Tag: film ideas

30 newsworthy historical anniversaries in April 2027

30 newsworthy historical anniversaries in April 2027

Posted on by admin

Here are 30 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in April 2027 (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.

We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2027, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 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 Apr 1947 – 80 years ago
The school leaving age in the UK was raised to 15.

2 Apr 1977 – 50 years ago
British race horse Red Rum won the Grand National for a historic third time. It is considered one of the greatest moments in sporting history. The record still stands today.

3 Apr 1987 – 40 years ago
The late Duchess of Windsor’s jewellery was sold at an auction in Geneva, Switzerland for £31 million – six times the expected figure.

4 Apr 1947 – 80 years ago
The International Civil Aviation Organisation was founded.

5 Apr 1827 – 200 years ago
Birth of Joseph Lister, British surgeon and pathologist. Best known as a pioneer of antiseptic surgery, which revolutionised surgery.

6 Apr 1927 – 100 years ago
The first U.S. federal pilot licence (Licence No. 1) was awarded to William P. MacCracken Jr., the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics.

7 Apr 1947 – 80 years ago
Death of Henry Ford, American industrialist, car manufacturer and inventor. Founder of the Ford Motor Company. He revolutionised factory production by introducing assembly lines, and brought motorised transport to the masses.

8 Apr 1952 – 75 years ago
U.S. President Harry S. Truman nationalised the U.S. steel industry in an attempt to avert a nationwide strike that might endanger the Korean War effort. The steel companies had this decision overturned on 2nd June and a 53-day strike began on that day.

9 Apr 1967 – 60 years ago
The Boeing 737 made its first flight. It entered service in February 1968 and became the world’s best-selling jet airliner. It remains in production.

10 Apr 1877 (or 2 Apr?) – 150 years ago
The world’s first human cannonball act was performed at the Royal Aquarium in London, UK. Fourteen-year-old ‘Zazel’ (Rossa Matilda Richter) was fired from a spring-loaded cannon. (Some sources say she was 17.) She later broke her back when a launch went wrong.

11 Apr 1727 – 300 years ago
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Baroque masterpiece The St. Matthew Passion was performed for the first time, at the St. Thomas Church, in Leipzig, Germany.

12 Apr 1877 – 150 years ago
Britain annexed the Transvaal in South Africa.
This led to the First Boer War (1880–81) – Boer victory.

13 Apr 1852 – 175 years ago
Birth of Frank Winfield Woolworth, American entrepreneur. Founder of the F. W. Woolworth Company. It was one of the most successful low-cost retail chains in the USA and worldwide, but shut down in 1997.

14 Apr 1927 – 100 years ago
The first Volvo car – the ÖV 4 series – rolled off the production line in Gothenburg, Sweden. (Volvo states that the company was officially founded on this date, though it had actually existed since 1915.

15 Apr 1877 – 150 years ago
The first telephone was installed, in Massachusetts, USA. It enabled people to call each other from Boston to Somerville.

16 Apr 1947 – 80 years ago
The term ‘Cold War’ was used for the first time when American financier and presidential advisor Bernard Baruch described the relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union.

17 Apr 1937 – 90 years ago
Daffy Duck made his debut appearance in the Warner Brothers’ cartoon Porky’s Duck Hunt.

18 Apr 2002 – 25 years ago
Death of Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer and adventurer. Best known for the Kon-Tiki and Ra expeditions, which showed that earlier civilisations could have crossed the oceans.

19 Apr 1877 – 150 years ago
Birth of Ole Evinrude, Norwegian-born American engineer, inventor and entrepreneur. Inventor of the first practical outboard motor.

20 Apr 1977 – 50 years ago
Woody Allen’s film Annie Hall was released in the USA.

21 Apr 1952 – 75 years ago
Death of Sir Stafford Cripps, British politician. Chancellor of the Exchequer (1947–50).
Known for his harsh policies that rescued the country from economic crisis.

22 Apr 1977 – 50 years ago
Fibre optic cables were used to carry live telephone calls for the first time, by General Telephone and Electronics in Long Beach, California, USA.

