Worldcrunch
Updated Feb 3, 2024 at 10:40 a.m. On this day in 1924, during the first winter Olympics, Canada won the gold medal against the U.S. during an iconic hockey game. What events were in the first Winter Olympics? The first Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France in 1924 and included 6 events: cross-country skiing, […]
Three years after a military coup ousted the democratically elected government of Myanmar, the junta’s forces look vulnerable. But quick victory is nowhere in sight.
Updated Feb. 2, 2024 at 12:45 p.m. On this day in 1925, amid an encroaching epidemic of diphtheria, a team of 20 mushers and about 150 sled dogs made the 674-mile trek across Alaska to deliver an antitoxin to the small town of Nome. What was the Serum Run to Nome? The Serum Run to […]
February 5 – February 11, 2024
Updated Feb. 1, 2024 at 2:45 p.m. On this day in 1968, Nguyễn Văn Lém, a member of the Viet Cong, was summarily executed for alleged war crimes in Saigon during the Vietnam War. Eddie Adams, an Associated Press photographer captured the execution in one of the most iconic images in war reporting history. Who […]
Updated Jan. 31, 2024 at 12:45 p.m. Emerging from decades of communism and the Cold War with the United States, on this day in 1990, more than 5,000 people showed up at the opening of Moscow’s first McDonald’s. Why did Moscow introduce the first McDonald’s to its people? The entry of the iconic American chain […]
Updated Jan. 30, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. On January 30, 1972, the worst mass shooting in Northern Irish history took place when British soldiers opened fire during a protest march. What caused Bloody Sunday? Following political and religious unrest in the area, the city of Derry in Northern Ireland was perceived by many Catholics and […]
Updated Jan. 29, 2024 at 12:25 p.m. On this day in 1962, the famous fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent presented his first personal couture collection in Paris at just 26 years old. What was special about Yves Saint-Laurent’s first show? The show attracted the rich and famous, including the Countess of Paris, Princess Anne, the Baroness […]
Updated Jan. 28, 2024 at 12:00 pm As it was being watched live by millions, the Challenger space shuttle suddenly exploded 73 seconds after launch, killing everyone aboard. It happened on this day in 1986. What was the Challenger mission? The crew had the mission of deploying a communications satellite and studying Halley’s Comet while […]
Updated Jan 27, 2024 at 2:45 pm On this day in 1945, prisoners of Poland’s concentration camp, Auschwitz, where Nazis had exterminated more than one million people were finally free. How was Auschwitz liberated? Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet Red Army during the Vistula–Oder Offensive of World War II. Although most of the prisoners […]
Updated Jan. 26, 2024 at 12:50 p.m. On this day in 1961, Wayne Gretzky was born. How did Wayne Gretzky start playing hockey? Growing up in Brantford, Ontario, Gretzky practiced his skills on a backyard rink and played junior hockey. Though he was small in stature, Gretzky’s intelligence, stamina, and knowledge of the game would […]
January 29 – February 4, 2024
Updated Jan. 25, 2024 at 12:15 p.m. After the revolution in Tunisia, anti-regime protests spread to Egypt, sparking two weeks of deadly clashes. How did the Jan. 25 Revolution begin? As a statement against increasing police brutality during the last few years of Hosni Mubarak‘s presidency, young people in Egypt ran demonstrations, marches, occupations of […]
Updated Jan. 24, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. After U.S. forces captured the island of Guam during World War II, Japanese Sergeant Shoic Yokoi went missing in the jungle. When he was found 28 years later he was welcomed back to Japan as a hero. Why did Shoic Yokoi go missing? When American forces captured Guam […]
Updated Jan. 23, 2024 at 1:00 p.m.
Updated Jan. 22, 2024 at 12:05 p.m. On this day in 1970, the Boeing 747, the world’s first “jumbo jet”, enters commercial service in on a Pan Am flight from New York to London. How much did the Boeing 747 cost? Pan Am head Juan Trippe sought an efficient way to place 400 passengers on […]
‘Thirst trap’ and ‘edgelord’ were recently added to the dictionary – so why hasn’t ‘nibling’ made the cut?
Updated Jan. 21, 2024 at 12:15 p.m. It was 100 years ago on this day that Vladimir Lenin died at the age of 53. Who was Vladimir Lenin? Lenin was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He was the founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1924 and of the Soviet […]
Iran’s revolutionary regime is believed to have aided Russia against Ukraine and goaded Hamas into attacking Israel. Could its insidious backing for Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping finally end the West’s appeasement of a hooligan state.
