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Assassination of William McKinley
William McKenly, the 25th president of the United States of America, was shot in the stomach by a 28-year-old anarchist, during public reception of Pan-American Exposition, a World's Fair in Buffalo, New York. -
Start of World War I
The simplest cause of World War I was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the archduke Austria-Hungary. His death at the hands of Gavrilo Princip – a Serbian nationalist with ties to the secretive military group known as the Black Hand – propelled the major European military powers towards war. -
End of World War I
At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. At 5 a.m. that morning, Germany, lack manpower, supplies and faced with forthcoming invasion, signed a peace treaty with the Allies in Compiégne, France. This world war left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded. In addition, at least five million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure. -
Treaty of Versailles
World War 1 officially ended with the signing of Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. Negotiated among the Allied powers, its 15 parts and 440 articles reassigned German boundaries and assigned liability and reparations. Germany agreed to pay reparations under the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan, but those plans were cancelled in 1932, and Hitler’s rise to power and following actions to repel to provide the remaining terms of the treaty. -
Hitler becomes German Chancellor
The Nazi Party received the substantial support of 37 percent of the total vote in the 1932 election. This made it the largest party in the Reichstag, but it was Franz von Papen and other conservatives who persuaded the president of Germany, Field Marshal von Hindenburg, to appoint Hitler as chancellor in a coalition goverment. -
Start of World War II in Europe
Germany and the Soviet Union secured neutrality. Germany started the world war by invading Poland on September 1, 1939. Then, Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany on September 3. Within a month, Poland was defeated and partitioned between the Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. -
Germany Invades Norway and Denmark
German warships entered major Norwegian ports, from Narvik to Oslo, deploying thousands of German troops and occupying Norway. Hours after the invasion, the German minister in Oslo demanded Norway to surrender. In Denmark, King Christian X convinced his army could not defeat the German invasion so Denmark surrendered almost immediately. -
Nazis Invasion of Soviet Union
Adolf Hitler launched his armies eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union with, three great army groups with over three million German soldiers, 150 divisions and three tanks smashed across the border into Soviet territory. The invasion covered a distance of two thousand miles, from the North Cape to the Black Sea. -
Pearl Harbor Attack
Pearl Harbor is the U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii and was the scene of a devastating attack by the Japanese forces. On a Sunday morning, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the base, managing to destroy or damage nearly 328 American naval vessels, including enormous battleships, and aeroplanes. A total of around 3,400 Americans died, and were wounded including civilians in the attack. The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. -
Death of Franklin D. Roosevelt
It was around 1 pm that the president suddenly complained of terrific pain in the back of his head and collapsed unconscious. The doctor immediately recognised symptoms of a cerebral haemorrhage. By 3:30 pm, doctors in Warm Springs had pronounced the president dead. -
India and Pakistan Win Indepence
The long-awaited agreement ended 200 years of British rule and was beaten by Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi. However, religious conflict between Hindus and Muslims, which had delayed Britain’s granting the independence after World War II, soon impaired Gandhi’s elation. In the northern province of Punjab, sharply divided between Hindu-dominated India and Muslim-dominated Pakistan, hundreds of people were killed in the first few days after independence. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
The 35th president of U.S. is assassinated while travelling through Dallas, Texas. At 12:30 pm, Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired three shots from the sixth floor of Texas School Book Depository, fatally wounding the president and seriously injured Governor Connally. Kennedy was pronounced dead 30 minutes later at Dallas Parkland's Hospital. -
Death of Mao Zedong
Nearing 80 years of age, Mao began to make less frequent appearances. He also began to suffer the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s disease. Mao died in 1976, still holding the position of Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. -
Ronald Reagan Becomes President
Ronald Reagan, former Western movie actor and host of television’s popular “Death Valley Days” is sworn in as the 40th president of the United States. Switching his commitment to the Republican Party, Reagan won two terms as governor of California (1967-75), where he gained a devoted national following that helped him win the presidency. After a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease, Ronald Reagan died on June 5, 2004. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
The Communist government of the German Democratic Republic began to build a barbed wire and concrete wall between East and West Berlin, purposely for keeping Western “fascists” from entering East Germany, but it primarily served the objective of stemming mass defections from East to West. The wall stood until November 9, 1989, when the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens of the GDR could cross the border whenever they pleased.