23 to 24 Apr 1967 – 60 years ago
The Soviet Union launched Soyuz 1, the first manned space flight of the Soyuz programme. Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov orbited the Earth 18 times, but was killed when the parachute on his descent module failed to deploy properly. He was the first person to die during a space flight. This was his second space flight – he also commanded Voskhod 1 in 1964.

24 Apr 1967 – 60 years ago
The Doors’ rock song Light My Fire was released. It reached #1 on the Billboard chart in the USA in July.

25 Apr 2002 – 25 years ago
South African-born British entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth became the first African in space, and the world’s second space tourist. He paid $20 million to spend eight days on the International Space Station. While in space, he helped with research on AIDS and the human genome. (Dennis Tito of the USA was the first space tourist in 2001.)

26 Apr 1937 – 90 years ago
Spanish Civil War: German planes bombed the Basque town of Guernica. The event is regarded as the Nazi’s practice for WWII. The artist Picasso depicted the battle in his famous painting Guernica.

27 Apr 1927 – 100 years ago
Birth of Coretta Scott King, American civil rights activist and writer. Wife of Martin Luther King Jr. She took over the leadership of his campaign for racial equality after his assassination, and successfully campaigned to make his birthday a national holiday. (Died 2006.)

28 Apr 1967 – 60 years ago
American world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army after being drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. He was arrested, his boxing licence was suspended, and he was stripped of his title. He was found guilty at a trial held on 20th June. As he was unable to box, he spent his time giving inspirational speeches at schools and colleges. The Supreme Court overturned the decision in June 1971, but he had lost four years’ boxing time when he would have been at the prime of his career. He became world heavyweight champion again in 1974 and 1978.

29 Apr 1852 – 175 years ago
The first edition of Roget’s Thesaurus was published.

30 Apr 1927 – 100 years ago
Film stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford become the first celebrities to leave their hand prints, footprints and autographs in cement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, USA. The theatre officially opened on 18th May, by which time Norma Talmadge had also added hers. (Some sources claim that Talmadge was the first to add hers, when she accidentally stepped in wet cement outside the theatre and launched the tradition.)

More anniversaries:

You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2027.

The 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

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in March 2027

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in March 2027

Posted on by admin

Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in March 2027 (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.

We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2027, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 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 Mar 1947 – 80 years ago
The International Monetary Fund began operating.

2 Mar 1902 – 125 years ago
Birth of Edward Condon, American nuclear physicist. He was a pioneer of quantum mechanics, helped with the development of radar during WWII, and was part of the Manhattan Project that developed the first nuclear weapons. He is also known for the Condon Report, a U.S. Air Force review of UFOs, which concluded that there were rational explanations for the sightings and that further study of UFOs was unlikely to yield any scientific discoveries. (Died 1974.)

3 Mar 1877 – 150 years ago
Rutherford B. Hayes was privately inaugurated as the 19th President of the United States. His public inauguration was on Monday 5th March. Congressional leaders had only just declared him the winner of the disputed 1876 election after months of debate and compromise.

4 Mar 1877 – 150 years ago
Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake was performed for the first time, by the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow.

5 Mar 1827 – 200 years ago
Death of Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist and chemist. Best known for inventing the battery and discovering methane. The SI unit of electrical potential (the volt) is named in his honour.

6 Mar 1927 – 100 years ago
The U.S. première of Fritz Lang’s science fiction film Metropolis. Released: 13th March. German première: 10th January.

7 Mar 1962 – 65 years ago
The USA launched the world’s first astronomical satellite/space telescope, Orbiting Solar Observatory 1 (OSO 1). Its primary mission was to study the Sun, especially the sun spot cycle. It re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere in October 1981. Eight OSO satellites were launched between 1962 and 1975.

8 Mar 1977 – 50 years ago
The U.S. Army disclosed that it had secretly carried out 239 germ warfare experiments in the open air between 1949 and 1969. Live (but supposedly harmless) bugs were released in public locations, including bus terminals and airports, in Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco, Key West and Panama City to learn how to wage biological warfare and how to defend against it. The Army also sprayed simulated germs into the air at several military bases. The San Francisco tests, carried out in 1950, are believed to have caused at least eleven cases of pneumonia.

