With protests for democratic reforms entering their seventh week, the Chinese government authorizes its soldiers and tanks to reclaim this area in Beijing at all costs on this day in 1989. By nightfall on June 4, Chinese troops had forcibly cleared the area, killing hundreds and arresting thousands of demonstrators and suspected dissidents
In a river valley in central Pennsylvania, heavy rain and a neglected dam lead to a catastrophe in which 2,209 people die and this prosperous city, is nearly wiped off the face of the earth on this day in 1889. - This Day in History
On this day in 1806, this Revolutionary War veteran and future president kills Charles Dickinson, a lawyer regarded as one of the best pistol shots in the area, in a duel. The proud and volatile future president, a former senator and representative of Tennessee, called for the duel after his wife Rachel was slandered as a bigamist by Dickinson, who was referring to a legal error in the divorce from her first husband in 1791
At 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and this Sherpa of Nepal, become the first explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest, which at 29,035 feet above sea level is the highest point on earth. The two, part of a British expedition, made their final assault on the summit after spending a fitful night at 27,900 feet
On this day in 1937, the government of Germany - then under the control of Adolf Hitler of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party forms a this automobile company, referred to as "The People's Car Company." - This Day in History
After 14 years and 27 deaths while being constructed, this bridge over the East River is opened in New York. Thousands of residents turned out to witness the dedication ceremony, which was presided over by President Chester A. Arthur and New York Governor Grover Cleveland. Designed by the late John A
On this day in 1934, notorious criminals Clyde Barrow and this female partner are shot to death by Texas and Louisiana state police while driving a stolen car near Sailes, Louisiana. Beginning in early 1932, they set off on a two-year crime spree, evading local police in rural Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico before drawing the attention of federal authorities
The arrival in England of one of the biggest figures in rock and roll was looked forward to with great anticipation in May of 1958. Nowhere in the world were the teenage fans of the raucous music coming out of America more enthusiastic than they were in England, and the coming tour of this singer promised to be a rousing success
On this day in 1927, this American pilot lands at Le Bourget Field in Paris, successfully completing the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight and the first ever nonstop flight between New York to Paris. His single-engine monoplane, The Spirit of St. Louis, had lifted off from Roosevelt Field in New York 33 1/2 hours before
After 10 days and 10 bloody assaults, Hill 937 in South Vietnam is finally captured by U.S. and South Vietnamese troops on this day in 1969. The Americans who fought there cynically dubbed Hill 937 this because the battle and its high casualty rate reminded them of a meat grinder
