On This Day - What Happened Today In History | Britannica (2025)

1960

Independence declared by Upper Volta

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Marilyn Monroe

American actress

born

June 1, 1926
Los Angeles, California

died

August 5, 1962 (aged 36)
Los Angeles, California
(Died on this day)

Brown Brothers

2024

Sheikh Hasina Wazed, Bangladesh's five-term prime minister, fled the country amid mass protests against her government; Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate, was named the country's interim leader. How much do you know about Asia?

Evan Schneider/UN Photo

2019

American writer Toni Morrison, who earned a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993 for novels that examine the Black experience (particularly Black female experience) within the Black community, died at age 88. Test your knowledge of Nobel laureates in literature

© Maggie Hardie/Shutterstock.com

2019

Continued antigovernment protests and a general strike brought Hong Kong to a near standstill; among the demonstrators' demands were universal suffrage and investigations into allegations of police brutality. Take our quiz about Asia

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

2011

Thai businesswoman and politician Yingluck Shinawatra was elected prime minister of Thailand, becoming the first woman to hold that post. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Thailand

Facundo Arrizabalaga—WPA/Getty Images

2010

Thirty-three workers became trapped after a mine in the Atacama Desert of Chile collapsed, and the resulting rescue took 69 days, attracting international attention. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Chile

Ian Salas—EPA/Shutterstock.com

1981

U.S. President Ronald Reagan fired more than 11,000 air traffic controllers who were on strike. Take our quiz about U.S. presidents

Courtesy, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

1964

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson put the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution before Congress; it served as the principal constitutional authorization for the subsequent vast escalation of the United States' military involvement in the Vietnam War. How much do you know about warfare?

White House Collection

1963

The United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom signed the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty in Moscow. Take our quiz about famous documents

National Archives and Records Administration

1957

Dick Clark's American Bandstand, a TV show in which performers lip-synched their latest songs and the teenage audience danced, began airing nationally. Test your knowledge of pop culture

© Kobal/REX/Shutterstock.com

1930

U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the Moon, was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Take our quiz about astronauts and cosmonauts

NASA

1926

In his last public stunt, American magician Harry Houdini stayed in an underwater airtight coffin for some 90 minutes; he bested rival magician Rahman Bey's time of one hour. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about history makers

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Reproduction no. LC-USZ62-112419)

1914

In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light was installed; it featured red and green lights. Test your knowledge of famous inventions

1864

During the Battle of Mobile Bay, Union Admiral David Farragut sealed off the port of Mobile, Alabama, from Confederate blockade runners. How much do you know about the American Civil War?

Brady-Handy Photograph Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-cwpbh-01049)

1772

Russia, Prussia, and Austria signed a treaty creating the First Partition of Poland, depriving that country of approximately half of its population and almost one-third of its land.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

1100

Henry I was crowned king of England. Take our quiz about the kings of England

By permission of the British Library