World Events

The Paris Agreement enters into force less than a year after COP21

Paris Agreement opens for signature at the United Nations

Countries adopt the Paris Agreement by consensus

The final text elevates the 1.5°C benchmark in global climate diplomacy

Talks run past the official closing date as the presidency seeks consensus

A new draft narrows options as ministers tackle the toughest disputes

Lima-Paris Action Agenda showcases non-state climate action

First consolidated Paris draft is handed to ministers

COP21 opens at Le Bourget with an unprecedented leaders event

Mission Innovation and parallel clean-energy initiatives are launched during COP21

Battle of Stoke Field crushes the last major Yorkist rising

Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York to unite rival claims

Battle of Bosworth Field brings Henry Tudor to power

Richard III seizes the crown after declaring Edward IV's children illegitimate

Henry VI dies in the Tower of London

Battle of Tewkesbury destroys the Lancastrian heir

Battle of Barnet kills Warwick the Kingmaker

Henry VI is briefly restored to the throne

Edward IV's secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville fractures Yorkist unity

Battle of Towton secures the throne for Edward IV

Apollo 11 astronauts are released from quarantine

Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean

The crew is recovered aboard USS Hornet and placed in quarantine

Apollo 11 begins its journey back to Earth

The lunar module crew rendezvous and dock with Columbia

Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to step onto the Moon

The astronauts conduct the lunar surface EVA and deploy experiments

Apollo 11 leaves a plaque and goodwill messages on the Moon

Eagle lifts off from the lunar surface to rejoin Columbia

Apollo 11 lands at Tranquility Base

Apollo 11 returns from its around-the-world goodwill tour

The crew is honored in Los Angeles and begins a global goodwill role

Quarantine ends after no evidence of lunar contamination is found

Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific

Eagle lifts off from the Moon and rejoins Columbia

Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon

Eagle lands in the Sea of Tranquility

Apollo 11 enters lunar orbit

Translunar injection sends Apollo 11 toward the Moon

Apollo 11 launches from Kennedy Space Center

Gavrilo Princip dies in prison before the war ends

Princip is sentenced to twenty years in prison rather than death because of his age

The Sarajevo trial of Princip and the conspirators opens

Belgrade is bombarded as the conflict sparked by the assassination becomes a shooting war

Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, making Sarajevo the trigger for World War I

Serbia replies to the ultimatum, accepting most demands but not enough to avert conflict

Austria-Hungary issues its ultimatum to Serbia, turning the murders into an international crisis

Gavrilo Princip fatally shoots Franz Ferdinand and Sophie in Sarajevo

The Archduke proceeds to Sarajevo City Hall despite the bombing

A wrong turn near the Latin Bridge places the royal car in front of Gavrilo Princip

Royal Commission delivers its final report on national natural disaster arrangements

The New South Wales Bushfire Inquiry report is released

New South Wales announces an inquiry into the bushfire season

The Gospers Mountain fire is declared contained

NASA documents smoke plume impacts reaching the stratosphere and circling the globe