9 Mar 1987 – 40 years ago
U2’s album The Joshua Tree was released.

10 Mar 1987 – 40 years ago
The Vatican published Instruction on Respect for Human Life in its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation. The 40-page document opposed all artificial means of fertilisation, including artificial insemination, in vitro fertilisation, embryo transfer, and surrogate motherhood. It also opposed experiments on living embryos.

11 Mar 1927 – 100 years ago
The world’s first armoured car (security van) robbery. The Flathead Gang stole more than $104,000 from an armoured car near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA after placing a landmine in the road. The gang’s leader, Polish-born Paul Jaworski, was sentenced to death for a separate payroll robbery and was executed in January 1929.

12 Mar 1947 – 80 years ago
U.S. President Harry S. Truman proclaimed the Truman Doctrine. It granted economic and military aid to Greece and Turkey, which were threatened by the spread of communism.

13 Mar 1997 – 30 years ago
The Phoenix Lights incident, Arizona, USA – one of the most widely witnessed UFO sightings. A V-shaped object was seen by hundreds of people, with some witnesses reporting it to be over a mile long.

14 Mar 1927 – 100 years ago
Pan American Airways (Pan Am) was founded. It ceased operations in 1991.

15 to 19 Mar 1877 – 150 years ago
The first cricket Test match was played: Australia v. England in Melbourne, Australia.

16 Mar 1827 – 200 years ago
The first African American newspaper, Freedom’s Journal, was published in the USA. It ran weekly for two years and ceased publication in 1829.

17 Mar 1967 – 60 years ago
The psychedelic rock song Purple Haze by the Jimi Hendrix Experience was released in the UK. (USA: 19th June.)

18 Mar 1877 – 150 years ago
Birth of Edgar Cayce, American clairvoyant and mystic.

19 Mar 1927 – 100 years ago
The Victor Talking Machine Company launched the Victrola 10-50. It was the first mass-produced, commercially successful record player with a built-in record changer.

20 Mar 1727 (or 1726) – 300 years ago
Death of Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. One of the most influential scientists in history. A key figure in the Enlightenment. Best known for discovering the law of gravity and the laws of motion, and for building the first practical reflecting telescope.

21 Mar 1952 – 75 years ago
The Moondog Coronation Ball was held in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. It is generally regarded as the world’s first rock and roll concert.

22 Mar 1997 – 30 years ago
Comet Hale–Bopp made its closest approach to Earth. It was a spectacular object and could be seen clearly with the naked eye even before the sky was dark. It reached perihelion on 1st April.

23 Mar 1987 – 40 years ago
The first Soul Train Music Awards were presented. The awards honour the best R&B, soul, rap, jazz and gospel music from the previous year.

24 Mar 1877 – 150 years ago
The annual University Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge was declared a dead heat – the only time this happened. The decision was controversial and led to the introduction of finishing posts and umpires.

25 Mar 1957 – 70 years ago
The Treaty of Rome was signed. It created the European Economic Community (EEC), which was founded on 1st January 1958. It was renamed the European Community in 1993 and was dissolved in 2009 having been replaced by the European Union.

26 Mar 1827 – 200 years ago
Death of Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer and pianist. One of the most important classical composers.

27 Mar 1952 – 75 years ago
Sun Records was founded by Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

28 Mar 1997 – 30 years ago
The Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (also known as the Bangkok Treaty) came into effect. Member states must not develop, manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapons.

29 Mar 1927 – 100 years ago
British racing driver Henry Seagrave set a new land speed record of 203.79 mph (327.97 km/h) at Daytona Beach in Florida, USA. He was the first person to travel over 200 mph. He broke the record again in March 1929, but abandoned all further attempts after witnessing the death of American driver Lee Bible, who was making his own attempt.

30 Mar 2002 – 25 years ago
Death of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Mother of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Wife of King George VI.

31 Mar 1967 – 60 years ago
American rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix set fire to his electric guitar on stage during a legendary performance at the London Astoria. He required hospital treatment afterwards for burns to his hands. He also set fire to his guitar at the Monterey Pop Festival on 16th June.

More anniversaries:

You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2027.

