Opinion - The Korea Times

MONDAY, July 7, 2025

1520-Hernán Cortés and the Tlaxcalans defeat a numerically superior Aztec force in the Battle of Otumba in Mexico 1807-French Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte and Russian Tsar Alexander I meet on a raft in the middle of the Neman River and sign the first Treaty of Tilsit 1937-Japanese and Chinese troops clash at the Marco Polo Bridge, beginning the Second Sino-Japanese War 1947-Alleged and disputed Roswell UFO incident 2005-Coordinated terrorist bomb blasts strike London's public transport system during the morning rush hour, killing 52 and injuring 700 2005-Influenced by global Live 8 concerts, G8 leaders pledge to double 2004 levels of aid to Africa from $25 to $50 billion by the year 2010 and to drop the debt owed by 18 of the most heavily indebted poor countries. Results are mixed.

Jul 6, 2025

FRIDAY, June 4, 2025

1776-U.S. Congress proclaims the Declaration of Independence and independence from Great Britain 1785-Geologist James Hutton publicly reads an abstract of his theory of uniformitarianism for the first time at the meeting of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1803-The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people by President Thomas Jefferson 1838-Huskar Pit Disaster: 26 children drown trying to escape flooding in the Silkstone Colliery in England. Leads to the 1842 Mines Act, which bans women and children working underground 1934-Hungarian physicist Leó Szilárd patents the chain-reaction design for the atomic bomb 2017-North Korea test fires it’s first successful intercontinental ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan

Jul 3, 2025

THURSDAY, July 3, 2025

324-Battle of Adrianople: Roman Emperor Constantine I defeats his co-emperor Licinius, who flees to Byzantium 1863-Battle of Gettysburg, the largest battle ever fought on the American continent, ends in a major victory for the Union during the U.S. Civil War 1884-Dow Jones publishes its first stock index, the Dow Jones Transportation Average 1996-U.K. House of Commons announces that the Stone of Scone, aka the Stone of Destiny, used in the coronation of Scottish (and subsequently English and British monarchs), will be returned to Scotland after 700 years in Westminster Abbey 1990-Liberian President Samuel Kanyon Doe offers to resign in response to rebel incursions in his country; he is later kidnapped and executed 2004-Official opening of Bangkok's subway system

Jul 2, 2025

WEDNESDAY, July 2, 2025

626-Incident at Xuanwu Gate: Prince Li Shimin ambushes and kills his rivals, the brothers Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng, sons of Emperor Gaozu; he then forces the emperor to name him as successor to the throne 1776-Continental Congress resolves "these United Colonies are and of right ought to be Free and Independent States" 1823-Bahia Independence Day: End of Portuguese rule in Brazil, with the final defeat of the Portuguese crown loyalists in the province of Bahia 1865-One-time Methodist Reform Church minister William Booth and his wife Catherine Booth found the East London Christian Mission, now known as the Salvation Army 1916-Lenin says Imperialism is caused by capitalism 1964-U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act into law 1976-Formal reunification of North and South Vietnam 1990-1,426 pilgrims trampled to death after a panic in a tunnel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Jul 1, 2025

TUESDAY, July 1, 2025

1690-Army of Protestant King William III of England defeats deposed Roman Catholic King James II in the Battle of the Boyne at Oldbridge, Ireland 1858-Joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace's papers on evolution to the Linnean Society renders audience awestruck and silent [1] 1863-Battle of Gettysburg begins in Pennsylvania, Union forces halt Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia 1867-The Dominion of Canada is formed, comprising the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec, with John A. Macdonald serving as the first Prime Minister 1916-First day of the Battle of the Somme in World War I: The British Army suffers its worst day, losing 19,240 men 1956-Elvis Presley, wearing a tuxedo, sings to a basset hound on The Steve Allen Show 1960-Fidel Castro nationalizes Esso, Shell & Texaco in Cuba 1997-United Kingdom returns Hong Kong and the New Territories to the People's Republic of China

