Chronology
A timeline of history.
Events run from the earliest year, including years before the Common Era, then are grouped by century. Only published articles that carry a year are shown.
Events
Showing 1–42 of 42tal dated events
20th century
42 events-
17 December 1903
Wright Brothers 1903: First Powered Flight
On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright flew for 12 seconds at Kitty Hawk. This flight marked the beginning of the era of controlled powered flight.
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27–28 May 1905
Battle of Tsushima 1905: Russian Fleet Destroyed in Two Days
The Russian Baltic Fleet sailed 18,000 miles only to be destroyed by Admiral Togo at the Tsushima Strait. Japan's victory in May 1905 changed the world's balance of power.
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1911–1913
The Theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911: A Masterpiece Stolen to Fame
In 1911, an Italian handyman hid the Mona Lisa under his coat and stole it from the Louvre. The scandal transformed an ordinary painting into a global icon.
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1915–1923
Armenian Genocide 1915: Deportations, Deaths, and a Century-Long Debate
In 1915, hundreds of thousands of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were deported and killed. More than a century later, the events remain politically debated.
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10 November 1918
Secret Armistice Message at North Sydney, 10 November 1918
The Western Union office in North Sydney received a secret armistice message on the morning of 10 November 1918, one day before World War I officially ended.
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1920–1931
Al Capone and the Prohibition Era: A Criminal Empire in Chicago
Prohibition did not eliminate alcohol but created a lucrative black market. Al Capone turned this into a legendary criminal empire.
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1928–1945
Alexander Fleming and Penicillin: The Lab Accident That Changed Medicine
In 1928, a petri dish of bacteria in a London lab was contaminated with mold. The mold killed the surrounding bacteria. Alexander Fleming's discovery paved the way for the…
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28 October 1928
Youth Pledge 1928: Three Vows that United the Nation
On October 28, 1928, youth from various regions pledged one motherland, one nation, and one language. This vow became one of the foundations of modern Indonesia.
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1932–1933
Holodomor: The Great Famine in Ukraine 1932–1933
Between 1932 and 1933, millions died of famine in Ukraine due to Soviet collectivization policies and grain requisitioning. The event is verified, but its classification as…
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1937–1947
Han van Meegeren: The Forger Who Fooled the Nazis with Fake Vermeers
After World War II, a Dutch painter was arrested for selling a Vermeer to Hermann Göring. He confessed to creating the fake painting himself, not selling national heritage.
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December 1937–February 1938
Nanking Massacre 1937: Six Weeks of Terror in China's Capital
After Shanghai fell, Japanese troops entered Nanking and carried out mass killings and sexual violence for weeks. The event remains an open wound in East Asian relations.
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2 July 1937
Disappearance of Amelia Earhart in 1937: Pacific Mystery
Amelia Earhart vanished on July 2, 1937, while flying to Howland Island. Despite extensive searches, her plane wreckage and remains were never definitively found.
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23 August 1942 - 2 February 1943
Battle of Stalingrad: Turning Point of the Eastern Front in World War II
In the summer of 1942, Germany launched Operation Blue, a major offensive against the Soviet Union. The goal was to seize the oil fields of the Caucasus and destroy Soviet forces…
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April - July 1943
Operation Mincemeat: The Body, Fake Documents, and the Deception that Changed Sicily Invasion
In early 1943, the Allies planned to invade Sicily under the codename Husky. The island was a logical entry point to Southern Europe, but precisely because of that, Germany was…
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1943–1944
Bengal Famine of 1943: A Man-Made Disaster
The 1943 Bengal famine killed millions, caused not only by crop failure but also by war, colonial policies, and food distribution failures.
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1945–1959
Operation Paperclip: The Secret Recruitment of Nazi Scientists by the US
After World War II, the United States secretly brought over a thousand German scientists and technicians to the country. The program led to rocket and space medicine advancements…
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6–9 August 1945
Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Atomic Bombs and the Unending Debate
In August 1945, two atomic bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands. While history records the events, the question of whether the bombings were necessary…
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10 November 1945
Battle of Surabaya 1945: The City that Changed Revolutionary History
The Allies' ultimatum on November 9, 1945 was met with resistance from the entire city. The Battle of Surabaya became one of the largest battles in the Indonesian Revolution and…
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17 August 1945
Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, August 17, 1945
On August 17, 1945, Sukarno and Hatta proclaimed Indonesia's independence. This brief event marked a turning point in the nation's history after centuries of colonization.
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1947–1952
Marshall Plan: US Aid that Rebuilt Western Europe
The Marshall Plan, worth around $13 billion, helped Western Europe recover after World War II. It also served as a political tool in the early Cold War.
