Opinion - The Korea Times

FRIDAY, Oct. 2, 2026

1187-Sultan of Egypt Saladin captures Jerusalem from the Crusaders 1492-King Henry VII of England invades France 1789-George Washington transmits the proposed constitutional amendments, known as the United States Bill of Rights, to the states for ratification 1928-"Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God," known as Opus Dei, is founded by Catholic priest Josemaría Escrivá in Madrid, Spain 1944-Polish resistance fighters capitulate in the Warsaw Uprising after an estimated 250,000 people are killed 1979-Pope John Paul II visits New York City and at the U.N. denounces all concentration camps and torture 2007-President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea walks across the Military Demarcation Line into North Korea on his way to the second Inter-Korean Summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il

Oct 1, 2026

THURSDAY, Oct. 1, 2026

331 B.C. - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela 1688 - Prince William of Orange accepts invitation to take up the British crown 1814 - Opening of the Congress of Vienna, redraws Europe's political map after the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte 1867 - Karl Marx publishes "Das Kapital" in Berlin, describing the capitalist system, its instability and its tendency toward self-destruction 1908 - Henry Ford introduces the Model T car, priced at $825 1918 - World War I: A combined Arab and British force, led by Lawrence of Arabia, captures Damascus from the Ottoman Empire 1988 - Mikhail Gorbachev becomes chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, effectively head of state of the Soviet Union

Oct 1, 2026

WEDNESDAY, Sept.30

1520-Suleiman the Magnificent succeeds his father, Selim I, as Ottoman Sultan and rules until 1566 1846-Anesthetic ether is used for the first time by American dentist Dr. William Morton to extract a tooth 1862-Minister-President of Prussia Otto von Bismarck delivers his famous "Blood and Iron" speech on the unification of German territories 1938-The Treaty of Munich is signed by Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Édouard Daladier, and Neville Chamberlain, forcing Czechoslovakia to give territory to Germany. 1946-Twenty-two Nazi leaders, including Joachim von Ribbentrop and Hermann Goering, are found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to death or prison at the Nuremberg war trials 1980-Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox in collaboration with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation 1990-The Dalai Lama unveils the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights monument in Ontario, Canada's capital city of Ottawa 1999-Japan's worst nuclear accident at a uranium reprocessing facility occurs in Tokai-mura, northeast of Tokyo

Sep 29, 2026

TUESDAY, Sept. 29,2026

522 BC-Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta, securing his position as king of the Persian Empire 480 BC-Battle of Salamis: The Greek fleet under Themistocles defeats the Persian fleet under Xerxes I 1567-War of Religion breaks out in France as Huguenots try to kidnap King Charles IX 1829-First units of the London Metropolitan Police appear on the streets of the British capital, the city's first modern police force 1955-Ali Sastroamidjojo's PNI wins the election in Indonesia 1988-American sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner sets the women's 200 m world record at 21.34 and completes the sprint double at the Seoul Olympics 2008-Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, its then-largest single-day point loss, following the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual

Sep 28, 2026

MONDAY, Sept. 28, 2026

935 Saint Wenceslas is murdered by his brother Boleslaus I of Bohemia 1066-William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, lands at Pevensey Bay in Sussex, beginning the Norman Conquest of England 1781-9,000 American and 7,000 French troops begin the Siege of Yorktown 1887-Yellow River or Huáng Hé floods in China, killing between 900,000 and 2 million people, one of the deadliest natural disasters in history 1939-German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty is signed by Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov; redraws German and Soviet spheres of influence in central Europe and transfers most of Lithuania to the USSR 1995-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat sign the Oslo II Accord to transfer parts of the West Bank to the PLO (Taba, Egypt)

