This Day in History

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on November 5th. It was one of the most fateful decisions in military history: On this day in 1941, the Combined Japanese Fleet received Top-Secret Order No. 1, which called for the bombing of the U.S. navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, along with Malaya, the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines. Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...

Hello, and welcome to This Day In History. Here’s what happened on November 4th. Did you stay up late last night watching election returns? That’s just what millions around the country were doing on this day in 2008, when then-Senator Barack Obama from Illinois defeated Senator John McCain of Arizona to become the 44th U.S. president, and America’s first Black commander-in-chief. Learn more about...

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on November 3rd. Today is Election Day, and like many Americans, residents of Washington, D.C. will be headed to the polls. And although D.C. residents can only elect non-voting members of the House and Senate, they have been casting votes in U.S. presidential elections since this day in 1964. That’s when capital dwellers helped elect...

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on November 2nd. Tomorrow is Election Day, the last day to vote in this year’s presidential election. And with many pundits predicting a close race, we look back to one of the most surprising upsets in presidential history. On this day in 1948, Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeated his Republican challenger, New York Governor...

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on November 1st. George Washington was our first president, but he wasn’t our first president to live in the White House. That was president number two, John Adams, who moved into the executive mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on this day in 1800. Although Adams was initially enthusiastic about their new digs, he and first lady Abi...

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 31st. Today is Halloween, but what happened way back on this day in 1926 was neither trick nor treat. That’s when Harry Houdini, the most celebrated magician and escape artist of the 20th century, died in a Detroit hospital. Twelve days earlier, Houdini had been telling a group of students in Montreal about the strength of...