The 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

28 newsworthy historical anniversaries in February 2027

28 newsworthy historical anniversaries in February 2027

Posted on by admin

Here are 28 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in February 2027 (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 2027, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 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 Feb 1952 – 75 years ago
The British Post Office began using detector vans to track down users of unlicensed television sets.

2 Feb 1852 – 175 years ago
The first modern public toilets in the UK opened in Fleet Street, London. These toilets were for men only. The first public toilet for women opened in Bedford Street a week later, on 11th February. The first (temporary) public toilets in the UK were installed at the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, London, from May to October 1851.

3 Feb 1947 – 80 years ago
The coldest temperature ever recorded in North America: ‑63°C (‑81.4°F) at Snag, Yukon, Canada.

4 Feb 1977 – 50 years ago
The album Rumours by Fleetwood Mac was released. It became one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling over 40 million copies worldwide.

5 Feb 1952 – 75 years ago
New York City began using its famous Walk/Don’t Walk signs at pedestrian crossings. The first one was installed in Times Square. (These were probably not the first in the USA. There are reports of Walk/Don’t Walk signs in Washington, D.C. in 1938–39.)

6 Feb 1952 – 75 years ago
Death of George VI, King of the United Kingdom (1936–52).
His funeral was held on 15th February.
He was succeeded by his daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.

7 Feb 1947 – 80 years ago
The first of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves in Khirbat Qumran (now in the West Bank, Palestine).

8 Feb 1957 – 70 years ago
Death of John von Neumann, Hungarian-born American mathematician, physicist and inventor. A child prodigy, he became one of the world’s leading mathematicians and made significant contributions to numerous fields of mathematics, physics, economics, computing and statistics.

9 Feb 1977 – 50 years ago
Death of Sergey Ilyushin, Soviet Russian aircraft designer. The Ilyushin Il-2 strike aircraft and Il-4 bomber were used extensively during WWII. After the war he designed civil aircraft and commercial airliners including the Il-18 and Il-62, which were used by Aeroflot.

10 Feb 1947 – 80 years ago
World War II: the Paris Peace Treaties were signed by the Allies and Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Italy and Romania. The five defeated Axis countries were allowed to resume their responsibilities as sovereign states in exchange for paying war reparations, handing over wanted war criminals, committing to minority rights, and accepting border changes.

11 Feb 1937 – 90 years ago
The Flint (Michigan) sit-down strike against General Motors (GM) ended. This famous strike led to the formal establishment and recognition of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) trade union, and later to the unionisation of the entire U.S. car industry. The strike had begun on 30th December 1936, and ended when GM agreed to recognise the UAW.

12 Feb 1877 – 150 years ago
Alexander Graham Bell made the first long-distance telephone call, from the Lyceum in Salem, Massachusetts, USA. He phoned his assistant, Thomas Watson, at the offices of the Boston Globe newspaper twelve miles away. Afterwards, a reporter used the telephone to file his report for the next day’s edition of the Globe – the first news dispatch filed by telephone.

13 Feb 1967 – 60 years ago
The Beatles songs Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields were released (double A-side).

14 Feb 1852 – 175 years ago
Great Ormond Street Hospital opened in London, UK (as the Hospital for Sick Children).

15 Feb 2002 – 25 years ago
Investigators found dozens of decomposing bodies in woods and buildings surrounding the Tri-State Crematory in Georgia, USA, following a tip-off. More than 300 bodies were eventually found. They had been sent to the facility for cremation but were dumped rather than being cremated, and relatives were given concrete dust. The operator of the facility, Ray Brent Marsh, was convicted and imprisoned. His motive remains unknown.

16 to 17 Feb 1962 – 65 years ago
The North Sea flood of 1962. The North Sea coast of West Germany and the Netherlands suffered severe flooding caused by an extratropical cyclone. 347 people were killed, including 315 in the city of Hamburg. 60,000 homes were destroyed.

17 Feb 1947 – 80 years ago
Voice of America began transmitting radio broadcasts into the Soviet Union in an effort to counter harmful Soviet Cold War propaganda.

18 Feb 1977 – 50 years ago
The first test flight of the USA’s first space shuttle Enterprise. It was mounted on top of a Boeing 747 for this flight. It flew freely for the first time on 12th August. It was supposed to have been retrofitted for space flight once testing was concluded, but later design changes made this impractical. It never flew into space.

