On This Day

Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the USSR

Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the USSR

Dec 25, 2025

Mikhail Gorbachev announces that he is resigning as president of the Soviet Unio...

Soviet Union invades Afghanistan

Soviet Union invades Afghanistan

Dec 24, 2025

24 December 1979

Vincent van Gogh chops off his ear

Vincent van Gogh chops off his ear

Dec 23, 2025

23 December 1888

Fyodor Dostoevsky spared from execution

Fyodor Dostoevsky spared from execution

Dec 22, 2025

22 December 1849

Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Scotland

Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Scotland

Dec 21, 2025

21 December 1988

Berlin Wall opened for first time

Berlin Wall opened for first time

Dec 20, 2025

20 December 1963

Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov released from internal exile

Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov released from internal...

Dec 19, 2025

19 December 1986. Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (1921-1989) was a Soviet nuclear p...

First airplane flies

First airplane flies

Dec 17, 2025

17 December 1903

Germans bombard English ports of Hartlepool and Scarborough

Germans bombard English ports of Hartlepool and Scarbor...

Dec 16, 2025

16 December 1914

Roald Amundsen becomes first explorer to reach the South Pole

Roald Amundsen becomes first explorer to reach the Sout...

Dec 14, 2025

14 December 1911

Explorer Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England

Explorer Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England

Dec 13, 2025

13 December 1577

Da Vinci notebook sells for over $5M

Da Vinci notebook sells for over $5M

Dec 12, 2025

12 December 1980

First Nobel Prizes awarded

First Nobel Prizes awarded

Dec 10, 2025

10 December 1901

U.S. Marines storm Mogadishu, Somalia

U.S. Marines storm Mogadishu, Somalia

Dec 9, 2025

9 December 1992

East Timor still searches for justice, 50 years after Indonesian invasion

East Timor still searches for justice, 50 years after I...

Dec 7, 2025

East Timor’s declaration of independence from Portugal in November 1975 was swif...

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