Opinion - The Korea Times

FRIDAY, Aug. 29, 2025

1842-United Kingdom and China sign the Treaty of Nanking, ending the First Opium War 1885-Gottlieb Daimler receives German patent for a motorcycle 1896-Chop suey is supposedly invented in NYC by the chef of visiting Chinese diplomat Li Hongzhang 1898-The Goodyear tire company founded 1910-Japan changes Korea's name and appoints a governor-general to rule its new colony 1945-WWII: U.S. General MacArthur named Supreme Commander of Allied Powers in Japan 1990-Saddam Hussein declares America can't beat Iraq

Aug 28, 2025

THURSDAY, Aug. 28, 2025

1189-Third Crusade: Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan 1609-English explorer Henry Hudson is the first European to sail into Delaware Bay, naming it South Bay 1830-The first American-built locomotive, "Tom Thumb," races a horse-drawn car from the Stockton and Stokes stagecoach company from Baltimore to Ellicott Mills; due to mechanical problems, the horse wins! 1845-Scientific American magazine publishes its first issue 1963-Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom civil rights march at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. 1994-First Japanese Gay Pride Parade 2019-Climate change activist Greta Thunberg arrives in New York after sailing across the Atlantic in an emissions-free voyage

Aug 27, 2025

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 27, 2025

479-B.C. Greco-Persian Wars: Battle of Plataea, Persian forces led by Mardonius routed by Greek army under Pausanias; together with Greek success at Battle of Mycale halts Persian invasion of Greece 663 -Battle of Baekgang: Tang Chinese and Silla Korean forces defeat Baekje Korean forces and their Yamato Japanese allies on the Geum River in Korea, the last Japanese invasion of Korea for 900 years 1789-French National Assembly issues the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen" 1883-Krakatoa volcano, located west of Java in Indonesia, erupts with a force of 200 megatons of TNT, killing approximately 40,000 people 1928-Kellogg-Briand Pact, 60 nations agree to condemn the "recourse to war for the solution of international controversies" 1979-Lord Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and last Viceroy of India, is killed along with three companions, two of them children, by the IRA when his boat is blown up near Sligo, Ireland 1980-Chun Doo-hwan elected president of South Korea 2008-U.S. Senator Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to b

Aug 26, 2025

TUESDAY, Aug. 26, 2025

1346-Battle of Crécy: Edward III's English longbows defeat Philip VI's army south of Calais in northern France, cannons are used for the first time in battle 1682-English astronomer Edmond Halley first observes the comet named after him 1873-First free kindergarten in the United States is started by Susan Blow in Carondelet, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri 1937-General Franco's Nationalist troops conquer Santander during the Spanish Civil War 1959-British Motor Corporation introduces the Morris Mini-Minor, designed by Alec Issigonis. It is only 10 feet long yet seats four passengers. 1996-U.S. President Bill Clinton signs welfare reform into law, representing a major shift in welfare policy 1988-Iranian refugee Mehran Karimi Nasseri arrives at Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Roissy-en-France, France, stays for almost 8 years 2008-Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of the former Georgian breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, prompting the Georgian government to sever diplomatic relations with Russia

Aug 25, 2025

FRIDAY, Aug. 22, 2025

1485 -- Battle of Bosworth Field: Henry Tudor's forces defeat English King Richard III during last battle in the Wars of the Roses. Richard is killed, the last English monarch to die in battle. 1639 -- Madras (now Chennai), India, founded by the British East India Company on a sliver of land bought from local Nayak rulers 1642 -- English Civil War begins between Royalists and Parliamentarians 1775 -- King of Great Britain and Ireland, George III proclaims the American colonies to be in open rebellion and orders his officials to suppress it 1864 -- First Geneva Convention adopted in Geneva "for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field" signed by 12 nations 2004-"The Scream" (1910 painted version) and "Madonna", two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.

