was unveiled. It was the first commercial computer built in the USA that was designed for business and administrative use (rather than scientific/ military use). It was built by the Sperry Rand Corporation for the U.S. Census Bureau.
It was officially dedicated on 14th June.

More anniversaries:

You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2026.

The 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions are also available if you work further ahead.

Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with a free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book, in British or U.S. versions.

“A brilliant resource as usual”

“This book continues to astound me with its meticulous attention to detail and painstaking research. I use it all the time to generate ideas for documentaries and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else who works in the media.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Chris

“A deeply researched goldmine of ideas”

“For journalists looking to plan ahead, the Date-a-base books offer a goldmine of ideas that are unavailable on the free internet. I’ve already recommended it to fellow colleagues at the BBC.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Richard

“Great reference”

“This is a fantastic and extremely useful book – very well compiled, detailed and organised.

Highly recommended for research or if you’re just curious about ‘on this day’ type history.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Mark

How to use the anniversaries:

How can you turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines, newspapers and websites? How do you get paid for writing them, and how can you make a great living from it?

Download our free guide Ditch Your Day Job. It tells you everything you need to know!

29 newsworthy historical anniversaries in February 2026

29 newsworthy historical anniversaries in February 2026

Posted on by admin

Here are 29 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in February 2026 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)

Historical anniversaries are great for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more. (Find out more at the end of this article.)

We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2026, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 are also available.

Each edition is available in British and U.S. versions. Both have the same content, but with different date formats and spellings. If you click on the links above, you should be directed to the correct version, based on your location. We’ve taken the anniversaries below from the British version.

1 Feb 1951 – 75 years ago
The first live television broadcast of an atomic explosion.
KTLA in Los Angeles, California, USA broadcast an atomic test at Frenchman Flats in Nevada, filming it from a mountain 250 miles away.

2 Feb 1946 – 80 years ago
Trygve Lie of Norway became the first Secretary-General of the United Nations (until 1952).

3 Feb 1966 – 60 years ago
The Soviet Union’s space probe Luna 9 became the first craft to achieve a soft landing on the Moon.
(The USA’s Surveyor 1 achieved the same feat four months later, on 2nd June.)

4 Feb 1826 – 200 years ago
James Fenimore Cooper’s historical romance novel The Last of the Mohicans was published.

5 Feb 1996 – 30 years ago
The first genetically modified food went on sale in the UK: tomato purée made from tomatoes which had had the ‘rotting gene’ removed. The product was withdrawn in 1999 following strong opposition.

6 Feb 1951 – 75 years ago
The Woodbridge train derailment, New Jersey, USA.
One of the worst rail disasters in U.S. history. 86 people were killed and more than 500 injured.

7 Feb 1936 – 90 years ago
The first official flag of the Vice President of the USA was established. The current design was adopted in 1975.

8 Feb 1876 to 1877 – 150 years ago
The Great Sioux War, USA.
Following the discovery of gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, the USA announced that it would take possession of the hills, remove the Native Americans, and relocate them to smaller reservations. The Native Americans refused to cede their lands to the USA and launched a series of battles. U.S. Victory.

9 Feb 1926 – 100 years ago
The Atlanta Board of Education in Georgia, USA banned the teaching of the theory of evolution in schools. The ban was lifted in May when legal advisers said they had no authority to ban the textbooks they had listed.

10 Feb 1996 – 30 years ago
IBM’s supercomputer Deep Blue defeated the reigning world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, in the first of their six games. It was the first time a computer beat a world champion under tournament conditions. Kasparov won the tournament 4–2. But he was defeated when he played Deep Blue again the following year.

11 Feb 1826 – 200 years ago
University College London (UCL) was founded (as London University).

12 Feb 2001 – 25 years ago
NASA’s NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft landed on Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid. It continued to transmit data for 16 days.

