Tag: exhibition ideas

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in December 2026

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in December 2026

Posted on by admin

Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in December 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 Dec 1936 – 90 years ago
The first U.S. patent for a large-scale commercial hydroponics plant was awarded to Frank Farrington Lyons and Ernest Brundin. (U.S. Patent 2,062,755.) It described how plants could be grown in soil-less medium with their roots suspended in mineral-rich water.

2 Dec 1961 – 65 years ago
Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared that he was a Marxist-Leninist and announced that Cuba was going to adopt Communism.

3 Dec 1936 – 90 years ago
New York City’s classical music radio station WQXR was founded.

4 Dec 1961 – 65 years ago
Birth control pills became available on the NHS in the UK.

5 Dec 1776 – 250 years ago
Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honour society in the USA, and the first Greek-letter fraternity, was founded, at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

6 Dec 1876 – 150 years ago
The first cremation in the USA took place, at the LeMoyne Crematory in North Franklin Township in Pennsylvania. (It closed in 1901.)

7 Dec 1946 – 80 years ago
The Winecoff Hotel fire, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. 119 people were killed, including the hotel’s owners. Many of those who died jumped or fell to their deaths in an effort to escape the fire. It remains the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history. (Cause: unknown.)

8 Dec 1976 – 50 years ago
The album Hotel California by the American rock band the Eagles was released. It was their biggest-selling studio album, and one of the best-selling albums of all time. It sold more than 32 million copies.

9 Dec 1946 – 80 years ago
The U.S. Military’s experimental rocket-powered plane the XS-1 made its first powered flight. It became the Bell X-1 and was in service until 1958.

10 Dec 1901 – 125 years ago
The first Nobel Prize ceremony was held, in Stockholm, Sweden. Prizes were awarded for notable achievements in the fields of chemistry, literature, peace, physiology or medicine, and physics. The prizes were presented by the King of Sweden.

11 Dec 1946 – 80 years ago
UNICEF, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, was established in New York City, USA.

12 Dec 1901 – 125 years ago
The first radio transmission was sent across the Atlantic Ocean. Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi transmitted the letter ‘S’ in Morse code from Poldhu in Cornwall, UK to Newfoundland, Canada.

13 Dec 1961 – 65 years ago
Death of Grandma Moses, American folk artist.

14 Dec 1946 – 80 years ago
Birth of Patty Duke, American stage, film and television actress (The Miracle Worker, The Patty Duke Show, Valley of the Dolls, and more). She was also a mental health advocate, and President of the Screen Actors Guild (1985–88). (Died 2016.)

15 Dec 1966 – 60 years ago
Death of Walt Disney, American animator and film and television producer. Co-founder (with his brother Roy) of the Walt Disney Company. Creator of popular cartoon characters including Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Creator of Disneyland.

16 Dec 1976 – 50 years ago
The swine flu mass-vaccination programme in the USA was scrapped after it caused Guillain-Barre syndrome (which can cause paralysis) in dozens of people. The U.S. government had planned to vaccinate everyone in the country, but only around twenty per cent of the population had been vaccinated by the time the programme was scrapped. Pharmaceutical companies settled hundreds of compensation claims over the next few years.

17 Dec 1956 – 70 years ago
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation on buses was unconstitutional, upholding the verdict of the federal district court of Alabama. On 20th December it ordered Alabama to desegregate its buses, and the twelve-month Montgomery bus boycott ended.

18 Dec 1926 – 100 years ago
The term ‘photon’ was coined by American physical chemist G. N. Lewis in a letter published in the journal Nature.

19 Dec 1946 to 1 Aug 1954 – 80 years ago
The First Indochina War (also called the French Indochina War). The Vietnamese fought the French, who opposed Vietnamese independence. Viet Minh victory, resulting in the partition of Vietnam into north and south.

20 Dec 1951 – 75 years ago
EBR-1 (Experimental Breeder Reactor 1) became the first nuclear reactor to generate electricity, at Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho, USA. It generated enough electricity to power four light bulbs – though its output was gradually increased.

21 Dec 1946 – 80 years ago
The U.S. première of Frank Capra’s film It’s A Wonderful Life.
Released: 7th January 1947. UK première: 6th April 1947.

22 Dec 2001 – 25 years ago
British terrorist Richard Reid (the ‘shoe bomber’) attempted to blow up a transatlantic flight from Paris, France to Miami, Florida, USA using explosives hidden in his shoes. A U.S. court sentenced him to life imprisonment in January 2003.

