HistoryPod

Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to successfully swim across the English Channel.

Political activist Abbie Hoffman and a group of protesters threw dollar bills onto the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

King Michael I of Romania led a coup d’état that removed the Nazi-aligned government of Ion Antonescu.

Slaves in the French colony of Saint-Domingue on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola began the Haitian Revolution.

Hawaii became the 50th state to join the United States of America after a referendum.

Leon Trotsky was fatally wounded with an ice axe by Spanish communist Ramón Mercader.

The Cold War border between Austria and Hungary was opened for a short period of time for the Pan-European picnic.

The 19th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing all American women the right to vote.

Parliament passed the Marriage Act that legalised civil marriages and introduced their formal registration.

Queen Victoria sent the first telegram using the newly-installed transatlantic telegraph cable to US President James Buchanan.