History Today

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 25th. Paris--it’s one of the world’s most beautiful cities, and on this day in 1944, after four long years of Nazi occupation during World War II, it was finally liberated by combined French and American forces. The Germans signed a formal surrender that afternoon, and two days later, Free French General Charles de Gaulle led a joyous liberation march down the Champs d’Elysees.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 24th. Today, the White House is one of the safest and most well-protected places on the planet, but that wasn’t quite the case way back on this day in 1814, when British troops set fire to the residence during the War of 1812.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 23rd. He was an American hero, though you may never have heard of him--on this day in 1945, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Marcario Garcia became the first Mexican national to win the esteemed Congressional Medal of Honor. An immigrant, Garcia volunteered for the Army at 22, and was wounded in action during the D-Day landings.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 22nd. With tennis’s US Open set to kick off in New York City in just over a week, we look back to this day in 1950, when Althea Gibson was accepted to play at the annual championship of the United States Lawn Tennis Association, held in Forest Hills, New York. The acceptance to the tournament that eventually became the US Open made Gibson the first Black player to compete in a U.S. national tennis competition.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 21st. On this day in 1831, the largest rebellion of enslaved people in U.S. history began in Southampton County, Virginia, when Nat Turner, an enslaved man and educated minister, killed the man who enslaved him and his family and then led 75 followers in an effort to capture an armory. The group then planned to head to a swamp some 30 miles away, where they hoped they could elude their pursuers.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 20th. On this day in 1619, 20 enslaved Africans were brought to Jamestown after being kidnapped by Portuguese colonial forces in Angola. They were then bought by English colonists, marking the beginning of two and a half centuries of slavery in North America.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 19th. Although fans won't be there in person to witness it, the 104th Indianapolis 500 race will be run on Sunday, 111 years after the very first race was held at the famous Speedway on this day in 1909. The track’s surface of crushed rock and tar proved a disaster, breaking up in a number of places and causing the deaths of two drivers at that first race. The surface was soon replaced with the 3.2 million paving bricks, laid in a bed of sand and fixed with mortar, that gave the Speedway its nickname--“The Brickyard.”

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 18th. One hundred years ago today, the Tennessee House of Representatives ratified the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Once formally adopted, which would happen just over a week later on August 26, 1920, the Amendment finally granted U.S. women the right to vote.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 17th. After three days of peace, love and rock-n-roll, the Woodstock Music Festival came to an end on this day in 1969. The final act was none other than Jimi Hendrix, who played a medley that lasted more than half an hour and included Voodoo Child, Purple Haze, and of course, the Star Spangled Banner.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 16th. Despite persistent rumors to the country, popular music icon Elvis Presley died in Memphis, Tennessee, on this day 1977. He was 42. Doctors said the death of the “King of Rock and Roll” was likely brought on by his addiction to prescription barbiturates. Presley had been catapulted to musical stardom more than 20 year before with his first hits Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, and Don’t Be Cruel.