Extreme weekend fire conditions drive further explosive fire behavior

Naval evacuation begins for people trapped at Mallacoota

Victoria declares a state of disaster and orders large-scale evacuations

Smoke crisis engulfs Canberra and spreads across the Tasman Sea

New Year's Eve firestorm devastates coastal communities including Mallacoota

Peace of Westphalia ends the Reformation era’s great wars

Defenestration of Prague ignites the Thirty Years’ War

Edict of Nantes grants limited toleration to French Protestants

Scottish Reformation Parliament breaks with papal authority

Peace of Augsburg legalizes Lutheranism in the Empire

Council of Trent opens the Catholic Reformation

Calvin publishes the Institutes of the Christian Religion

Act of Supremacy establishes the English break with Rome

Zwingli is killed at the Battle of Kappel

Augsburg Confession defines Lutheran belief

Dodd-Frank becomes law as a major post-crisis reform

U.S. stock markets hit a crisis low before a long recovery begins

Leaders hold the first G20 summit on the global financial crisis

Major central banks coordinate an emergency interest-rate cut

Iceland’s banking system unravels and the country faces near-collapse

Troubled Asset Relief Program becomes law

The U.S. House rejects the first bailout bill and markets plunge

Washington Mutual is seized in the largest bank failure in U.S. history

The Federal Reserve rescues AIG with an emergency loan

Reserve Primary Fund breaks the buck, intensifying panic in money markets

S&P 500 regains its pre-crash high

U.S. markets adopt circuit breaker procedures

Brady Report recommends coordinated market safeguards

Reagan's task force begins formal investigation

Hong Kong reopens after a four-day shutdown

Federal Reserve pledges liquidity to support the system

Markets remain strained as record volume tests trading systems

Black Monday wipes out value across world markets

Hong Kong suspends trading after severe collapse

Heavy losses deepen before the weekend

Zhao Ziyang is removed and the post-crackdown political order takes shape

Deng Xiaoping praises the army and frames the crackdown as necessary

The ‘Tank Man’ confrontation becomes the enduring image of defiance

Tiananmen Square is cleared and the crackdown ends the movement in Beijing

Troops move into Beijing and open the way to the square by force

Party elders approve the use of force to clear the protests

Goddess of Democracy statue is unveiled in the square

Martial law is declared in parts of Beijing

Zhao Ziyang visits the square in his final public appearance as party chief

Gorbachev’s Beijing visit internationalizes the standoff

The Peace of Westphalia leaves a lasting legacy in European international order

Final fighting around Prague highlights the imperfect end of the war

Religious settlement broadens legal recognition within the empire

Treaties of Münster and Osnabrück are signed as the Peace of Westphalia

Imperial princes gain strengthened territorial authority

Battle of Lens confirms that fighting continues even as peace nears

Peace of Münster ends the Eighty Years’ War between Spain and the Dutch Republic

Trauttmansdorff's negotiations move the congress toward concrete settlement

Battle of Rocroi shifts the political balance during negotiations

Peace congresses open in Münster and Osnabrück

The New Safe Confinement is fully commissioned and handed over

The United Nations creates International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day

The New Safe Confinement begins sliding into place

The Chernobyl Forum releases a major international assessment

The Chernobyl Forum is formed to assess long-term consequences

The last operating reactor at Chernobyl is shut down

Chernobyl becomes one of the benchmark Level 7 nuclear accidents

Belarus creates the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve

The first sarcophagus is completed over the destroyed reactor

The Soviet Union presents its official report to the IAEA

Apollo 11 crew is released from quarantine

The Mobile Quarantine Facility arrives in Houston with the crew inside

Apollo 11 splashes down in the Pacific and is recovered by USS Hornet

The crew enters quarantine aboard USS Hornet

Apollo 11 departs lunar orbit for Earth

Eagle lifts off from the Moon and docks again with Columbia

Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to step onto the Moon

Buzz Aldrin joins Armstrong on the surface and the EVA expands scientific work

Eagle separates from Columbia and begins descent toward the surface

Apollo 11 lands in the Sea of Tranquility

The Cuban Missile Crisis globalizes the revolution's consequences

Bay of Pigs invasion fails and radicalizes the revolution

Agrarian reform begins the social transformation of the revolution

Castro enters Havana and consolidates revolutionary authority

Batista flees and the Cuban Revolution triumphs

The Battle of Santa Clara breaks Batista's final defenses

Batista's summer offensive fails in the Sierra Maestra

Victory at El Uvero strengthens the Rebel Army

Student assault on the Presidential Palace broadens the revolt

The Granma landing begins the guerrilla war in Cuba

Doha Amendment finally enters into force at the end of Kyoto's second period

Paris Agreement enters into force as the main global climate framework

Paris Agreement is adopted, overtaking Kyoto's model

Second commitment period begins under the amended protocol

Doha Amendment creates a second Kyoto commitment period

Canada announces withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol

First commitment period begins for emissions reductions

First Meeting of the Parties in Montreal begins Kyoto's implementation era

Kyoto Protocol enters into force

Russia ratifies, clearing the threshold for Kyoto to take effect

Allen v. Milligan reaffirms Section 2 in redistricting cases

Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee constrains Section 2 challenges

