1997 Hong Kong Handover
1997 : Hong Kong is handed back to the Chinese authorities after 156 years as a British colony. Tung Chee-hwa was sworn in as Hong Kong's new leader.
1916 France The Somme
1916 : After bombing the area of no mans land between German and English Forces in Somme region of France the English soldiers went over the trenches expecting little German resistance , but the Germans had large numbers of Machine Guns trained on the area and by the end of the day 20,000 British soldiers were dead and another 40,000 had injuries, this became one of the worst military decisions in history and the offensive was eventually stopped after 4 1/2 months with 600,000 British and French soldiers killed, wounded, or missing in the action.
1956 U.S.A. Interstate Highways
1956 : President Eisenhower called for $50 billion to be spent over 13 years for the construction of over 42,500 miles of interstate highways using the Interstate Highway Revenue Act which was to be funded by taxing gasoline, currently this tax is 19 cents for each gallon of gas.
1920 Germany Debt 200,000,000,000
1920 : The nation of Germany reports its total debt as 200,000,000,000 marks as of this day in history. In addition to the nation's large amount of debt, food riots breakout in various locations including Lubec throughout the country.
1932 U.S.A. Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt
1932 : Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt was selected as the presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
1932 China Japanese Troops
1932 : Japanese troops took over a Chinese customs office in a city on the Chinese Eastern Railroad . The Japanese forced the Chinese customs official and his staff to evacuate the building.
1942 Egypt Rommel's Afrika Korps
1942 : After suffering earlier defeats at the hands of Rommel's Afrika Korps British troops after receiving much needed supplies and additional troops from New Zealand, Canada and Australia went on the offensive against Rommel's Afrika Korps at El Alamein in Egypt, thus stopping his advance and becoming a turning point in the war in North Africa.
1943 Sicily Allied Bombing
1943 : The allied Northeast African air forces bomb all of Sicily during a 24 hour raid. The attack was planned as an attempt to weaken Italy's outer defense during World War II.
1958 Canada Coffer Dam
1958 : As part of the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway the coffer dam was blown up using dynamite and Lake St. Lawrence began to fill with water.
1963 U.S.A. Zip Code Introduced
1963 : The US Post Office instituted the Zip Code asking everyone to use their Zip Codes on return addresses after the name of city and state when ever possible to help speed the process of mail delivery.
1963 UK Philby Double Agent
1963 : A former Foreign Office official Harold Philby has been confirmed as a double agent working for the Soviet authorities during his time with the foreign office. It is thought he was the third man who warned British diplomats Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean of impending arrests by intelligence services.
1966 Vietnam US Bombing Offensive
1966 : A new bombing offensive against fuel installations in North Vietnam's and over the next few days destroyed 25% of North Vietnam's petroleum facilities.
1968 U.S.A. Nuclear Arms Talks
1968 : President Johnson announces that the United States and Soviet Union have agreed to hold nuclear arms talks in the future. The future discussions are set to include subjects such as the reduction and limitation of systems of defense against ballistic missiles and offensive nuclear weapons delivery systems.
1977 U.S.A. Neutron Warheads
1977 : The United States Senate held a secret meeting debating whether or not the United States should start building neutron warheads . Neutron warheads leave buildings and structure intact and kill people only by radiation within one or two days of detonation and exposure to the radiation.
1987 UK Myra Hindley
1987 : Following a visit by Myra Hindley with police to Saddleworth Moor a body is found in a shallow grave on the moor believed to have been one of Moors murderers victims from 1966. Ian Brady and his lover Myra Hindley were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1966 for the murder of Edward Evans, 17, Lesley Ann Downey, aged 10, and 12-year-old John Kilbride. But had never confessed to any additional murders until now. The body is later confirmed as missing Pauline Reade.
1994 Palestine Yasser Arafat
1994 : The PLO leader Yasser Arafat, has returned to Palestine after 27 years in exile. The return of Yasser Arafat was part of the deal worked out at the Oslo Peace Accords signed in Washington in 1993.
1999 Scottish Parliament
1999 : The new Scottish Parliament is opened by the queen, this is the first time Scotland has had its own parliament for nearly 300 years.
2004 Cassini Sends Back Pictures Of Saturn's Rings
2004 : The international mission to Saturn, known as Cassini-Huygens, reaches Saturn after six years and has successfully sent back the first close-up photographs of the Saturn's rings.
2006 China Qinghai-Tibet Railway
2006 : China opens the world’s highest railway. This railway stretches from Qinghai province to the Tibetan capital Lhasa. At its highest point it reaches 5,072 meters above sea level and has over 900 kilometers of railway that are at 4,000 meters or above sea level. There are concerns over how this railway will affect the culture and climate of Tibet.
2007 England Smoking Ban
2007 : A ban on smoking in enclosed public places came into effect on this day in England. This includes traditional British Pubs.
2007 Diana memorial concert at London's Wembley Stadium
2007 : A live concert beamed to over 140 countries around the world as a memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales hosted by Princes William and Prince Harry featuring Sir Elton John, Duran Duran, Staus Quo, Tom Jones and many others is watched live by over 60,000 fans at Wembley Stadium. All ticket proceeds and money from TV rights will be used for charitable causes that were supported by the princess.
2008 Nelson Mandela Taken Off Terror Watch List
2008 : Nelson Mandela, the first post-apartheid president elected in South Africa, was no long on the United States terror watch list after then president George W. Bush signed the bill that officially removed him from the list. Mandela, considered by many to be a great leader, had originally been put on the list when South Africa’s apartheid government listed the African National Congress as a terrorist organization.
2009 Croatian Prime Minister Resigns
2009 : The Croatian Prime Minister, since 2003, announced his resignation from office. Ivo Sanader was a prospective presidential candidate at the time, but decided to withdraw from political life in Croatia because he believed he had already met his goals for the country, which included joining NATO.
2011 Poland Takes Over EU Presidency
2011 : Poland took over the rotating presidency of the European Union for the first time since the country joined the EU in 2004. Poland's Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, will hold the presidency for a six month term. During which Poland pledged to focus on improving relations with countries to the south and east of the European Union and strengthening the eurozone.
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