13 Feb 1826 – 200 years ago
The American Temperance Society was established in Boston, Massachusetts.

14 Feb 1876 – 150 years ago
Electrical engineers Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray both filed U.S. patents for the invention of the telephone on the same day. There is considerable debate as to whose patent was filed first. Bell was awarded the patent on 7th March (U.S. Patent 174,465), but Gray challenged it and said Bell had stolen his design. An examiner concluded that although Gray had invented some of the essential components of the telephone, and had discussed them with Bell, Bell was the first to put them together as a telephone, test them, and write the idea down.

15 Feb 1946 – 80 years ago
ENIAC (the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was dedicated at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in the USA. It was proclaimed as the world’s first large-scale general-purpose digital computer.
(It was not actually the first, but it was the first to be made public. Britain’s Colossus and Germany’s Z3 already existed, but were secret at that time. )

16 Feb 1956 – 70 years ago
McMurdo Station, a U.S. Antarctic research station, was established on Ross Island. It is now the largest community in Antarctica, and can support up to 1,258 residents.

17 Feb 1776 – 250 years ago
Volume I of Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was published.
Volumes II and III were published in 1781 and Volumes IV, V and VI in 1788–89.

18 Feb 1901 – 125 years ago
British engineer Hubert Cecil Booth patented his invention of the vacuum cleaner.
His system was too large for domestic use. It, and was taken to people’s homes on a horse-drawn carriage, where employees sucked dust out of the building using hoses. He founded the British Vacuum Cleaner and Engineering Co. He also founded Goblin Vacuum Cleaners in the 1930s. (He also designed Ferris wheels, suspension bridges and factories.)

19 Feb 2001 – 25 years ago
The first case of foot-and-mouth disease in the 2001 UK outbreak was detected at an abattoir in Essex.
On 21st February the European Commission banned all British milk, meat and livestock exports.

20 Feb 1986 – 40 years ago
The Soviet Union launched the Mir space station. It remained in orbit until 2001.

21 Feb 1986 – 40 years ago
Nintendo released the fantasy action-adventure video game The Legend of Zelda. It was the first game in a series that continues to this day. Several games in the series are regarded as being among the greatest video games of all time.

22 Feb 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of Kenneth Williams, British comedy actor and comedian. Star of numerous radio and television shows and 26 Carry On… films. (Died 1988.)

23 Feb 1976 – 50 years ago
Death of L. S. Lowry, British artist. Known for his bleak industrial landscapes of north-west England, populated with ‘matchstick men’.

24 Feb 1826 – 200 years ago
The First Anglo–Burmese War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Yandabo. British victory, which led to the establishment of British rule in India. (The war began in March 1824.)

25 Feb to 9 Mar 1951 – 75 years ago
The first Pan American Games were held, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

26 Feb 1951 – 75 years ago
American author James Jones’s novel From Here to Eternity was published.

27 Feb 1996 – 30 years ago
The Pokémon media franchise was launched by Japanese video game designer Satoshi Tajiri.

28 Feb 1901 – 125 years ago
Birth of Linus Pauling, American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, writer and educator. One of the most important scientists in history. Winner of the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research into chemical bonds, and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign against nuclear weapons testing.

29 Feb 1996 – 30 years ago
A court ruled that British actress and novelist Joan Collins was entitled to keep a $1.3 million advance from the publisher Random House, plus a further $1.3 million for delivering her manuscripts on time. Random House had claimed that her two books were unpublishable and had demanded their money back.

More anniversaries:

You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2026.

The 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions are also available if you work further ahead.

Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with a free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book, in British or U.S. versions.

“A brilliant resource as usual”

“This book continues to astound me with its meticulous attention to detail and painstaking research. I use it all the time to generate ideas for documentaries and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else who works in the media.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Chris

“A deeply researched goldmine of ideas”

“For journalists looking to plan ahead, the Date-a-base books offer a goldmine of ideas that are unavailable on the free internet. I’ve already recommended it to fellow colleagues at the BBC.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Richard

“Great reference”

“This is a fantastic and extremely useful book – very well compiled, detailed and organised.