23 Dec 1986 – 40 years ago
The experimental American plane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, became the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refuelling.

24 Dec 1951 – 75 years ago
Libya declared its independence from the UK and France. Idris was proclaimed King of Libya.

25 Dec 1876 – 150 years ago
Birth of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. He is known in Pakistan as the ‘Father of the Nation’, and his birthday is a national holiday. He was the first Governor-General of Pakistan (1947–48 – died in office).

26 Dec 1946 – 80 years ago
The Flamingo Las Vegas hotel opened in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. It was the first luxury hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. It was built by the mobster Bugsy Siegel.

27 Dec 1901 – 125 years ago
Birth of Marlene Dietrich, German-born American stage and film actress, singer, entertainer, and humanitarian. One of the greatest Hollywood actresses of all time.

28 Dec 1926 – 100 years ago
The highest recorded first-class cricket innings: 1,107 (Victoria against New South Wales, Australia.)

29 Dec 1876 – 150 years ago
The Ashtabula River railroad disaster, Ohio, USA. The Ashtabula Bridge failed as the Pacific Express train was passing over it. The carriages plunged into the river, and oil lamps and heating stoves overturned and set the carriages on fire. 92 people were killed and 64 injured.

30 Dec 1986 – 40 years ago
The British government announced that the use of canaries in coal mines was to be phased out in favour of hand-held electronic gas detectors. British mines still used around 200 canaries at that time.

31 Dec 1951 – 75 years ago
The Marshall Plan ended. It was set up by the USA after WWII to help rebuild Europe, and distributed $13 billion in foreign aid. By the time it ended, the economies of all participating countries had surpassed their pre-war levels. It was replaced by the Mutual Security Agency, which was established on 10th October 1951.

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.

Reviews

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 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 November 2026

30 newsworthy historical anniversaries in November 2026

Posted on by admin

Here are 30 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in November 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 Nov 1936 – 90 years ago
The Berlin–Rome Axis: Italian dictator Benito Mussolini first used the term ‘axis’ to describe the alliance between Italy and Germany.

2 Nov 1976 – 50 years ago
Jimmy Carter was elected as the 39th President of the United States. (Inaugurated 20th January 1977.)

3 Nov 1926 – 100 years ago
Death of Annie Oakley, American markswoman who starred in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show.

4 Nov 1966 – 60 years ago
The Florence flood, Italy. The Arno river burst its banks after days of intense rainfall. The city was devastated, thousands were made homeless or lost their businesses, and 35 people were killed. Millions of Renaissance books, manuscripts and artworks were damaged or destroyed. Restoration work is still ongoing to this day.

5 Nov 1946 – 80 years ago
The world’s first mobile bank went into service on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. It was operated by the National Bank of Scotland (now the Royal Bank of Scotland, which is part of the NatWest Group) and served crofters around Stornoway.

6 Nov 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of Frank Carson, Northern Irish comedian and entertainer. (Died 2012.)

7 Nov 1976 – 50 years ago
Argentina established a clandestine naval base (Corbeta Uruguay) on Thule Island in the South Sandwich Islands (a British overseas territory). This was part of its attempt to legitimise its claim over the Falkland Islands.
(Britain destroyed the base at the end of the Falklands War.)

8 Nov 1966 – 60 years ago
Edward Brooke of Massachusetts became the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate.
He was inaugurated on 3rd January 1967.

9 Nov 2001 – 25 years ago
The Dolby Theatre opened in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (as the Kodak Theatre).
It is the venue for the annual Academy Awards ceremony.

10 Nov 1951 – 75 years ago
The Direct Distance Dialling telephone service was launched in the USA and area codes were introduced.
For the first time, people could call each other right across the country without having to go through an operator.

11 Nov 1926 – 100 years ago
The United States Numbered Highway System was established, including the iconic Route 66 (Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California). The Interstate Highway System was established in June 1956 and supplemented or replaced many of the Numbered Highway System Routes. Route 66 was removed from the highway system in June 1985, but sections of it still remain in Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico and Arizona, where it is recognised as Historic Route 66.

12 Nov 1966 – 60 years ago
The pop/rock song I’m a Believer by the Monkees was released.
It was certified gold within two days of release and sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.

13 Nov 1851 – 175 years ago
The first telegraph service between London, UK and Paris, France began operating.

14 Nov 2006 – 20 years ago
Microsoft released its Zune portable media player. It was discontinued in October 2011.

15 Nov 1926 – 100 years ago
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) radio network was launched in the USA.