Jun 30, 2025

MONDAY, June 30, 2025

1860-Famous debate on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution held at the Oxford University Museum and dominated by arguments between Thomas Henry Huxley and Bishop Samuel Wilberforce 1905-In Russia, the "Potemkin" arrives at Odessa, where sailors take the bodies of dead crewman ashore; sailors join civilians in revolutionary actions of the "1905 Revolution" 1908-A giant fireball, most likely caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet flattens 80 million trees near the Stony Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate, Russia, in the largest impact event in recorded history 1934-Adolf Hitler stages a bloody purge of the Nazi party in the "Night of the Long Knives" 1997-British lease on the New Territories in Hong Kong expires, established by the Second Convention of Peking

Jun 29, 2025

FRIDAY, June 27, 2025

1542-Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sets sail from the Mexican port of Navidad on the first European voyage to explore the west coast of North America for the Spanish Empire 1709-Great Northern War: Peter the Great of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava; Charles goes into exile in Bender, Ottoman Empire 1743-War of the Austrian Succession: King George II of Britain personally leads Allied troops to victory in the Battle of Dettingen in Bavaria. The last time a British monarch commanded troops in the field. 1923-Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH-4B biplane 1950-North Korean troops reach Seoul, causing the U.N. to ask member states to aid South Korea. Harry Truman orders the U.S. Air Force and Navy into the Korean conflict. 1954-First nuclear power station opens, in Obninsk near Moscow, Russia

Jun 26, 2025

THURSDAY, June 26, 2025

363-Roman Emperor Julian is killed during retreat from the Sassanid Empire. General Jovian is proclaimed Emperor by troops on the battlefield. 1794-Battle of Fleurus: Major victory by forces of the First French Republic under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan over the Coalition Army (Great Britain, Hanover, Dutch Republic, and Habsburgs). First use of a reconnaissance balloon. 1843-Hong Kong proclaimed a British Crown Colony 1857-The first 62 recipients are awarded the Victoria Cross for valour in the Crimean war by Queen Victoria 1917-First U.S. troops arrive in France during World War I 1945-The United Nations Charter is signed by 50 nations in San Francisco 1993-The U.S. launches a cruise missile attack targeting Baghdad intelligence headquarters in retaliation for a thwarted assassination attempt against former President George H. W. Bush in April in Kuwait. 1997-Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1st book in J. K. Rowling's best-selling series, is published 2016-Panama Canal's third set of locks opens for commercial traffic, doubling the Canal’s capacity at an estimated cost of $5.

Jun 25, 2025

WEDNESDAY, June 25, 2025

1678-Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia is awarded a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Padua, the first woman to receive a university doctoral degree or PhD 1876-Battle of the Little Bighorn: US 7th Cavalry under Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull in what has become famously known as "Custer's Last Stand" 1929-U.S. President Herbert Hoover authorizes building of Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam) 1947-First version of Anne Frank's diary "Het Achterhuis" published in The Netherlands 1950-North Korea invades South Korea, beginning the Korean War 1990-African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela meets with President George H. W. Bush at the White House 1981-Microsoft is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington 2021-WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirms the COVID-19 Delta variant is the most transmissible to date, now present in 85 countries and spreading rapidly

Jun 24, 2025

TUESDAY, June 24, 2025

1497-John Cabot claims parts of North America (what is now Eastern Canada) for England believing he has found Asia in Newfoundland 1509-Henry VIII is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey, London 1812-Napoleon Bonaparte's Grand Armée numbering half a million begin their invasion of Russia by crossing the Nieman River 1853-U.S. President Franklin Pierce signs the Gadsden Purchase, buying 29,670 square-miles (76,800 square km) from Mexico for $10 million (now southern Arizona and New Mexico) 1930 First detection of an airplane using reflected radio waves, a precursor to radar, by U.S. Naval Research Laboratory engineers in Anacostia, Washington, D.C. 1948-Soviet Union blockades West Berlin by stopping access by road, rail and water 2022-U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, eliminating constitutional right to choose abortion, in a 6-3 vote

Jun 23, 2025

Today in History