Today in 2010, 15 years ago: in Pasto (Colombia) the Galeras volcano erupts at 19:43 (local time). This occurs at the very beginning of this city's carnival.
Today in 1912, 113 years ago: in Germany, the new neon gas street lighting is inaugurated.
Today in 1981, 44 years ago: British police arrest in Sheffield Peter William Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, accused of having murdered thirteen women.
Today in 1959, 66 years ago: the Soviet Union launches the Luna 1 probe, the first artifact sent to the Moon.
Today in 1959, 66 years ago: Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.
Today in 1923, 102 years ago: in Paris, England and France they do not reach any agreement at the Reparations Conference.
Today in 1988, 37 years ago: Condor Flugdienst Flight 3782 crashes near Seferihisar, Turkey, killing 16 people.
Today in 1986, 39 years ago: the Italian government authorizes the construction of a bridge between Sicily and the peninsula across the Strait of Messina.
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Today in 1942, 83 years ago: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) obtains the conviction of 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history; Also known as the Duquesne Spy Ring.
Today in 1952, 73 years ago: the German Democratic Republic refuses to let a UN commission prepare the organization of free elections on its territory.
Today in 2018, 7 years ago: in Peru, a bus fell into an abyss in the Pasamayo streamer, leaving 52 dead.
Today in 2001, 24 years ago: in El Salvador, the government of Francisco Flores decides to adopt the US dollar as the national currency.
Today in 1954, 71 years ago: India establishes its highest civilian awards, the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan.
Today in 1921, 104 years ago: World premiere of the science fiction play R.U.R. by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in a theater in Hradec Králové.
Today in 1492, 533 years ago: Reconquista: The Emirate of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.
Today in 1961, 64 years ago: in Havana, Fidel Castro proposes to the United States Interests Office in Cuba that it must reduce its staff from more than 200 officials to only 11 (similar to the requirement for the number of officials that the United States Government will allow in the Interests Office of the Republic of Cuba in Washington DC).
Today in 1860, 165 years ago: in Spain, the first copy of the newspaper El Pensamiento Español goes on sale.
Today in 2004, 21 years ago: Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.
Today in 1975, 50 years ago: At the opening of a new railway line, a bomb blast at Samastipur, Bihar, India, fatally wounds Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways.
Today in 1871, 154 years ago: In Mexico City, Mrs. Margarita Maza de Juárez, first lady of Mexico between 1858 and 1871, dies due to her marriage to President Benito Juárez.
Today in 1979, 46 years ago: Cold wave in Europe, with temperatures of 45 degrees below zero in Moscow.
Today in 1492, 533 years ago: in Spain, the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada surrendered to the army of Ferdinand and Isabella, later the Catholic Monarchs, putting an end to the Reconquista.
Today in 1955, 70 years ago: Following the assassination of the Panamanian president José Antonio Remón Cantera, his deputy, José Ramón Guizado, takes power, but is quickly deposed after his involvement in Cantera's death is discovered.
Today in 1818, 207 years ago: The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded by a group of six engineers; Thomas Telford would later become its first president.
Today in 1993, 32 years ago: Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lanka Navy kill 35–100 civilians on the Jaffna Lagoon.
Today in 1991, 34 years ago: Sharon Pratt Dixon becomes the first African American woman mayor of a major city and first woman Mayor of the District of Columbia.
Today in 1913, 112 years ago: the Ottoman Empire renounces its European territories, with the exception of the straits, and proposes the independence of Albania.
*1949 – Luis Muñoz Marín becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.
Today in 1777, 248 years ago: near Trenton (New Jersey) -in the context of the American Revolutionary War - American forces under the command of George Washington repelled a British attack at the Battle of Assunpink Creek.
Today in 1969, 56 years ago: in the Upper Tacutu-Alto Essequibo region of Guyana, the Rupununi Rebellion began. It was contained 3 days later by the Guyanese army.
Today in 1941, 84 years ago: World War II: The Cardiff Blitz severely damages the cathedral in Cardiff, Wales.
Today in 1955, 70 years ago: President José Antonio Remon Cantera is assassinated in Panama.