19 Feb 1937 – 90 years ago
Yekatit 12, Ethiopia. Following the attempted assassination of Viceroy Rodolfo Graziani in Addis Ababa by two Eritrean nationalists, the occupying Italian forces carried out a vicious massacre of Ethiopians over the next three days. Up to 30,000 people were killed. It was one of the worst atrocities carried out by the occupying Italian forces.

20 Feb 1927 – 100 years ago
Birth of Hubert de Givenchy, French fashion designer. Founder of the luxury fashion and perfume house Givenchy. He designed clothing for Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. (Died 2018.)

21 Feb 1952 – 75 years ago
Language Martyrs’ Day, Bangladesh. Students from the University of Dhaka, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) held a protest against the government’s refusal to accept Bengali as an official state language. Police opened fire and several people were killed. This day is now commemorated as Language Martyrs’ Day, and internationally (since 2000) as International Mother Language Day.

22 Feb 1987 – 40 years ago
The Vatican released the document Donum Vitae: Instruction On Respect For Human Life In Its Origin And On The Dignity Of Procreation. It condemned artificial insemination, genetic engineering, surrogate motherhood, test-tube babies, cloning, and pre-determining a foetus’s sex or other qualities, which it said was ‘morally illicit’.

23 Feb 1927 – 100 years ago
The Radio Act of 1927 came into effect in the USA and the newly established Federal Radio Commission began regulating radio frequencies, power output, and hours of operation for radio broadcasters. It was renamed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1934.

24 Feb 1852 – 175 years ago
Birth of George Moore, Irish novelist, short story writer, playwright, poet and art critic. Regarded as the first great modern Irish novelist.

25 Feb 1947 – 80 years ago
Prussia was officially abolished and became part of Germany.

26 Feb 1952 – 75 years ago
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed its own atomic bomb and would test it before the end of the year.
It successfully detonated it in the Monte Bello Islands on 3rd October.

27 Feb 1827 – 200 years ago
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was founded. It was the first railway in the USA to carry both passengers and freight. The first section of track opened in 1830.
It became part of the CSX Transportation network in 1987.

28 Feb 1947 – 80 years ago
The February 28 Incident, Taiwan (also known as the 228 Incident or the 228 Massacre). An anti-government uprising was violently suppressed. Thousands of people were killed (estimates range from 10,000 to over 30,000). This incident marked the beginning of the White Terror period, and sparked the Taiwanese independence movement.

More anniversaries:

You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2027.

The 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 January 2027

31 newsworthy historical anniversaries in January 2027

Posted on by admin

Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in January 2027 (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 2027, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 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 Jan 1937 – 90 years ago
Speedometers and safety glass in windscreens became compulsory in all vehicles in Britain.

2 Jan 1777 – 250 years ago
Birth of Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor.
The leading German sculptor of the 19th century.

3 Jan 1947 – 80 years ago
Proceedings of the U.S. Congress were televised for the first time.

4 Jan 1877 – 150 years ago
Death of Cornelius Vanderbilt, American business magnate and philanthropist. He became one of the richest people in the world after investing in the growing railway and shipping industries. Patriarch of the Vanderbilt family.

5 Jan 1902 – 125 years ago
Birth of Stella Gibbons, British writer, journalist and poet. Best known for her novel Cold Comfort Farm. (Died 1989.)

6 Jan 1947 – 80 years ago
U.S. President Harry S. Truman gave the first televised State of the Union address.

7 Jan 1927 – 100 years ago
The transatlantic telephone service (between New York and London) became available for commercial use. The calls were transmitted by radio, and were subject to atmospheric interference. Calls cost £15 for the first three minutes (equivalent to about £600 today) and £5 for each additional minute. The service could only handle one call at a time.

8 Jan 2002 – 25 years ago
The No Child Left Behind Act came into effect in the USA.

9 Jan 1987 – 40 years ago
Iran–Contra Affair: the White House released a memo that had been prepared for U.S. President Ronald Reagan. It showed a definite link between U.S. arms sales to Iran and the release of U.S. hostages in Lebanon.