Updated Jan. 20, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. Barack Obama is inaugurated as 44th President of the United States on this date in 2009, making him the first African-American president. What did Barack Obama do before becoming president? After working as a writer and editor, Barack Obama became a community organizer in Chicago, lectured on constitutional […]
January 22 – January 28, 2024
Updated Jan. 19, 2024 at 11:50 a.m. On this day in 1997, Yasser Arafat returned to Hebron after 15 years mostly in Tunis. The Palestinian leader had also spent many years in exile in Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere in the region. Who was Yasser Arafat? Arafat was a Palestinian political leader. In the latter part […]
Updated Jan. 18, 2024 at 12:40 p.m. The Paris Peace Conference, also known as the Versailles Peace Conference, opens to draw up the treaties formally ending World War I. It happened on this day in 1919. Why was the Versailles peace conference called? The conference was the formal meeting of the victorious Allies after the […]
Updated Jan. 17, 2024 at 11:30 a.m. On this day in 1995, the Great Hanshin, or Kobe, earthquake rocked Japan. What happened during the Kobe earthquake? The Kobe earthquake struck at 5:46 a.m. in the Japanese coastal city of Kobe. It lasted about 20 seconds and registered as a magnitude 6.9 (7.3 on the Richter […]
Updated Jan. 16, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is sworn in as President of Liberia, making her the first African female head of state. It happened on this date in 2006. Who is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf? Ellen Johnson Sirleaf served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. She was the […]
It was 15 years ago that U.S. Airways Flight 1549 was forced to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River. There would be no casualties, and the 2009 incident would come to be known as “Miracle on the Hudson.” What happened to US Airways Flight 1549? US Airways Flight 1549 was a regularly scheduled […]
Updated Jan. 14, 2024 at 12:20 p.m. The Sex Pistols’ final concert was held on this day in 1978 at Winterland, San Francisco. Who were The Sex Pistols? The Sex Pistols were a music group who helped found the British punk movement of the late 1970s. Their song “God Save the Queen” became a symbol […]
Updated January 13, 2024 at 11:05 a.m. The Costa Concordia cruise ship crashed and sank on this day in 2012. What happened to the Costa Concordia? The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Tuscany after hitting a rock in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Concordia was supposed to take passengers on a […]
Updated Jan. 12, 2024 at 11:45 a.m. An earthquake in Haiti that killed 220,000 people happened on this date in 2010. Why was the 2010 Haiti earthquake so devastating? The earthquake registered a magnitude 7.0, which is a high level of energy at the point of impact. But it occurred at 6.2 miles below the […]
January 15 – January 21, 2024
Updated Jan. 11, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. The Sidi-Hamed massacre took place on this day in 1998, one of the bloodiest attacks of the Algerian Civil War. What was the Sidi-Hamed massacre? The massacre took place in the town of Sidi-Hamed, 30 kilometers south of Algiers. It was one of the bloodiest attacks on civilians […]
Israel is pushing for more control of the disputed passage near the Egypt-Gaza border, testing Egypt’s security stance and threatening the peace treaty between the two nations.
Updated Jan. 9, 2024 at 1:10 p.m. The daguerreotype photo process, which gave the first photograph of a person, is announced at the French Academy of Science on this date in 1839. What is a daguerreotype? Invented by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, the daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process (1839-1860) in the history […]
Updated Jan. 8, 2024 at 1:10 p.m. Elvis Presley was born on this day in 1935. Who was Elvis Presley? Born into a poor family in Mississippi, he rose to become a global icon and the “King of Rock and Roll”. He has been inducted into five Halls of Fame and sold over one billion […]
Updated Jan. 7, 2024 at 10:20 a.m. On this day in 2015, two gunmen opened fire at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, targeting the magazine’s staff for satirizing Islam. What happened in the Charlie Hebdo attacks? Two Islamist gunmen forced their way into the Paris headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical weekly newspaper […]
Updated Jan. 6, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. It was three years ago on this day that supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on this date. What happened at the Capitol on January 6? After the defeat of former U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters […]
January 8 – January 14, 2024
Updated Jan. 5, 2024 at 12:00 p.m The German Workers’ Party is founded in 1919, which a little over a year later changed its name to the Nazi Party. Who founded the German Workers’ Party? The German Workers’ Party (DAP) was founded in Munich in the hotel Fürstenfelder Hof by Anton Drexler, along with Dietrich […]
Iran’s constitution effectively allows any Shia theologian to become Supreme Leader, and the maneuvering to succeed Ali Khamenei now appears to include Hassan Nasrallah, longtime influential leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia. It could redraw the map of the Middle East, but would ordinary Iranians and politicians stomach such an audacious imposition?
Updated Jan. 4, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. Novelist and philosopher Albert Camus died in a car crash on this day in 1960. Who was Albert Camus? Albert Camus was a French philosopher, journalist and novelist, best known for his novels The Stranger (1942), The Plague (1947), and The Fall (1956). He won the Nobel Prize […]