2021
Jack Dorsey announces he is stepping down as CEO of Twitter, to be replaced by Parag Agrawal.
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2020
Iran’s most senior nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh assassinated outside Tehran, escalating tensions in the region.
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2019
The 400th anniversary of the end of the Transatlantic Slave Trade was celebrated with the “Year of Return” in Ghana.
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2017
Eight Donkeys were freed from jail after four days in Orai, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Their crime was eating someone’s expensive plants.
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2017
A ghost ship from North Korea washed up on a beach in Japan with eight skeletons onboard.
A professor from Seigakuin University said ships washing up on beaches like this have increased since 2013.
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2015
The San Jose, which sank in 1708, was found near Columbia.
Dubbed the “Holy Grail of shipwrecks,” the ship and its contents were estimated to be worth a staggering $17 billion!
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2013
Walt Disney’s “Frozen” was released in American movie theaters.
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2005
The first partial facial transplant was given to Isabelle Dinoire in France after a dog attacked her.
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2001
Osiris became the first discovered exoplanet with an atmosphere.
It was found to have a hydrogen-rich atmosphere.
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1992
The Hofburg fire destroyed part of the Royal Court in Vienna, Austria.
The Hofburg has been Austria’s government site since 1279 and has caught on fire multiple times. The first Hofburg fire was in 1668, the second in 1848, and the third on this day. Destruction from this fire caused damage to the building complex’s upper floors. Restoration works took five years to return the building to its previous state.
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1975
Ross McWhirter, who co-founded the Guinness Book of World Records with his twin brother, was shot dead.
Ross had been an outspoken critic of the IRA and had even offered a £50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the IRA members responsible for recent high-profile bombings in London. The two men who shot him, IRA volunteers from the Balcombe Street Gang, were arrested two weeks later.
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1962
The first Boeing 727 planes were delivered to airlines.
On December 5, 1960, Boeing launched the 727 and had 40 orders from both United Airlines and Eastern Air Lines. The planes were delivered on this day, and the first one went into service on February 9, 1963.
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1826
British pharmacist John Walker invented the matchstick by accident.
Walker was experimenting with flammable pastes to use in guns. He created the match when the wooden tool he used to mix the substances in his paste scraped and caught fire. Walker never patented the matchstick.
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1815
The Congress of Vienna declared Kraków, Poland, a free republic state, and the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland was signed.
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1493
The first Native American uprising against Spanish rule occurred in the La Navidad colony.
Christopher Columbus saw the native uprising as a revolt against how they were being treated. As a consequence, the settlement was destroyed by fire.
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399 AD
Pope Anastasius I became the Bishop of Rome, reigning until his death.
Pope Anastasius I was remembered for condemning the Alexandrian theologian Origen’s writings shortly after being translated into Latin. He was also influential in other parts of the world when he encouraged Christians in North Africa to fight against the Christian sect of Donatism.
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