History Today

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 4th. It was the event that kicked off the Space Race: on this day in 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, a satellite weighing 184 pounds that circled Earth once every hour and 36 minutes. Americans feared the Soviets would make sinister use of their new technology, which Sputnik revealed to be strides ahead of the U.S. space effort. The U.S.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 3rd. It was a dramatic end to a case that captivated the world: on this day in 2011, an Italian appeals court overturned the murder conviction of Amanda Knox, an American exchange student who two years earlier had been found guilty of murder of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher, in Perugia, Italy. The sensational, high-profile case raised questions in the U.S.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 2nd. As debate swirls over the filling of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat, we look back to this day in 1967, when Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as America’s first Black Supreme Court justice. Prior to his appointment, Marshall served as the NAACP’s chief counsel, and was well-known for his groundbreaking victory in 1954’s Brown v.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 1. Just weeks after wildfires threatened Yosemite National Park, we look back to this day in 1890, when an act of Congress made the site, located in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, the country’s third national park. Yosemite attracts more than 3 million visitors annually thanks to natural wonders like Half Dome, El Capitan, and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on September 30th.

As Americans continue to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, we look even further back to this day in 1889, when the Wyoming state convention approved a constitution that granted women the right to vote. Formally admitted into the union the following year, Wyoming became the first state in U.S. history to allow its female citizens to vote.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on September 29th. As the nation celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, we look back to this day in 1995, when voting rights advocate Willie Velasquez was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Velasquez and the organizations he founded are credited with dramatically increasing political awareness and participation among the Hispanic communities of the Southwestern United States.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on September 28th. As officials continue to warn against mass gatherings to avoid the spread of Covid 19, we look back to this day in 1918, when a Philadelphia parade prompted a massive flu outbreak that went on to kill nearly 12,000 people in Philly alone. Although it was nicknamed the “Spanish” flu because Spain was the first country to openly report an outbreak, the 1918 flu pandemic probably started in the U.S.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on September 27th. As Americans face more frequent and severe storms and wildfires, and the debate over climate change rages on, we look back to this day in 1962, when zoologist Rachel Carson published Silent Spring. The book shed light on the damage that man-made pesticides inflict on the environment and its publication is often viewed as the beginning of the modern environmentalist movement in America.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on September 26th. With just three days to go before the first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, we look back to this day in 1960, when John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon faced off in the first presidential debate ever to be televised. Kennedy emerged the apparent winner, partly owing to his greater ease in front of the camera.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on September 25th. As protests continue in many areas of the country over racial injustice, we look back to this day in 1957 when nine Black students who would become known as the Little Rock Nine began their first day of classes at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The students were escorted into school by the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division.