10 Jan 1927 – 100 years ago
The German première of Fritz Lang’s epic science fiction film Metropolis.
U.S. première: 6th March.

11 Jan 1902 – 125 years ago
The first issue of Popular Mechanics magazine was published in the USA.

12 Jan 1967 – 60 years ago
American psychology professor James Bedford became the first person to have his body cryonically preserved (frozen) following his death, with the intention of future resuscitation.

13 or 18 Jan 1962 to 1971 – 65 years ago
Vietnam War: Operation Ranch Hand. U.S. forces sprayed around 20 million gallons of herbicide and defoliants (including Agent Orange) on rural areas of South Vietnam to deprive the Viet Cong of food and ground cover.

14 Jan 1952 – 75 years ago
The first episode of Today (also known as The Today Show) was broadcast on NBC TV in the USA.

15 Jan 1997 – 30 years ago
Princess Diana walked through a minefield in Angola, visited victims, and called for an international ban on landmines.

16 Jan 1967 – 60 years ago
Death of Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist and educator.
Best known for inventing the Van de Graaff generator, which generates a high-voltage electrostatic charge.

17 Jan 1902 – 125 years ago
The first issue of The Times Literary Supplement was published in the UK.

18 Jan 1977 – 50 years ago
The previously unknown Legionella bacterium (which causes Legionnaires’ disease and Pontiac fever) was identified for the first time. It was found in the air-conditioning system of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, where the first recorded outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease killed 34 people in July 1976.

19 Jan 1952 – 75 years ago
The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) announced that black golfers would be allowed to take part in PGA-sponsored events.
(However, golf would not become fully integrated until 1961.)

20 Jan 1987 – 40 years ago
Terry Waite, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s special envoy in the Middle East, was kidnapped in Beirut, Lebanon while on a peace mission to negotiate the release of hostages.
(Released November 1991.)

21 Jan 1977 – 50 years ago
On his second day in office, U.S. President Jimmy Carter pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders, fulfilling one of his key campaign promises.

22 Jan 1957 – 70 years ago
The ‘Mad Bomber’ (George Metesky) was arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut, USA. He had terrorised New York City since 1940, planting more than 30 bombs.
He was found legally insane and incompetent to stand trial, and in April he was committed to a hospital for the criminally insane. (Released in 1973, died in 1994.)

23 Jan 1967 – 60 years ago
The British government announced the formation of Milton Keynes, a city-sized new town in Buckinghamshire. The area to be developed was largely farmland at that time. It would also encompass three existing towns and 21 villages.

24 Jan 1962 – 65 years ago
Brian Epstein became The Beatles’ manager.
They signed a five-year contract with him. He managed them until his death in 1967.

25 Jan 1327 – 700 years ago
Edward III (aged 14) became King of England (until 1377) after his father, Edward II, was deposed. His coronation was on 1st February 1327.

26 Jan 1962 – 65 years ago
Death of Lucky Luciano, Italian-born American gangster.
Regarded as the father of modern organised crime in the USA.

27 Jan 1927 – 100 years ago
The company that later became CBS was founded in the USA.
United Independent Broadcasters began as a radio network with sixteen stations, but soon ran into funding difficulties. The Columbia Phonograph Company rescued it, and the network was renamed Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System. Columbia soon pulled out due to the high costs, but the name stuck. It was shortened to Columbia Broadcasting System in 1928, and to CBS in 1974.

28 Jan 1927 – 100 years ago
Birth of Ronnie Scott, British jazz saxophonist and entrepreneur.
Co-founder of Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London – one of the world’s most famous jazz venues. (Died 1996.)

29 Jan 1967 – 60 years ago
The Mantra-Rock Dance, San Francisco, California, USA.
Known as the ‘ultimate high’ and the ‘major spiritual event of the San Francisco hippie era’.
The counterculture rock concert was organised by followers of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. It promoted and raised funds for the first Hare Krishna centre on the U.S. West Coast.

30 Jan 2007 – 20 years ago
Microsoft released its Windows Vista operating system.

31 Jan 1977 – 50 years ago
The Pompidou Centre was officially opened in Paris, France.

More anniversaries:

You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2027.

The 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 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!