2021
Honduras presidential elections: Xiomara Castro elected country’s first female president (declared 2 Dec).
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2021
Barbados becomes a Republic, removing Queen Elizabeth II as head of state in a ceremony with Sandra Mason sworn in as the first President, with Rihanna declared a national hero.
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1990
Prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher, handed in her resignation to the Queen and stepped down after being prime minister for 11 years.
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1975
East Timor declared its independence from Portugal.
In the 16th Century, Portugal began to colonize modern-day East Timor, taking complete control by 1702 and naming it Portuguese Timor. Portugal’s rule over the following centuries was somewhat limited, as they saw it as little more than a trading post. By 1975, Portugal had all but given up on the colony, and civil unrest was rife, which allowed East Timor to break away from Portugal.
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1964
NASA launched the Mariner 4 space probe on a mission to Mars.
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1958
The US SM-65 Atlas missile completed the first successful intercontinental ballistic missile launch.
SM-65 Atlas missiles were already being deployed for full operational use within a year. By 1965, they were already dated and replaced with newer, higher-tech intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). This was just the first of many Atlas missiles, with newer variants still in use today.
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1929
Explorer Richard E. Byrd became the first person to fly over the South Pole.
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1920
Irish Republican Army (IRA) ambushed British soldiers near Kilmichael in County Cork.
The IRA managed to kill 17 British personnel.
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1919
Lady Nancy Astor became the first woman to become a member of the British House of Commons.
She was elected with a large majority, taking the place of her husband Waldorf Astor, who moved into the House of Lords.
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1908
The Marianna Coal Mine in Pennsylvania exploded and killed 154 men.
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1895
The Chicago Times-Herald sponsored the United States’ first-ever car race, with the winning car going an average of 7 miles per hour.
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1893
Women voted in a general election for the first time in New Zealand.
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1843
England and France formally recognized Hawaii’s independence.
It is now celebrated each year as the state’s Independence Day.
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1814
The Times of London was first issued.
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1720
The female pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read were found guilty of piracy.
The two were sentenced to death but were spared as it was found later that they were both pregnant.
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1520
Navigator Ferdinand Magellan began his exploration of the Pacific Ocean.
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