Shelby County v. Holder disables the preclearance formula

Congress reauthorizes the Voting Rights Act for 25 years

Thornburg v. Gingles defines the modern Section 2 framework

Congress restores and strengthens Section 2 in major amendments

City of Mobile v. Bolden narrows vote-dilution claims

Congress expands the Act to protect language minorities

Congress renews the Act’s special provisions for the first time

Supreme Court upholds the Act in South Carolina v. Katzenbach

Biden is inaugurated, concluding the election crisis

Capitol attack interrupts Congress during electoral vote count

The Electoral College formalizes Biden’s victory

Major news organizations project Biden as the winner

Election Day produces record turnout and a prolonged count

The final debate gives the candidates a last national forum

The second presidential debate is canceled

The vice-presidential debate highlights succession and health concerns

Trump announces that he tested positive for COVID-19

The first presidential debate becomes a defining spectacle

The Soviet Union is formally dissolved by its remaining legislature

Gorbachev resigns and the Soviet flag comes down

Alma-Ata Protocol broadens recognition of the breakup

Belavezha Accords declare the Soviet Union ended

Ukraine’s referendum confirms secession from the USSR

Ukraine declares independence after the failed coup

The coup collapses and the union center is fatally weakened

The August Coup begins against Gorbachev

Yeltsin wins Russia’s presidency by popular vote

Union referendum reveals a divided and weakening federation

Soviet Union is formally dissolved by its upper chamber

Gorbachev resigns and the Soviet flag is lowered

Alma-Ata Protocol broadens the post-Soviet settlement

Belavezha Accords declare the Soviet Union ended

Ukrainian referendum confirms independence overwhelmingly

Ukraine declares independence after the coup

Hardline coup attempt against Gorbachev collapses

Yeltsin elected president of the Russian republic

Union referendum reveals both support and fragmentation

Soviet force in Vilnius deepens legitimacy crisis

Rwanda adopts the law establishing modern gacaca courts

Kibeho massacre exposes the violence of the post-genocide transition

UN creates the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

RPF takes Gisenyi and the genocide is brought to an end

RPF captures Kigali, changing the course of the war and genocide

France launches Operation Turquoise in southwestern Rwanda

UN imposes an arms embargo and authorizes expansion of UNAMIR

The UN reduces UNAMIR at the height of the killing

Mass killing at Nyarubuye church reveals the nationwide scale of the genocide

Belgian peacekeepers withdraw from the ETO school as civilians are abandoned

The Berlin Airlift ends after months of continued precautionary flying

The Basic Law creates the Federal Republic of Germany in the blockade's aftermath

The Soviet Union lifts the Berlin Blockade

The airlift reaches its peak on the 'Easter Parade' supply record

NATO is founded as the blockade pushes Western security integration

West Berlin elects Ernst Reuter's camp in a vote of confidence under blockade

The political split of Berlin is formalized with rival city administrations

Mass rally at the Reichstag shows West Berlin's resistance

Construction of Tegel Airport begins to expand airlift capacity

The Western Allies launch the Berlin Airlift

Taiwan is transferred from Japanese rule to the Republic of China

Japanese surrender ceremony in Nanjing ends the war in China

Soviet invasion of Manchuria destroys Japan's position in northeast Asia

Operation Ichi-Go becomes Japan's largest campaign in China

Cairo Declaration commits Allies to reversing Japanese conquests

China formally declares war on Japan after Pearl Harbor

Hundred Regiments Offensive shows Communist military reach

Wuhan falls but China preserves its war effort inland

Battle of Wuhan becomes the war's largest campaign

Chinese victory at Taierzhuang boosts resistance morale

Artemis I launches a new era of Moon missions

Chang’e 4 makes the first landing on the Moon’s far side

Apollo 17 makes the last human landing on the Moon

Apollo 11 returns safely to Earth

First moonwalk begins and samples are collected

Apollo 11 lands at Tranquility Base

Apollo 11 launches for the first crewed lunar landing attempt

Apollo 8 becomes the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon

Apollo 1 fire halts the program and forces major redesigns

Surveyor 1 makes the first American soft landing on the Moon

The Lockerbie bombing renews focus on Libya despite the 1986 raid

U.N. General Assembly condemns the U.S. raid on Libya

U.N. Security Council condemnation effort is blocked by Western vetoes

Reagan addresses the nation to justify the bombing as self-defense against terrorism

Bab al-Azizia compound and other command targets are hit in Tripoli

A U.S. F-111F is lost during the raid and its two-man crew are killed

Libya fires missiles toward Lampedusa in an immediate reprisal

Operation El Dorado Canyon strikes Tripoli and Benghazi

U.S. strike aircraft launch from British bases after overflight denials by European allies

Reagan authorizes Operation El Dorado Canyon after citing intelligence tying Libya to Berlin