16 Nov 1966 – 60 years ago
American neurosurgeon Sam Sheppard was cleared of killing his pregnant wife, Marilyn, in 1954. The U.S. Supreme Court had ordered a second trial after determining that the ‘carnival atmosphere’ surrounding his 1954 trial had made it impossible for due process to have been followed. He had served ten years in prison.
(He died of liver failure caused by alcoholism in 1970, aged 46.)

17 Nov 1901 – 125 years ago
Birth of Lee Strasberg, Polish/Ukrainian-born American actor, theatrical director and teacher. The chief proponent of method acting in the USA. Director of the Actors Studio (1951–82).

18 Nov 1626 – 400 years ago
St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City was completed. It is the largest church in the world (measured by its interior).

19 Nov 1956 – 70 years ago
The Ford Motor Company established its Edsel brand, named in honour of founder Henry Ford’s son, Edsel.
The cars were regarded by customers as unattractive and low quality, and they were launched during a recession, so they did not sell well. The brand was discontinued in 1959 after making a loss of over $250 million (equivalent to more than $2 billion today).

20 Nov 1976 – 50 years ago
The U.S. première of the sports drama film Rocky.
Released: 3rd December. UK: 7th January 1977.

21 Nov 1936 – 90 years ago
The first television gardening programme: In Your Garden, presented by Mr Middleton (C. H. Middleton), was broadcast by the BBC.

22 Nov 1946 – 80 years ago
The first Biro ballpoint pens went on sale in the UK.

23 Nov 1996 – 30 years ago
The first Tamagotchi handheld virtual pets were released by Bandai in Japan.
(Rest of the world: 1st May 1997.)

24 Nov 1951 – 75 years ago
The play Gigi, based on the novel by Colette, opened on Broadway.
Audrey Hepburn (then an unknown actress) played the lead role.

25 Nov 1986 – 40 years ago
The King Fahd Causeway opened. It links Saudi Arabia and Bahrain across the Persian Gulf.

26 Nov 1926 – 100 years ago
Death of John Browning, American firearms designer and inventor. Founder of the Browning Arms Company. He pioneered the development of modern repeating, semi-automatic and automatic weapons.

27 Nov 1826 – 200 years ago
British chemist John Walker invented the first successful friction match.
He refused to patent it, meaning that anyone was free to make them.

28 Nov 1966 – 60 years ago
The Burundi coup. Prime Minister Michel Micombero overthrew the monarchy and installed himself as Burundi’s first president (until 1976 when he was ousted in another coup). He died in exile in Somalia in 1983, aged 42.
(The former king, Ntare V, was executed in 1972, aged 24.)

29 Nov 1951 – 75 years ago
The world’s first business computer, the LEO I (Lyons Electronic Office), went into service, running business applications for J. Lyons & Co. It was based on the EDSAC computer developed at the University of Cambridge, which Lyons had helped finance. In 1954 Lyons formed LEO Computers and marketed the computer to other companies. LEO Computers later became part of ICL and then Fujitsu.

30 Nov 1901 – 125 years ago
British inventor Frank Hornby was granted a UK patent for Meccano, a model construction system consisting of reusable parts. (UK Patent 190,100,587.) He sold it as ‘Mechanics Made Easy’. It was renamed Meccano in 1907.

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.

Reviews

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 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 October 2026

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in October 2026

Posted on by admin

Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in October 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 Oct 2001 – 25 years ago
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton was suspended from practising law for five years by the Supreme Court. He resigned from the Supreme Court in November.

2 Oct 1901 – 125 years ago
The British Royal Navy’s first submarine, HMS Holland 1, was launched. It remained in service until 1913 when it was lost while under tow. It was recovered in 1982 and is now on display at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport, Hampshire.

3 Oct 1226 – 800 years ago
Death of Saint Francis of Assisi, Italian friar, deacon and mystic. One of the most venerated religious figures in Christianity. Founder of the Franciscan Order.

4 Oct 1976 – 50 years ago
The InterCity 125 High Speed Train service began operating in the UK.

5 Oct 1986 – 40 years ago
Iran–Contra Scandal: former U.S. Marine Eugene Hasenfus was captured by Nicaraguan Sandinistas after his plane was shot down. As a result, it was discovered that the USA was illegally selling arms to Iran and using the money to fund covert operations in Nicaragua.

