Social & Political History: What Happened On This Day
Find your date below: 58 days of the year, each with a society event from history between 1776 and 2007, its year and a link to the full story in our history calendar.
Politics, law and public life: independence days, new states and constitutions, famous speeches, reforms, and the founding of organizations. Every day is also a round of Years Ago, our daily history game, so days playing today or in the next 30 days are left out until they have played.
January
January 2, 1788
Georgia ratifies the US Constitution, becoming the fourth state of the new union.
January 3, 1959
Alaska is admitted to the Union as the 49th US state.
January 6, 1941
Franklin D. Roosevelt names the "Four Freedoms" every person should enjoy, in his State of the Union address.
January 13, 1898
Émile Zola publishes "J'Accuse…!", an open letter defending the wrongly convicted Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
February
February 7, 1974
Grenada's national flag is raised at midnight as the island becomes independent from Britain.
February 11, 1929
The Lateran Treaty is signed, creating Vatican City as an independent state.
February 14, 1912
Arizona is admitted to the Union as the 48th US state, the last of the contiguous states.
February 16, 1918
The Council of Lithuania signs the Act of Independence in Vilnius, restoring Lithuania as a sovereign state.
February 27, 1812
Manuel Belgrano raises the light blue and white flag of Argentina for the first time, near Rosario.
February 28, 1922
Britain issues a declaration recognizing Egypt as an independent sovereign state, ending its protectorate.
March
March 4, 1789
The First United States Congress convenes in New York City under the new Constitution.
March 5, 1946
Winston Churchill gives his "Sinews of Peace" speech in Fulton, Missouri, warning of an "iron curtain" across Europe.
March 9, 1776
Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations in London, a founding work of modern economics.
March 12, 1912
Juliette Gordon Low holds the first Girl Guide meeting in Savannah, Georgia, founding the Girl Scouts of the USA.
March 17, 1861
The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed, with Victor Emmanuel II as its first king.
March 20, 1883
Eleven countries sign the Paris Convention, one of the first international treaties protecting inventions and trademarks.
March 22, 1945
The Arab League is founded in Cairo to strengthen ties among Arab states.
March 25, 1957
Six European countries sign the Treaty of Rome, creating the European Economic Community.
March 26, 1979
Egypt and Israel sign a peace treaty at the White House, the first between Israel and an Arab state.
March 30, 1856
The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War and making the Black Sea neutral waters.
April
April 22, 1889
At noon a gunshot starts the Oklahoma Land Run, as about 50,000 settlers race to claim homesteads.
April 24, 1800
The Library of Congress is established when President John Adams signs a bill moving the capital to Washington.
April 26, 1964
Tanganyika and Zanzibar unite to form a new country, soon named Tanzania.
April 30, 1789
George Washington is sworn in as the first president of the United States in New York City.
May
May 5, 1949
Ten nations sign the Treaty of London, creating the Council of Europe to promote democracy and human rights.
May 17, 1792
Twenty-four New York stockbrokers sign the Buttonwood Agreement, the origin of the New York Stock Exchange.
May 25, 1986
About 6.5 million people join hands in a human chain across the US for Hands Across America.
May 26, 1896
Charles Dow publishes the first Dow Jones Industrial Average, based on 12 industrial stocks.
May 30, 1814
The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending war between France and the allied powers after Napoleon's abdication.
May 31, 1910
The Union of South Africa is formed from four British colonies, with Louis Botha as prime minister.
June
June 3, 2006
Montenegro's parliament declares independence, ending its union with Serbia.
June 4, 1989
Poland holds partly free elections in which Solidarity wins a landslide, starting the end of communism in Eastern Europe.
June 12, 1898
Emilio Aguinaldo proclaims Philippine independence from Spain at his home in Kawit, Cavite.
June 13, 1966
The US Supreme Court rules in Miranda v. Arizona that police must tell suspects of their rights.
June 14, 1985
Five European countries sign the Schengen Agreement on a riverboat, paving the way for border-free travel.
June 24, 1947
Pilot Kenneth Arnold reports nine shining objects over Mount Rainier, and newspapers coin the term "flying saucer."
June 28, 1919
The Treaty of Versailles is signed in the Hall of Mirrors, formally ending the First World War with Germany.
July
August
August 8, 1967
Five Southeast Asian nations sign the Bangkok Declaration, founding the regional bloc known as ASEAN.
August 27, 1928
Fifteen nations sign the Kellogg–Briand Pact in Paris, renouncing war as a tool of national policy.
August 28, 1963
Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his 'I Have a Dream' speech at the Lincoln Memorial.
September
September 2, 1967
Paddy Roy Bates declares the Principality of Sealand on an abandoned sea fort off the English coast.
September 3, 1967
Sweden switches from driving on the left to the right in a single morning, a day called Dagen H.
September 7, 1822
Prince Pedro declares Brazil's independence from Portugal on the banks of the Ipiranga stream.
September 9, 1886
The Berne Convention is signed, requiring nations to protect the copyrights of foreign authors.
September 11, 1997
Scottish voters back the creation of a Scottish Parliament in a referendum.
September 17, 1978
Egypt's Anwar Sadat and Israel's Menachem Begin sign the Camp David Accords at the White House.
October
October 3, 1990
East and West Germany formally reunite as a single country, less than a year after the Berlin Wall opened.
October 9, 1874
Twenty-two nations sign the Treaty of Bern, creating the international union that became the Universal Postal Union.
October 13, 1884
The International Meridian Conference votes to make Greenwich the prime meridian of the world.
December
December 1, 1918
Iceland becomes a sovereign kingdom, sharing only its king with Denmark.
December 2, 1804
Napoleon is crowned Emperor of the French at Notre-Dame de Paris, in the presence of Pope Pius VII.
December 13, 2007
European Union leaders sign the Treaty of Lisbon, reforming how the EU works.
December 20, 1999
Portugal hands Macau over to China, ending more than four centuries of Portuguese administration.
December 26, 1991
A day after its president resigns, the Soviet Union is formally dissolved and its republics become independent.
December 27, 1945
The International Monetary Fund comes into existence as 29 countries sign its founding agreement.
Frequently asked questions
- What counts as a society event?
- Politics, law and public life: independence days, new states and constitutions, famous speeches, reforms, and the founding of organizations.
- Why are some days of the year missing?
- Our history calendar has one event for each day, and this page lists the days whose event is about society. Every day is also a round of Years Ago, our daily history game, so a day playing today or in the next 30 days is left out until it has played, and then comes back.
- How are the dates checked?
- Each event was checked against at least 2 independent sources, linked on its day in the history calendar, and the summary is written in our own words.
More history
Play today’s puzzleHistory calendar
Other topics: