History Today

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on July 18th. Like it or not, American presidents are limited to serving a maximum of two terms as commander-in-chief. However, before the two-term limit was made law in 1945, there was one president who managed to stay in office longer than the rest. It was on this day in 1940 that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for an unprecedented third term as president of the United States.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on July 17th. To its millions of visitors each year, it’s known as “The Happiest Place on Earth”--say happy birthday to Disneyland, the 64-year-old California theme park that opened on this day in 1955. Walt Disney made history when he created Mickey Mouse and produced the first animated film to use sound.

On this day in history: JFK Jr.'s plane crash, the first atomic bomb test, and the Apollo 11 launch.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on July 15th. As NASA installs new tools on the Mars 2020 rover for next year’s mission, we look back to this in day in 1965, when the unmanned spacecraft Mariner 4 passed over Mars, sending back to Earth the very first close-up images of the red planet. The 22 images captured by Mariner 4’s television camera revealed a vast, barren wasteland of craters and rust-colored sand.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on July 14th. Just ten days after America’s birthday comes another revolutionary anniversary: Today is Bastille Day, which commemorates the day in 1789 when French rebels stormed Paris’ Bastille fortress, a symbol of the French monarchy.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on July 13th. On the heels of the USA’s historic fourth victory in the women’s World Cup, we look back to this day in 1930, when the very first men’s World Cup was played in Uruguay. The tournament was organized after soccer was dropped from the program for the 1932 Olympics.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on July 12th. The Medal of Honor: it’s America’s highest honor for valor in combat. And on this day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill into law that created this prestigious award. Since the Civil War, the Medal of Honor as been awarded to more than 3,400 military service members who have distinguished themselves in combat at risk of life beyond the call of duty.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on July 11th. Thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s uber-popular musical Hamilton, Americans have a newfound appreciation for Alexander Hamilton, whose uniquely American story came to an end on this day in 1804 when he was shot in a duel by then-Vice President Aaron Burr. He died the next day.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on July 10th. Keep calm and carry on. Today’s it’s a T-shirt slogan, but during World War II, it was the mindset that helped the British make it through the Battle of Britain, which began on this day in 1940. At the time, the three-and-a-half month long bombing campaign was the largest sustained bombing campaign in history.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on July 9th. Today, there are more than 36,000 women serving as officers in the U.S. military, but just 70 years ago there wasn’t a single one. That is, until this day in 1947, when General Dwight D. Eisenhower named Florence Blanchfield a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. Blanchfield, who had supervised the Army Nurse Corps during World War II, became the very first U.S. woman to hold a permanent military rank.