Category: This day in History

The Entente Cordiale was an agreement that settled numerous colonial disputes and ended antagonisms between Britain and France. It granted freedom of action to Britain in Egypt and to France in Morocco and resolved several other imperial disputes. The agreement was consequently upsetting to Germany, which had benefited from their antagonism. The Entente paved the way for Anglo-French diplomatic cooperation against Germany before World War I and for what later military alliance? Discuss

The largest battleship ever constructed, the Yamato was the lead ship of the Yamato class of battleships that served with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. After taking part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Yamato was sunk during Operation Ten-Go, the last major Japanese naval operation in the Pacific Theater, while on its way to face the Allied fleet at Okinawa. How did the Allies know about the planned attack? Discuss

Just two decades after the first successful powered flight, pilots from the US Army Air Service completed the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe. The trip took 175 days, and not all of it was smooth sailing—or flying, as it were. Weeks after the group of four airplanes set out from Seattle, Washington, one crashed in Alaska. Luckily, the crew survived, as did that of another of the planes, which later went down over the Atlantic. How many of the original planes completed the journey? Discuss

After attending Kansas State Agricultural College, Salter moved with her husband to the town of Argonia, Kansas, and became the first woman to have a baby there. Following the city’s incorporation in 1885, her father was elected to be its first mayor. Two years later, while serving as an officer in the local Women’s Christian Temperance Union and caring for her family, she was placed on the ballot as a mayoral candidate and became the first female mayor elected in the US. How long was her term? Discuss

Between the late-1970s and the mid-1990s, an elusive bomber, dubbed the “Unabomber” by the FBI, perpetrated of a series of bombings in the US that killed three people and wounded 23. In 1995, the Washington Post and The New York Times published the Unabomber’s lengthy manifesto after he pledged in return to end the bombings. A year later, the FBI, acting on information from the Unabomber’s brother, arrested Theodore Kaczynski at his isolated cabin in Montana. Whom did he target? Discuss

In 1975, the final portion of the antenna atop Canada’s CN Tower was set in place, completing the tower and officially making it the tallest free-standing structure on land. At 1,815 ft (553 m) in height, the CN Tower surpassed the previous record holder, Russia’s Ostankino Tower, by 43 ft (13 m) but was itself surpassed in 2007 by Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. According to a study, the CN Tower is struck by lightning more than any other structure in Toronto. How did ice affect the tower in 2007? Discuss

Though trophy hunting of tigers is no longer the popular “sport” it once was, things like habitat loss, loss of prey, and poaching continue to threaten tiger populations. In the past century alone, tiger populations shrank by over 90%. In 1973, India launched a wildlife conservation movement called Project Tiger to protect tigers in specially designated reserves throughout India. What do the latest estimates indicate about the current tiger population in India? Discuss

Fourteen years after Ferdinand II and Isabella I, the “Catholic Monarchs” of Spain, established the Spanish Inquisition to discover and punish converted Jews—and later Muslims—who were insincere, they issued the Alhambra Decree, an edict ordering the expulsion of all Jews who refused to convert to Christianity. Any Jew who did not convert or leave by the deadline faced execution. Non-Jews found sheltering or hiding Jews had all of their belongings seized. When was the edict officially revoked? Discuss

In prehistoric times, lumps of colored earth or chalk were used as markers. The so-called lead pencil—a rod of graphite encased in wood—first came into use in the 16th century. However, it was not until the 19th century that the eraser was added—an innovation that earned Hymen Lipman a patent in 1858. In 1862, he sold his patent to Joseph Reckendorfer for $100,000. What happened to Reckendorfe’s patent 13 years later? Discuss

Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 to 1792. Having inherited a weakened Swedish throne, he established a new constitution that increased the crown’s power. His numerous enlightened reforms antagonized the nobility, and when a group of Swedish officers mutinied during his unpopular war on Russia, he reinstated absolute monarchy. Gustav planned to form a league of European monarchs to oppose the French Revolution, but Swedish nobles had him assassinated. Where was Gustav when he was shot? Discuss