6 Oct 1961 – 65 years ago
Cold War: U.S. President John F. Kennedy advised Americans to build bomb shelters to protect themselves from nuclear fallout in the event of an attack by the Soviet Union.

7 Oct 1826 – 200 years ago
The first commercial railway in the USA began operating. The gravity-powered Granite Railway ran for three miles from Quincy to Milton in Massachusetts. It carried granite to construct the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston. Most of the route is now part of the Southeast Expressway.

8 Oct 1996 – 30 years ago
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat made his first public visit to Israel, for talks with Israeli President Ezer Weizman.

9 Oct 1776 – 250 years ago
Mission San Francisco de Asís (commonly known as Mission Dolores) was founded in what is now San Francisco, California, USA. It is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco.

10 Oct 1966 – 60 years ago
The Beach Boys’ hit song Good Vibrations was released. It was the most expensive single ever recorded at that time, costing around $75,000 (about $650,000 today). It used 90 hours’ of tape recorded at four different studios over a period of seven months.

11 Oct 1976 – 50 years ago
The Toxic Substances Control Act came into effect in the USA. It regulates the production, testing and sale of chemical substances.

12 Oct 1901 – 125 years ago
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt renamed the Executive Mansion the White House. It is the official residence and workplace of the U.S. President.

13 Oct 1966 – 60 years ago
The newly formed Jimi Hendrix Experience played their first live performance: a fifteen-minute set at the Novelty in Evreux, France.

14 Oct 1926 – 100 years ago
The children’s book Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne was published.

15 Oct 1951 – 75 years ago
The first episode of the television sitcom I Love Lucy was broadcast on CBS in the USA. It ran for six seasons until 1957.

16 Oct 1946 – 80 years ago
The Nuremberg executions. Ten prominent leaders of Nazi Germany were hanged for war crimes they committed during WWII.

17 Oct 1956 – 70 years ago
Britain’s first nuclear power station, Calder Hall in Cumbria, was officially opened. It closed in March 2003 after operating for nearly 47 years.

18 Oct 1826 – 200 years ago
The last English State Lottery was held (until 1994). State lotteries were then abolished until the National Lottery was launched in 1994.

19 Oct 1936 – 90 years ago
Death of Lu Xun, Chinese writer, poet and critic. Considered the greatest Chinese writer of the 20th century, and the founder of modern Chinese literature.

20 Oct 1946 – 80 years ago
The puppet character Muffin the Mule made his first television appearance on the BBC series For the Children. He proved popular and was given his own series, Muffin the Mule, which ran from 1952 to 1955. (The series also ran on ITV from 1956 to 1957.)

21 Oct 1966 – 60 years ago
The Aberfan disaster, South Wales. A colliery spoil tip (also known as a slag heap) collapsed and fell onto the village. Worst hit was Pantglas Junior School. 116 children and 28 adults were killed.

22 Oct 1946 – 80 years ago
Operation Osoaviakhim. Soviet forces captured more than 2,200 German technical specialists and their families from the Soviet occupation zone in Germany and forcibly relocated them to work in the Soviet Union.
The USA did the same thing (Operation Paperclip) but far less aggressively.

23 Oct 2001 – 25 years ago
Apple released its first iPod digital music player.

24 Oct 1901 – 125 years ago
American schoolteacher Annie Edson Taylor, aged 63, became the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. She performed the stunt for financial reasons as she had fallen on hard times.

25 Oct 2001 – 25 years ago
Microsoft released its Windows XP operating system.

26 Oct 1951 – 75 years ago
Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the UK for the second time (until 1955). He was also Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945.

27 Oct 1946 – 80 years ago
The French Fourth Republic was established. The current French Fifth Republic was established in October 1958.

28 Oct 1726 – 300 years ago
Jonathan Swift’s novel Gulliver’s Travels was published.

29 Oct 1986 – 40 years ago
The M25 orbital motorway around Greater London was officially opened.

30 Oct 1951 – 75 years ago
Dartmoor National Park was established in the UK.

31 Oct 1926 – 100 years ago
Death of Harry Houdini, Hungarian-born American magician and escape artist. (Peritonitis, aged 52.) He had recently been punched repeatedly in the stomach, during an incident in his dressing room. Some historians believe he did not seek medical treatment for appendicitis because the pain from the punches was masking it. Others believe the punches ruptured his appendix.

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 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!

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!