1973: Henry Kissinger Becomes Secretary of State
The American politician Henry Kissinger became Secretary of State on this day in 1973, but he retained his position of the president’s national security adviser. He...
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2004: Hu Jintao Becomes the Leader of China
On this day in, Hu Jintao became the new Chinese leader. The previous Chinese president Jiang Zemin resigned as the Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Com...
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1959: Nikita Khrushchev Barred from Visiting Disneyland
The powerful Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev visited the USA in 1959, during the Cold War. The visit lasted 13 days. Earlier this year, when the U.S. Vice President Richa...
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1961: Secretary-General of the UN Dag Hammarskjöld’s Mysterious Death
U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld died under mysterious circumstances on this day in 1961. It has remained unknown what caused the crash of his plane in Africa. Tha...
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1891: The Man who Briefly Ruled the Third Reich after Hitler
German admiral Karl Dönitz was born on this day in 1891. He is notable for being the man who Adolf Hitler appointed as his successor in his will. Namely, just before he c...
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1789: Why are U.S. Foreign Ministers Called State Secretaries?
The United States Department of State was established on this day in 1789, and it is something akin to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United States. This institut...
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1982: The Catholic Maronite President of Lebanon Killed
The Maronite Lebanese President Bashir Gemayel was assassinated on this day in 1982, when a bomb exploded in Beirut. He was killed just three weeks after he had been elec...
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1494: The Last Employer of Leonardo da Vinci
The French King Francis I, who was a sponsor of the famous artist Leonardo da Vinci, was born on this day in 1494. Francis I was probably the most famous French Renaissan...
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