Complete Index

On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan launched an aerial attack on a U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing over 2,000 Americans. The following day, the U.S. declared war on Japan, beginning its involvement in World War II.

On Dec. 6, 1969, four people died at a hastily arranged free concert headlined by the Rolling Stones at the Altamont Speedway in Northern California.

On Dec. 5, 1848, President James K. Polk confirmed in a State of the Union address that large quantities of gold had been discovered in California.

On Dec. 4, 1991, Terry Anderson gained his freedom after six and three-quarter years held captive by Iranian-backed militants.

On Dec. 3, 1984, a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, leaked tons of toxic gas into the air, killing thousands of residents in one of the worst-ever industrial disasters.

On Dec. 2, 2001, Enron filed for Chapter 11 protection, prompting a government investigation whose findings would have far-reaching implications for all of corporate America.

On Dec. 1, 1990, British and French construction workers joined the two halves of the Eurotunnel, physically linking Britain and France for the first time since the end of the ice age.

On Nov. 30, 1886, the revue “Place au Jeunes,” a mix of comedy and scantily clad dancing girls, opened to a rapturous reception at the Folies-Bergère.

On Nov. 29, 1947, the United Nations approved a proposal, by a vote of 33 to 13, to divide the British Mandate of Palestine into two states, one Arab and one Jewish.

On Nov. 28, 1990, after more than 11 years as the nation’s first female premier, Mrs. Thatcher resigned. Although credited with reducing inflation and victory in the Falklands War, she was and remains a profoundly divisive figure in British politics.

On Nov. 27, 1910, Pennsylvania Station opened in New York City, with trains entering Manhattan for the first time by way of tunnels under the Hudson River.

On Nov. 27, 1978, openly gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk was murdered, along with Mayor George Moscone, by former Supervisor Dan White.

On Nov. 26, 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter made a small hole in a sealed doorway and, holding up a candle, shed light onto King Tutankhamen’s tomb in Luxor, Egypt, for the first time in more than 3,000 years.

On Nov. 25, 1998, charges that Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz tampered with a state bank's $600 million sale and had mafia connections led to a no-confidence vote.

On Nov. 24, 1947, the House Committee on Un-American Activities cited 10 prominent writers and directors for contempt of Congress after they refused to confirm or deny that they were communists.

On Nov. 23, 1981, President Ronald Reagan provided the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency with $19 million in military aid to support guerrilla groups fighting Nicaragua’s Sandinista government; the decision led to the 1986 Iran-Contra affair.

On Nov. 22, 1950, a two-train pileup on the Long Island Rail Road killed 79 and injured hundreds more.

On Nov. 21, 1877, Thomas Alva Edison announced that he had devised a method to record sound; the phonograph was a marvel of engineering that ushered in a new era of music, spoken word and celebrity.

On Nov. 20, 1945, the International Military Tribunal began proceedings against 22 high-ranking Nazis indicted for war crimes; the Nuremberg Trials set a precedent in international human rights law.

On Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, a speech that redefined the meaning of the Civil War.

On Nov. 16, 1988, 35-year-old Benazir Bhutto became the first woman leader of a Muslim-majority nation; eight years later her premiership ended in corruption allegations and an 11-year exile.

On Nov. 15, 1940, German bombers completed a 10-hour blitz on Coventry, which killed over 500 people and destroyed the city’s cathedral.

On Nov. 14, 1851, Herman Melville’s epic narrative of the great white whale debuted on the American literary scene, meeting mixed reviews and tepid sales.

On Nov. 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a ruling to strike down Montgomery, Ala.’s segregated bus laws, ending the bus boycott inspired by Rosa Parks.

On Nov. 4, 1979, a group consisting largely of Iranian students invaded the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took more than 60 Americans captive, 52 of whom would be held hostage for 444 days.

On Oct. 23, 1989, Charles Stuart shot and killed his pregnant wife, Carol Stuart. His accusation that a black man was responsible inflamed racial tensions in Boston.

On Sept. 20, 1893, Charles Duryea drove the first gasoline-powered car developed in the United States, according to he and his brother Frank.

On August 15, 1914, the SS Ancon passed from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in a record nine hours, officially opening the Panama Canal.

On June 19, 1865, two years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect, slaves in Texas learned of their freedom. The day is still celebrated as “Juneteenth.”

On April 5, 1887, in Tuscumbia, Ala., teacher Anne Sullivan taught her blind and deaf pupil, Helen Keller, the meaning of the word "water" as spelled out in the manual alphabet.