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akhir 1940-an–1990
Operation Gladio: The Exposed NATO Secret Network
During the Cold War, several Western European countries maintained a secret network to counter Soviet invasion. When its existence was acknowledged, questions arose about the…
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25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953
Korean War 1950–1953: A War That Never Ended
An armistice was signed in 1953, but no peace treaty was ever made. The Korean Peninsula remains divided, and the war still shapes East Asian politics.
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1950–1953
Discovery of DNA Structure in 1953: Franklin, Watson, and Crick
In 1953, the double helix structure of DNA was revealed. Behind this discovery was Rosalind Franklin's crystallography work, often overlooked in popular narratives.
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1953–1973
Project MKUltra: When the CIA Studied Mind Control
For two decades, the CIA ran a secret program to control the human mind, including administering LSD without consent. Files that were supposed to be destroyed revealed everything.
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1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975
Vietnam War 1955–1975: Roots, Journey, and Impact
The Vietnam War claimed millions of lives and altered US politics. The conflict stemmed from colonial divisions, not just the Cold War.
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18–24 April 1955
The 1955 Asian-African Conference: Bandung and the Rise of the Third World
In April 1955, 29 Asian and African countries gathered in Bandung. The conference gave birth to the Bandung Principles and marked the beginning of solidarity among newly…
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13 August 1961 - 9 November 1989
The Berlin Wall: 28 Years Dividing a City and Symbol of the Cold War
After World War II, Germany was divided into Allied occupation zones, and Berlin, within the Soviet zone, was also split into four sectors. In 1949, two German states emerged: the…
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16–28 October 1962
The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962: Thirteen Days on the Brink of Nuclear War
Aerial photos revealed Soviet missile silos in Cuba. For thirteen days, Kennedy and Khrushchev faced off in a crisis that brought the world closest to nuclear war.
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1962
Operation Northwoods: The Secret Plan Rejected by Kennedy
In 1962, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff proposed false flag attacks to justify an invasion of Cuba. The plan was never executed, but the documents were revealed decades later.
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22 November 1963
Assassination of John F. Kennedy: One Shot, Many Versions
On November 22, 1963, the US President was shot in Dallas. Over six decades later, documents and theories still debate who was responsible.
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8 August 1963
The Great Train Robbery of 1963: A Notorious Crime
On August 8, 1963, a gang of robbers stopped a mail train and stole £2.6 million. The event became one of the most famous heists in English history.
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2–7 August 1964
The 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident: The Report That Changed the Vietnam War
A report about a torpedo attack that was later found to be erroneous became the basis for a resolution that gave President Johnson the power to escalate the Vietnam War.
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16–24 July 1969
Apollo 11: First Steps on the Moon
In July 1969, two astronauts walked on the lunar surface while one orbited above. The mission became one of the greatest technological achievements of the 20th century.
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1970–1990
Chilean Coup of 1973: The Peaceful Path Ending at La Moneda
On September 11, 1973, the Chilean military overthrew President Salvador Allende. The coup ended the experiment of democratic socialism and paved the way for Pinochet's…
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10 November 1972
1972 Southern Airways Hijacking in Birmingham
The hijacking of Southern Airways Flight 49 on November 10, 1972 lasted over 30 hours, threatened the Oak Ridge nuclear reactor, and led to passenger screening in the US.
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July–August 1974
Project Azorian: CIA's Secret Operation to Raise a Soviet Submarine
In 1974, the CIA built a giant ship disguised as a manganese mining vessel to raise a sunken Soviet submarine from the Pacific Ocean. The operation became one of the most…
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11 November 1975
The Australian Constitutional Crisis of 1975
The largest constitutional crisis in Australia occurred in 1975 when Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and appointed Malcolm Fraser as interim…
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1978–1979
The 1979 Iranian Revolution: The Fall of the Shah and the Birth of the Islamic Republic
In 1979, a popular revolution overthrew Iran's Shah and ended a millennia-old monarchy. The revolution gave birth to the Islamic Republic, which continues to shape Middle Eastern…
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1983
Hitler's Diary: When a Major Magazine Was Fooled by Fake Volumes
In April 1983, West German magazine Stern announced it had found Adolf Hitler's personal diary. According to the magazine, the documents consisted of about 60 handwritten volumes…
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1985–1991
The Fall of the Soviet Union in 1991: The End of an Empire
Gorbachev's reforms opened up freedoms but also unleashed uncontrollable forces. By the end of 1991, the Soviet flag was lowered for the last time.
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1990–1994
The End of Apartheid in South Africa 1990–1994
After decades of struggle, apartheid collapsed through tense negotiations. In 1994, South Africa held its first general election open to all races.
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11–22 July 1995
Srebrenica Massacre 1995: Failure of Safe Zone
In July 1995, around 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed after the UN-designated safe area of Srebrenica fell. The event was recognized as genocide.