World Events Today
- Sir William Herschel discovered the first two moons of Uranus, Titania and Oberon, today in 1787, it was 6 years after he had discovered the planet itself
- Charing Cross Station in London opened today in 1864, it took its name from the nearby Charing Cross road junction, the notional “centre of London” from which distances from the city are measured
- The US Surgeon General Luther Terry, produced a report today in 1964, it indicated that lung cancer and chronic bronchitis were related to cigarette smoking
Entertainment Events Today
- After being released in the US a couple of weeks earlier, the Pretenders debut studio album, The Pretenders, was released in the UK today in 1980
- The recurring music festival Rock in Rio, one of the largest music festivals in the world, was held for the first time today in 1985, an estimated 1.5 million people attended
- Breaking ranks with its North Korean allies, the Soviet Union announced today in 1988, that it would take part in the Seoul Summer Olympics in South Korea
Family Events Today
- The English football legend Bryan Robson was born today in 1957 in County Durham
- The New Zealand mountaineer and explorer Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, the first to climb Mount Everest, with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, died today in 2008 aged 88
- Ariel Scheinermann, better known as the Israeli general and politician Ariel Sharon, who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from 2001 to 2006, died today in 2014 aged 85
Main Event Today
- The Anglo-Zulu War, a war between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom, started today in 1879, two notable battles were the Battle of Isandlwana and the Battle at Rorke’s Drift
National Day Today
- Today, it’s National Human Trafficking Awareness Day