Aug 21, 2025

MONDAY, Aug. 25, 2025

1609-Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers, including the Doge (ruler) of Venice, Leonardo Donato 1718-Hundreds of French colonists arrive in Louisiana and found New Orleans 1768-Captain James Cook departs from Plymouth, England, bound for the Pacific Ocean on his first voyage aboard the Endeavour 1894-Japanese scientist Shibasaburo Kitasato discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and publishes his findings in The Lancet 1944 German commander Dietrich von Choltitz surrenders Paris to the Free French forces of Philippe Leclerc, disobeying Adolf Hitler's orders to destroy the city. President of the Provisional Government of the French Republic Charles de Gaulle gives a famous speech at the Hôtel de Ville. 1990-U.N. Security Council authorizes military action against Iraq for invading Kuwait 1991-Linux is born when Linus Torvalds sends an email announcing his project to create a new computer operating system

Aug 20, 2025

THURSDAY, Aug. 21, 2025

1703-Edirne Incident: Turkish army ousts Sultan Mustafa II, replacing him with his brother Ahmed III, reducing the power of the Sultan 1772-King Gustav III of Sweden completes a coup d'état by adopting a new constitution and installing himself as an enlightened despot, ending 50 years of parliamentary rule 1888-American inventor William Seward Burroughs patents the adding machine 1911-Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre by Vincenzo Peruggia and recovered in 1913 1959-Hawaii becomes the 50th state of the United States 1991-Conservative coup in the Soviet Union is crushed by popular resistance led by Boris Yeltsin in three days

Aug 20, 2025

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 20, 2025

1597-First Dutch East India Company ships return from the Far East 1619-Slavery begins in mainland North America when the first known African captives (approximately 20) land at Point Comfort, Virginia, before being sold or traded into servitude 1741-Alaska is first sighted by a Russian expedition led by Danish explorer Vitus Bering 1905-Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen forms the first chapter of Tongmenghui, a union of secret societies determined to bring down the Qing dynasty 1968-During the night, 250,000 Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia to put down the Prague Spring 1993-Oslo Peace Accords are signed after secret negotiations in Norway, a public ceremony in Washington, D.C. is held the next month 1998-Supreme Court of Canada rules that Quebec cannot legally secede from Canada without federal government approval 2004-Ethiopian runners Kenenisa Bekele (27:05.10 OR) and Sileshi Sihine go 1-2 in the 10,000m at the Athens Olympics

Aug 19, 2025

MONDAY, Aug. 18, 2025

1737-First public admittance to the Salon de Paris art exhibition at the Louvre in Paris 1838-United States Exploring Expedition headed by Charles Wilkes departs for the Pacific Ocean and Antarctica 1919-Anti-Cigarette League of America forms in Chicago, Illinois 1920-State Representative Harry T. Burn (24) casts deciding vote in Tennessee's and thus America's ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, allowing women's suffrage, after reading a letter from his mother 1940-Battle of Britain: Air battle known as "The Hardest Day" occurs; Luftwaffe lose approximately 69 aircraft and the RAF 68 in one of the largest ever air battles 1976-Korean axe murder incident: 2 U.S. soldiers tasked with cutting down a poplar tree blocking the view of U.N. observers are killed by North Koreans claiming it was planted by Kim Il-Sung in the Korean Demilitarized Zone

Aug 17, 2025

FRIDAY, Aug. 15, 2025

1461-Empire of Trebizond surrenders to forces of Sultan Mehmed II, the last remnant of the Byzantine Empire to fall; Emperor David is exiled and later murdered 1620-Mayflower sets sail from Southampton, England, with 102 Pilgrims 1900-Boxer Rebellion: Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi, her family, and court retainers flee Peking for Xi'an while foreign troops move through the capital in an attempt to quell the rebellion 1945-World War II: Korean Liberation Day 1947-India gains independence from the United Kingdom, remains a dominion until 1950 1998-Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles, kills 29 people and injures about 220 2021-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flees the country as Taliban forces enter the capital Kabul and take control

Aug 14, 2025

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