Today in History

Historical Events

1848 - The railroad between Barcelona and Mataró, the first in Spain, opens
1974 - Luna 23 is launched and lands on the Moon
2019 - EU agrees to another Brexit extension to January 31, 2020
2021 - Researchers announce the name of a new human ancestor, Homo bodoensis, from Africa, dating to the Middle Pleistocene about half a million years ago, as a direct ancestor of modern humans
2024 - UK records its lowest-ever fertility rate of 1.44 children per woman in 2023, with 591,072 births in England and Wales, the lowest in 172 years

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1897 - Hans Speidel, German army officer (WWI, WWII), involved in the 20 July Plot to kill Adolf Hitler (19440, and NATO-supreme commander (1957-64), born in Metzingen, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire (d. 1984)
1930 - John Mayer, Indian violinist and composer (Indo-Jazz Fusions), born in Calcutta, Bengal, British India (d. 2004)
1946 - Wim Jansen, Dutch soccer utility (65 caps; Feyenoord 415 games) and manager (SC Lokeren, Feyenoord, Celtic), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2022)
1959