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Downtown El Paso in the 1880s. During the "Wild West" period, El Paso was one of the most violent towns in the region. (Pinterest) On this day in 1881, the Four Dead in Five Seconds gunfight took place in El Paso, Texas. Earlier in the day, two cattle rustlers (thieves) under the employ of John…
In footage from Operation Delirium, a US soldier experiences a "controlled" mental breakdown in a secret Army test. The Army cooperated with the CIA throughout the duration of MK-Ultra, sharing the findings of their own dubious experiments. (The New Yorker) On this day in 1953, the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) began work on Project…
PRC player Zhuang Zedong, at right, in 1961. On his bus ride with Glenn Cowan, Zedong hesitated before speaking to the American as he remembered a lifetime of anti-Western propaganda. His curiosity got the better of him, however, and "the rest is history". (Timetoast) On this day in 1971, the American Ping-Pong team began a…
Marian Anderson performs at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939. Anderson, an incredibly humble and soft-spoken performer, became the focal point of a much larger American reaction to lingering racist attitudes. (Smithsonian Magazine) On this day in 1939, Marian Anderson - a classical vocalist from Philadelphia - sang for a massive crowd at the Lincoln Memorial…
Russian schoolgirls keep an eye out for German bomber aircraft during the Siege of Leningrad. Over the course of the encirclement, the line between civilian and soldier became increasingly blurred. (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1942, a rail line was opened by the Soviet Red Army into the besieged Russian city of Leningrad, enabling…
Communist guerillas of the Vietcong, or Viet Minh, on the Saigon river. The presence of this irregular but formidable force in Vietnam caused untold anxiety in Washington - and resulted in millions of deaths in the region. (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1954, American president Dwight D. Eisenhower - a war hero and mastermind…
An American political cartoon depicting the Soviet Russian effort to starve the Western half of Berlin. (Tes) On this day in 1948, Soviet officials in the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) began aggressively holding up and searching supply trains heading to West Berlin. Soviet officials were upset about efforts amongst the Western Allies…
A contemporary cartoon of the "Skandalkonzert". (SWR) On this day in 1913, a musical performance was held at the prestigious Musikverein concert hall in Vienna, Austria. Intended as a showcase for music in the style of the Second Viennese School - a radical and experimental form of classical music - the concert was a gathering…
A Colton's map of Alaska and surrounding geography. (ArcGIS Storymaps) On this day in 1867, the United States government purchased Alaska, a far-northern part of the North American continent, from Imperial Russia. For the Americans, Alaska represented an easy means for establishing trade in Asia and expanding their regional foothold. For the Russians, Alaska was…
On this day in 845, nearly 5,000 Viking raiders arrived in Paris. After months of sailing along the Seine river, the Vikings - warriors from Scandinavia led by Ragnar Loþbrók - were hungry for blood. Facing them was a Frankish army under Charles the Bald, a Carolingian ruler and incredibly hairy individual. The Vikings had…
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