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Secretary General Gorbachev (L) and President Reagan (R) sign the INF Treaty. (DOD) On this day in 1987, Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev and American President Ronald Reagan signed the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF. The treaty was a significant step towards cooperation and disarmament between the two Cold War superpowers. Under the treaty, all…
The American USS Shaw explodes in port at Pearl Harbour. (US Navy) On this day in 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the US Navy's Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. The attack - comprised of aerial bombardments on ships at port and the surrounding Army and Marines bases, as well concurrent attacks on US…
Ervin Zádor with members of his team, immediately after being punched by a Russian opponent. (VEOL) The scene: The Melbourne Olympics, 1956. Men from the USSR's water polo team face off against their Hungarian counterparts. They prepare for what seems like an ordinary match of water polo, but all is not as it seems. Mere…
French troops move on Fleury. (Wikimedia Commons) By late 1914, Verdun-sur-Meuse - a town on the Meuse river in Northeastern France - was surrounded on three sides by the German army. The lines of the Western Front bulged eastward around the town, and only La Route Sacrée, a medium-sized road, resupplied the French at Verdun.…
An M48 tank fires over the citadel's wall at VC positions. (MC.GR) By the end of 1967, Americans had been fighting the Vietnam War for nearly three years. Joined by allies from Australia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, US forces under American General Westmoreland had had some success in battling the communist Viet Cong…
British SOE Agents who trained at Camp X. (JSTOR Daily) On this day in 1941, Camp X began operations in Ontario, Canada. Officially named Special Training School No. 103, the camp was one of the primary locations for training British and Allied covert operators in the arts of deception, sabotage, and intelligence gathering during WWII.…
A Bulgarian painting warning viewers of the dangers of witchcraft. (Wikipedia) On this day in 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued a papal bull (public decree) declaring an inquisition to stamp out witchcraft in Germany. Titled Summis desiderantes - or, we desire with supreme ardor - the papal bull was issued by the Pope at the…
Marine Raiders in 1944 in the Solomon Islands. (USMC) On this day in 1942, Carlson's Patrol - an operation by the US Marine Corps 2nd Raider Battalion - ended. Beginning in December of 1941, the Allies (led by the US Marines) had been fighting their way through the Pacific, "island-hopping" towards mainland Japan. The patrol,…
A "Female" Mark IV tank rolls into position at Cambrai. (Rare Historical Photos) By 1917, WWI had ground on for several unpleasant years. With casualties mounting on both sides and little change in battle lines from month-to-month, both the Allies (England, France and Russia) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottomans) sought new…
Afghan Commandos clear a road of mines and other explosive threats. (Wikipedia) On this day in 1997, The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction - or, the Ottawa Treaty - was signed by delegates from 121 countries in Ottawa, Canada. There are two…
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