Sep 27, 2026

THURSDAY, Sept. 24, 2026

1180-With the death of Manuel I Komnenos, the last Byzantine Emperor of the Komnenian restoration, the Byzantine Empire begins its terminal decline 1493-Christopher Columbus embarks on his second expedition to the New World, setting sail with a fleet of 17 ships 1789-U.S. Federal Judiciary Act passes, creating a six-member Supreme Court 1869-Black Friday: Panic on Wall Street after investors Jay Gould and James Fisk attempt to corner the gold market 1877-Battle of Shiroyama: Imperial Japanese Army decisively defeats the Satsuma Rebellion 1950-Operation Magic Carpet concludes after transporting 45,000 Yemenite Jews to Israel 1952-American fast food restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) opens its first franchise in Salt Lake City, Utah, after Col. Harland Sanders franchises his recipe to friend Pete Harman

Sep 23, 2026

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 23, 2026

1122-Concordat of Worms is agreed between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V 1821-Fall of Tripolitsa: Greek forces massacre 6,000 to 15,000 Muslim and Jewish civilians during the Greek War of Independence 1862-Otto von Bismarck is appointed Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Prussia by King Wilhelm I 1884-American Herman Hollerith patents his mechanical tabulating machine, beginning the era of data processing 1957-President Dwight D. Eisenhower orders U.S. troops to support the integration of nine Black students at Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas after a white mob forces them to withdraw 2018-Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches "Modicare," a free healthcare program for 500 million people, the world's largest healthcare initiative

Sep 22, 2026

TUESDAY, Sept. 22, 2026

1692-The last eight people - Martha Corey, Margaret Scott, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Wilmott Redd, Samuel Wardwell, and Mary Parker - are hanged for allegedly practicing witchcraft as a result of the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts Bay Colony; 19 are hanged overall, with six other deaths caused by the hysteria 1862-U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issues the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, threatening to free all enslaved people in the rebel Southern states if those states fail to rejoin the Union by Jan. 1, 1863 1944-President Jose P. Laurel declares the Philippines under martial law in 1944 through Proclamation No. 29 1965-Ceasefire between India and Pakistan goes into effect, ending the Indo-Pakistani War 1980-Iraq invades Iran in an attempt to control the Shatt al-Arab waterway 1986-35 countries sign disarmament accord in Stockholm 1993-Supreme Soviet dismisses President Boris Yeltsin 2013-Angela Merkel and the Christian Democrats win a third term with their best result since 1990 in the German federal elections

Sep 21, 2026

MONDAY, Sept.21, 2026

1621-King James I of England gives Scottish courtier and poet William Alexander a royal charter to colonize Nova Scotia 1792-French First Republic is formed by the National Convention, stripping the French king of his powers 1792-French Revolution: The National Convention passes a proclamation announcing the formal abolition of the French monarchy 1898-Empress Dowager Cixi seizes power and ends the Hundred Days' Reform in China, imprisoning the Guangxu Emperor 1915-Cecil Chubb buys the prehistoric monument Stonehenge for £6,600 and later donates it to the British nation 1922-U.S. President Warren G. Harding signs a joint resolution of approval to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine 1936-Spanish fascist junta names Francisco Franco Generalísimo and Supreme Commander 1949-Mao Zedong and Chinese Communist leaders announce the establishment of the People's Republic of China at the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference at the Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai, Peking

Sep 17, 2026

FRIDAY, Sept. 18, 2026

1811-British East India Company force led by Baron Minto conquers Java, then part of the Dutch East Indies. Stamford Raffles is appointed lieutenant-governor. 1812-Great Fire of Moscow burns out after five days, destroys 75% of the city and kills 12,000 people 1873-Government bond agent Jay Cooke & Co collapses, causing panic on Wall Street and the start of the Panic of 1873 and the Long Depression 1914-Irish Home Rule Bill receives Royal Assent 1931-Mukden Incident: To create a pretext for the invasion of Chinese Manchuria, Japanese forces detonate a small quantity of dynamite near a railway line owned by Japan's South Manchuria Railway 1947-Central Intelligence Agency officially comes into existence after being established by President Truman in July 1976-Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong's funeral takes place in Beijing, China