Highly recommended for research or if you’re just curious about ‘on this day’ type history.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Mark

How to use the anniversaries:

How can you turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines, newspapers and websites? How do you get paid for writing them, and how can you make a great living from it?

Download our free guide Ditch Your Day Job. It tells you everything you need to know!

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in January 2026

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in January 2026

Posted on by admin

Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in January 2026 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)

Historical anniversaries are great for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more. (Find out more at the end of this article.)

We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2026, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 are also available.

Each edition is available in British and U.S. versions. Both have the same content, but with different date formats and spellings. If you click on the links above, you should be directed to the correct version, based on your location. We’ve taken the anniversaries below from the British version.

1 Jan 1776 – 250 years ago
American Revolution: according to tradition, George Washington raised the first American flag, the Grand Union Flag, at Prospect Hill in Charlestown, Somerville, Massachusetts on this date.

2 Jan 1946 – 80 years ago
King Zog I of Albania abdicated as he was unable to resume the throne following World War II. He had been in exile in the UK since 1939. Prime Minister Enver Hoxha declared Albania a republic on 11th January.

3 Jan 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of George Martin, British record producer, arranger, composer, musician and audio engineer. Best known for producing the Beatles’ records, and sometimes referred to as the ‘Fifth Beatle’. (Died 2016.)

4 Jan 1986 – 40 years ago
Death of Phil Lynott, British-born Irish rock singer and musician (Thin Lizzy).
(Alcohol and drug-related septicaemia, pneumonia and heart failure, aged 36.)

5 Jan 1976 – 50 years ago
Pol Pot’s communist Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia proclaimed a new constitution and renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea. The regime collapsed in 1979 and the country was renamed the People’s Republic of Kampuchea until May 1989 when it became the State of Cambodia.

6 Jan 1946 – 80 years ago
The first general election was held in North Vietnam, to elect members of the National Assembly. The communist-led Viet Minh won the most seats. The National Assembly held its first session on 2nd March.

7 to 12 Jan 1901 – 125 years ago
The first national bowling tournament sanctioned by the American Bowling Congress (now the United States Bowling Congress) was held in Chicago, Illinois.

8 Jan 1946 – 80 years ago
American singer Elvis Presley received his first guitar for his 11th birthday. (Apparently he would have preferred a bicycle or a rifle.)

9 Jan 1951 – 75 years ago
The beginning of the jet age – the world’s first passenger jet flight.
A U.S. de Havilland Comet flew from Chicago, Illinois to New York City. The Comet officially entered service with BOAC (now British Airways) on 2nd May 1952.

10 Jan 1901 – 125 years ago
The first major oil field in the USA was discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas. It marked that beginning of the U.S. oil industry.

11 Jan 1951 – 75 years ago
The USA established the Nevada Test Site (now the Nevada National Security Site) for testing nuclear devices. The first test was carried out on 27th January when a 1-kiloton bomb was dropped on Frenchman Flat, a dry lake bed.

12 Jan 1966 – 60 years ago
The first episode of the television series Batman was broadcast on ABC in the USA. It ran for three seasons until 1968.

13 Jan 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of Michael Bond, British children’s writer who created the characters Paddington Bear and Monsieur Pamplemousse. (Died 2017.)

14 Jan 1976 – 50 years ago
The first episode of the science fiction television series The Bionic Woman was broadcast on ABC in the USA. It was a spin-off show from The Six Million Dollar Man and ran for three seasons.

15 Jan 1961 – 65 years ago
The Supremes (then known as the Primettes) were signed to Motown Records. A condition of signing was that they changed their name.

16 Jan 1901 – 125 years ago
Birth of Fulgencio Batista, President of Cuba (1940–44), President/dictator of Cuba (1952–59).

17 Jan 1966 – 60 years ago
The Palomares Incident, Spain.
A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs collided with a Boeing Stratotanker over the Mediterranean Sea. The Stratotanker exploded, killing all four crew. Three of the B-52’s seven crew were killed. Three of the bombs landed near Palomares and were recovered – the non-nuclear explosives in two of them had detonated, contaminating the area with plutonium. The fourth bomb was recovered safely on 7th April.

