This Day in History - Lead Story all headlines
| Encyclopædia Britannica Online Daily Content | Election of Chen Shui-bian: 18 March 2000 - This Day in History
On this day in 2000, Chen Shui-bian, a leader of the proindependence movement that sought statehood for the Republic of China (Taiwan), was elected president of Taiwan, breaking the Nationalist Party's 55-year rule. More Events on this day: 1974: Seven member countries of OPEC lifted a five-month oil embargo against the United States. 1965: Soviet cosmonaut Aleksey Arkhipovich Leonov became the first man to walk in space after passing through an air lock on the spacecraft Voskhod 2. 1964: Speed skater Bonnie Blair, one of the most successful American women athletes in Olympic competition, was born in Cornwall, New York. 1906: The first monoplane, constructed by the Romanian inventor Trajan Vuia, made a flight of 12 metres (40 feet). 1902: Italian operatic tenor Enrico Caruso, one of the first musicians to document his voice on the gramophone, made his first phonograph recording. 1766: The British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act of 1765 after violent protests from American colonists. |
Concise Encyclopedia Book and CD-ROM: Special Price from The Britannica Store For RSS subscribers The Britannica Store presents a special 20% discount on the Concise Encyclopedia and free CD-ROM. This thoroughly revised and expanded edition of Britannica's most popular publication worldwide is a one-volume encyclopedia containing 28,000 articles accompanied by colorful photographs, diagrams, maps, and flags. The Britannica Concise Encyclopedia has comprehensive coverage on a variety of subjects including, arts, business, geography, history, literature, philosophy, politics, pop culture, science, sports, and more. The book features an easy-to-use format, pronunciation help, relevant tables, and international maps. To see the special price, add the product to your Shopping Cart. |
| | The Free Dictionary By Farlex | Tuskegee Airmen Activated for Service (1941)
The Tuskegee Airmen, trained at Alabama's Tuskegee Army Air Field during WWII, made up the US military's first African-American flying unit. In 1941, congressional legislation forced the Army Air Corps to create an all-black combat unit, and though the War Department aimed to block its formation by instituting a number of restrictive guidelines for applicants, many qualified for service. In all, these airmen flew 1,578 missions, destroyed 261 enemy aircraft, and were awarded how many medals? Discuss
|
Largest Art Theft in US History (1990)
On March 18, 1990, thieves disguised as police officers broke into Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and stole 13 works of art, including paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Manet, and Degas. The crime, considered the largest art theft in US history, remains unsolved. Due to the strict provisions of Gardner's will, which stipulate that the collection remain unchanged, the paintings' empty frames remain on display in their original locations. What group is suspected of carrying out the heist?
|
Rubber Band Patented (1845)
In 1845, Stephen Perry, a British inventor and businessman, patented what is now a staple office supply—the rubber band. While their intended function is to hold items together, rubber bands have been used in a number of other capacities; they can be wrapped around one another to form a bouncy ball or used as "ammunition" in rubber band guns. Though many modern rubber products are commonly made with synthetic rubber, rubber bands are still primarily manufactured using natural rubber. Why?
|
|
|