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A West Bank school like the one where the 1983 Fainting Epidemic began. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed) On this day in 1983, a group of Palestinian children were attending class in Arraba, a town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Suddenly, at about 8 AM, a girl jumped up from her desk and ran to the window,…
When: 1989 – present day Defined as "post-history" by American political scientist Francis Fukuyama, this period began with the fall of the Berlin Wall - and the beginning of the end for the USSR - in 1989. Although many looked forward to world peace in the wake of the Cold War, the 1990s were an incredibly…
Because of its unique status as a company-state, the VOC had its own flag - closely modeled after the Dutch flag. (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1602, the Dutch East India Company - or Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) was established in the Netherlands. A combination of several trading companies, the VOC was created at…
The coup in 1964. (Bloomberg) On this day in 1964, roughly 500,000 Brazilians took to the streets of São Paulo on St. Joseph's Day. The demonstrations, known as the March of the Family with God for Liberty, were in response to president João Goulart's planned governmental and economic reforms. According to the Catholic Women's Campaign…
Continue reading ➞ 03/19 – The March of the Family with God for Liberty
In the summer of 1969, long-standing tensions between Catholic republicans and Protestant loyalists broke out into open violence in Northern Ireland. Civil protests and heated dialogue turned to vandalism, riots and shootings. Out of this chaos emerged several militant groups, such as the loyalist Ulster Defence Force (UDF) and the anti-British Provisional Irish Republican Army…
Continue reading ➞ The Evolution of Counterterrorism in Northern Ireland
Popular unrest in Algiers during the Algerian War. (Magnum Photos) On this day in 1962, representatives from the French government and the Algerian Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) signed a ceasefire agreement in Évian-les-Bains, thus ending the Algerian War. A result of Algerian frustrations with the French colonial administration, the conflict exploded in 1954 as…
IJA troops move up alongside their Type-89 medium tanks during the initial offensive on Nanchang. (Pinterest) On this day in 1939, the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) launched a massive assault on Nanchang, the capital of China's Jiangxi province. Facing them were soldiers of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army, a worn down but well-armed force on…
Clouds of mustard gas and other unidentified chemical substances rise into the air over Halabja. (Kurdistan.net) On this day in 1988, SU-22 jets from the Iraqi Air Force began dropping chemical munitions on Halabja, a Kurdish town located in Northern Iraq. Taking place during the Iran-Iraq War, the Iraqi air raid was, ostensibly, an effort…
"The Death of Julius Caesar", by Vincenzo Camuccini, 1806. (Public Domain) On this day in 44 BCE, Roman dictator Julius Caesar was murdered in the Senate. Arriving late in the Theatre of Pompey, Caesar was mobbed by senators asking about a petition. As the crowd closed ranks, a senator named Climber made a grab for…
Continue reading ➞ 03/15 – The Assassination of Julius Caesar
An illustration of the development of the Reef. Prior to 2012, much of the reef was underwater; now, it is an artificial island . (South China Sea - WordPress.com) On this day in 1988, a gunfight broke out on a small island in the South China Sea. In late 1987, Chinese troops of the People's…
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