18 Jan 1951 – 75 years ago
Mount Lamington volcano in Papua New Guinea erupted. About 3,000 people were killed.

19 Jan 1986 – 40 years ago
The first computer virus to affect IBM-compatible personal computers appeared.
The virus, called (c) Brain, was created by two brothers from Pakistan, and spread via infected floppy disks. The very first computer virus was Creeper, which appeared in 1971 and infected DEC PDP-10 mainframe computers. The first virus to infect personal computers was Elk Cloner, which appeared in 1982 and infected Apple II computers.

20 Jan 1961 – 65 years ago
John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States.
On the same day, American actress Marilyn Monroe travelled to Mexico, where she was granted a divorce from her third husband, the playwright Arthur Miller. It was much easier to obtain a divorce in Mexico than in the USA, and she chose this date because the media was focused on John F. Kennedy’s inauguration as U.S. President.

21 Jan 1901 – 125 years ago
Death of Elisha Gray, American electrical engineer. Co-founder of Western Electric. Regarded by many as the true inventor of the telephone rather than Alexander Graham Bell.

22 Jan 1901 – 125 years ago
Death of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Succeeded by her son, Edward VII.

23 Jan 1986 – 40 years ago
The first members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:
Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley.

24 Jan 1986 to 5 Feb 1987 – 40 years ago
The Wapping Dispute. Six thousands newspaper workers in London began a year-long strike against News International. There were several outbreaks of violence during the strike and over 1,000 arrests. The strike ultimately failed, ending restrictive trade union practices in the British newspaper publishing industry.

25 Jan 1726 – 300 years ago
Death of Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer. Noted for his accurate maps of Europe and the Americas.

26 Jan 1926 – 100 years ago
Scottish engineer and inventor John Logie Baird gave the first demonstration of his television system to members of the Royal Institution and a reporter from The Times newspaper, at his laboratory in London.

27 Jan 1901 – 125 years ago
Death of Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer. Best known for his operas, including Aida, Requiem, Otello and Falstaff.

28 Jan 1986 – 40 years ago
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
The U.S. space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lift-off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. All seven astronauts were killed, including the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe.

29 Jan 1996 – 30 years ago
France announced that it would no longer test nuclear weapons.
It had carried out six tests (of a planned series of eight) at Moruroa Atoll and Fangataufa Atoll in the Pacific between September 1995 and January 1996, leading to international protests and boycotts of French products.

30 Jan 1826 – 200 years ago
The Menai Suspension Bridge was opened in the UK.
It links the island of Anglesey to mainland Wales. It was the world’s first major suspension bridge.

31 Jan 1976 – 50 years ago
Death of Ernesto Miranda, American labourer whose conviction for kidnapping, rape and armed robbery was reversed when it was revealed that he had been interrogated by police and signed a confession without being told he had the right to remain silent or to have a lawyer present. This landmark case led to the police having to give ‘Miranda warnings’ to everyone they arrested, to inform them of their rights.

More anniversaries:

You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2026.

The 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions are also available if you work further ahead.

Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with a free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book, in British or U.S. versions.

“A brilliant resource as usual”

“This book continues to astound me with its meticulous attention to detail and painstaking research. I use it all the time to generate ideas for documentaries and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else who works in the media.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Chris

“A deeply researched goldmine of ideas”

“For journalists looking to plan ahead, the Date-a-base books offer a goldmine of ideas that are unavailable on the free internet. I’ve already recommended it to fellow colleagues at the BBC.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Richard

“Great reference”

“This is a fantastic and extremely useful book – very well compiled, detailed and organised.

Highly recommended for research or if you’re just curious about ‘on this day’ type history.”

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— Mark

How to use the anniversaries:

How can you turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines, newspapers and websites? How do you get paid for writing them, and how can you make a great living from it?

Download our free guide Ditch Your Day Job. It tells you everything you need to know!

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