History Today

Hello and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 27th. It was one of the biggest natural disasters in human history: On this day in 1883, the Krakatau volcano exploded. Located on a small, uninhabited island west of Sumatra in Indonesia, it was the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history. Heard 3,000 miles away, the explosions threw five cubic miles of earth 50 miles into the air, created 120-foot tsunamis and killed 36,000 people.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 26th. As women around the world continue to fight for equal rights, we look back 99 years to the passage of the 19th amendment, which granted American women the right to vote on this day in 1920. Winning the vote was the culmination of more than 70 years of struggle by suffragists, which by 1916 included then-drastic measures like picketing the White House, marches and staged acts of civil disobedience.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 25th. Follow the yellow brick road. There’s no place like home. I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore. If you know these lines, then you know The Wizard of Oz, which opened in theaters across the U.S. on this day in 1939. Based on L.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 24th. From Italy’s Mount Etna to the Ubinas eruption in Peru, volcanoes recently have been wreaking havoc on the lives of people living close to them. This was also the case on this day in the year 79, when Mount Vesuvius erupted over 18 hours, burying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under a 14 to 17 foot layer of volcanic ash and pumice.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 23rd. She’s one of America’s original female heroes: On this day in 1814, first lady Dolley Madison saved a portrait of George Washington from being looted by British troops during the War of 1812. On August 11th, President James Madison had left the White House to meet with his generals on the battlefield, as British troops threatened to enter the capitol.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 22nd. Just days before this year’s U.S. Open tennis tournament begins Monday, 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 made Gibson the first African-American 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. Say happy 60th birthday to Hawaii, which became the 50th U.S. state on this day in 1959. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation granting Hawaii statehood, and issued an order for a new American flag featuring 50 stars arranged in staggered rows: five six-star rows and four five-star rows.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on August 23rd. She’s one of America’s original female heroes: On this day in 1814, first lady Dolley Madison saved a portrait of George Washington from being looted by British troops during the War of 1812. On August 11th, President James Madison had left the White House to meet with his generals on the battlefield, as British troops threatened to enter the capitol.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History brought to you by AARP. Take on today and every day with AARP. Here’s what happened on August 20th. Just as skywatchers finish taking in this year’s Perseid meteor showers, we look back to this day in 1977, when NASA launched Voyager II on a grand tour of the outer planets. The mission of the unmanned 1800-pound spacecraft was scheduled to coincide with a rare alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History brought to you by AARP. Take on today and every day with AARP. Here’s what happened on August 19th. This summer’s big concert tours include acts the Jonas Brothers, Shawn Mendes and Ariana Grande, but none of these tours were more anticipated than the one that began on this day way back in 1964. Fifty-five years ago today, the Beatles kicked off their first-ever American tour at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.