On this Day

ON THIS DAY: Wuhan’s “unknown pneumonia”, start of COVID-19

First alerts from Huanan market Chinese health officials notified WHO on December 31, 2019, of a pneumonia cluster of unknown cause in Wuhan, Hubei. Patients...

ON THIS DAY: The Green Line is drawn in Nicosia (1963)

On 30 December 1963, a decisive and deeply symbolic moment in Cyprus’s modern history unfolded, as the so-called Green Line was drawn across Nicosia,...

ON THIS DAY: Remembering the Indian Ocean tsunami (2004)

A disaster that unfolded without warning On 26 December 2004, a powerful undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that struck coastlines...

ON THIS DAY: Christmas truce during WW1 (1914)

Late Christmas Eve 1914, British Expeditionary Force troops in Flanders trenches heard Germans opposite singing "Stille Nacht" and other carols while illuminating parapets with...

ON THIS DAY: Apollo 8 Christmas Eve message from orbit (1968)

On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 became the first humans to orbit the Moon- and delivered one of the most memorable...