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"Dostoevsky" by Vasili Perov, 1872. (source: Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1849 Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky and fellow members of the Petrashevsky Circle were sentenced to death for "dangerous" political speech. The Circle, composed of intellectuals and writers, shared radical ideas about government and religion. Gogol's Letter, a written statement denouncing Ukrainian playwright Nikolai…
British soldiers at a checkpoint on Conway Street, Belfast, in 1970. (source: Flickr) On this day in 1985 the Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish leader Garrett Fitzgerald. The Agreement gave the government of Ireland a role in the Northern Irish government and confirmed that the country's constitution would…
Northern Alliance fighters advance into Kabul. (source: Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 2001 US-backed Afghan fighters from the Northern Alliance recaptured Kabul (Afghanistan's capital) from Taliban forces. Since the early 1990s, Kabul had been under the oppressive rule of the "Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice", a paramilitary wing of the…
American activist Rosa Parks is fingerprinted after being removed forcibly from a Montgomery bus in 1956. (source: Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1956 the United States Supreme Court passed the Browder v. Gayle ruling, stating that the Alabama practice of segregating public buses was unconstitutional. The ruling ended the Montgomery Bus Boycott - which…
Leon Trotsky in 1918. (source: Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1927 Ukrainian politician Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Communist Party. Trotsky and a colleague, Ukrainian Grigory Zinoviev, had attempted to stage a commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Bolshevik victory during the October Revolution in November 1917; Joseph Stalin and Trotsky's…
Canadian soldiers celebrate after their victory at Vimy Ridge, 1917. (source: Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1918 Allied Supreme Commander Ferdinand Foch convened a meeting in a train car 60 km (40 miles) from Paris to sign the Treaty of Compiègne, ending the First World War. The armistice brought a complete end to all…
Viet Minh fighters raise their flag over French positions at Dien Bien Phu. (source: Wikimedia Commons) On March 13th, 1954, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu began between the French Far East Expeditionary Forces and members of the communist Viet Minh (guerilla fighters). The battle was the climax of the First Indochina War (Indochina being…
Iranian trucks on a highway leading towards Tehran. (source: Wikimedia Commons) On August 15th, 1953, the Iranian Coup D'état began when British and American-backed rebels overthrew the government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. With the backing of the Persian Shahs (religious leaders), high-ranking members of the Iranian military tried to depose Mossadegh, ostensibly because the…
Potsdamer Platz, Berlin: Berliners and tourists gather in disbelief at the new opening in the "Wall of Shame". (source: Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1989 Germans began to tear down the Berlin Wall. The 155 km (96 mile) wall had split East and West Germany in two through Berlin since 1961. Prior to the…
Theodore Roosevelt at rest. (source: Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1906 Theodore Roosevelt made a trip to visit the construction site of the Panama Canal. The Canal, an 82 km (51 mile) long shipping waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, was an important part of US foreign policy and is still an integral…
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