Opinion - The Korea Times

FRIDAY, Aug. 1, 2025

527-Justinian I becomes the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire after the death of his uncle Justin I 1086-Results of the Domesday inquiry presented to William the Conqueror in Salisbury (the date of compilation and the Great Domesday are historically contestable) 1774-English chemist Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen by isolating it in its gaseous state 1834-Slavery Abolition Act 1833 comes into effect, abolishes slavery throughout the British Empire 1958-Nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus begins the first transit of the North Pole in Operation Sunshine 2023-Former U.S. President Donald Trump is indicted by special counsel Jack Smith on charges of conspiring to defraud the country and prevent the peaceful transfer of power

Jul 31, 2025

THURSDAY, July 31, 2025

1620-Pilgrim Fathers depart Leiden, Netherlands for England on their way to America 1917-World War I: Battle of Passchendaele (Third Battle of Ypres) begins, goes on to cause approximately 500,000 casualties 1958 Anti-Chinese uprising in Tibet 1961-Israel welcomes its one millionth immigrant 2007-Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland comes to an end, longest-running British Army operation ever 2006-Fidel Castro temporarily hands over power to brother Raúl Castro, leading to a celebration in Little Havana (La Pequeña Habana), Miami, Florida, where many Cuban Americans participated.

Jul 30, 2025

WEDNESDAY, July 30, 2025

30-B.C. Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to Octavian's invasion of Egypt 1178-Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa is crowned King of Burgundy 1419-First Defenestration of Prague: Anti-Catholic Hussites, followers of executed reformer Jan Hus, storm Prague Town Hall and throw the judge, mayor, and several city council members out the windows. They die in the fall or are killed by the crowd outside 1619-House of Burgesses in Virginia forms, first elected American governing body 1869-World’s first oil tanker "The Charles" departs the United States for Europe carrying 7,000 barrels of oil 1935-First Penguin books published, starting the paperback revolution 1937-Soviet Politburo issues NKVD Order No. 00447 during the Great Purge to repress property-owning kulaks and anti-Soviets; 269,100 are arrested, with 76,000 executed 1989 - Chile amends its constitution

Jul 29, 2025

TUESDAY, July 29, 2025

1588-The "Invincible" Spanish Armada is sighted approaching England, and several skirmishes follow forcing the invading fleet to make a long and costly retreat around Scotland and Ireland 1609-Samuel de Champlain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs at Ticonderoga, New York, setting the stage for French-Iroquois conflicts for the next 150 years 1848-Irish Potato Famine: Tipperary Revolt - an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police 1905-U.S. Secretary of War William Howard Taft makes a secret agreement with Japanese Prime Minister Katsura, agreeing to give Japan free rein in Korea in return for non-interference with the US in the Philippines 1921-Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party 1988-Gorbachev pushes plan to elect a Soviet president and parliament in March 1989

Jul 28, 2025

MONDAY, July 28, 2025

1794-French Revolutionary figure Maximilien Robespierre and 22 other leaders of "the Terror" are guillotined to thunderous cheers in Paris 1914-Austria-Hungary decides against mediation and declares war on Serbia, the first declaration of war of World War I 1917-Silent Parade organized by James Weldon Johnson, 10,000 African Americans march on Fifth Avenue in NYC to protest against lynching 1943-Operation Gomorrah: RAF bombing over Hamburg causes a firestorm that kills 42,600 German civilians 1976 Tangshan Earthquake, 7.6 in magnitude, kills over 300,000 in northern China, the largest loss of life from an earthquake in the 20th century 2005-The Provisional Irish Republican Army calls an end to its 30-year-long armed campaign in Northern Ireland

Jul 27, 2025

FRIDAY, July 25, 2025

306-Constantine I is proclaimed Roman Emperor by his troops 1814-English engineer George Stephenson introduces his first steam locomotive, a traveling engine designed for hauling coal on the Killingworth wagonway named Blücher 1943-Benito Mussolini is dismissed as Italian Prime Minister and arrested on the authority of King Victor Emmanuel III 1944-World War II: Operation Spring - one of Canada's bloodiest days, 18,444 casualties and 5,021 killed 1997-Scientists announce the first human stem cells to be cultured in a laboratory using tissue taken from aborted human embryos 2014-Both Israel and Hamas review US Secretary of State John Kerry's proposal for an immediate ceasefire and meetings in Cairo

Jul 24, 2025

THURSDAY, July 24, 2025

1534-French explorer Jacques Cartier claims for France the lands around Gaspé by erecting a 30-foot cross at Pointe-Penouille 1567-Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate; her 1-year-old son becomes King James VI of Scotland 1832-Benjamin Bonneville leads the first wagon train across the Rocky Mountains through Wyoming's South Pass 1911-American explorer Hiram Bingham rediscovers Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas 1943-Operation Gomorrah: RAF begins bombing Hamburg (until Aug. 3), creating a firestorm and killing 42,600 people 1982-Heavy rain causes a mudslide that destroys a bridge at Nagasaki, Japan, killing 299 1991-A team of international astronomers led by Georgina Dransfield from the University of Birmingham announces the discovery of a planet outside the solar system 2019-Global warming is the fastest in 2,000 years and scientific consensus that humans are the cause is at 99%, according to three major reports published in journals "Nature" and "Nature Geoscience"

Jul 23, 2025

WEDNESDAY, July 23, 2025

1777- King Louis XVI of France and his Foreign Minister clandestinely agree to supply the United States with munitions during the American Revolution 1829-William Austin Burt patents America's first typewriter, the typographer 1840-Union Act passed by British Parliament, uniting Upper and Lower Canada 1944-Bretton Woods Conference ends, establishes the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, later part of the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund 1993-China Northwest Airlines BAe146-300 crashes at Yinchuan, 55 killed 1995-Comet Hale-Bopp is discovered and becomes visible to the naked eye nearly a year later 1999-ANA Flight 61 is hijacked in Tokyo, Japan 2019-U.S. Senate passes bill championed by comedian Jon Stewart to ensure 9/11 first responders fund never runs out of money 2024-China announces plans to raise its retirement age from 60 for men and 55/50 for women, one of the lowest in the world

Jul 22, 2025

TUESDAY, July 22, 2025

1099-Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of Jerusalem during the First Crusade 1456-Hungarian army under John Hunyadi defeat the forces of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II and end the Siege of Belgrade (Nándorfehérvár). Halting Ottoman expansion in Europe for 70 years. 1515-First Congress of Vienna settles issues between Poland and Holy Roman Empire and demonstrates the Habsburgs growing influence 1942-300,000 Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto are sent to Treblinka Extermination Camp 1963-Sarawak achieves independence from British colonial rule 2011-Norway is the victim of twin terror attacks, a bomb blast targeting government buildings in central Oslo and a massacre at a youth camp on the island of Utøya

Jul 21, 2025

MONDAY, July 21, 2025

365-Crete Earthquake followed by tsunami around the Eastern Mediterranean allegedly destroys Alexandria 1861-First Battle of Bull Run [Battle of First Manassas], the first major battle of the US Civil War is fought near Manassas, Virginia and ends in a Confederate victory 1904-After 13 years, the 4,607-mile Trans-Siberian railway is completed 1925-John T. Scopes found guilty of teaching evolution in the “Scopes monkey trial” in Dayton, Tennessee, fined $100 and costs 1954-Geneva Accords for Indochina signed, dividing French colonial territories into the countries of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), the State of Vietnam (South Vietnam), Cambodia, and Laos 1970-Aswan High Dam opens in Egypt, enables human control of the flooding of the Nile

Jul 20, 2025

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