17th August 1945: Animal Farm by George Orwell published in the United Kingdom
Subtitled “A Fairy Story,” the Animal Farm used a farmyard allegory to critique totalitarianism, particularly the rise and betrayal of the ideals of the Russian Revolution, which caused several publishers to initially reject the book, with concerns that it would harm wartime relations with the ...
17 Aug 0s
16th August 1819: An estimated 15 protestors are killed in the Peterloo Massacre at St Peter’s Field in Manchester
The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter’s Field in Manchester, when a group of over 60,000 protesters were charged by ...
16 Aug 0s
15th August 1965: The Beatles perform at Shea Stadium in New York City, in front of a crowd of over 55,000 people
The Beatles were first flown by helicopter to a nearby helipad and then driven to Shea Stadium in an armoured van where they performed a 30 minute set on a stage set up on the infield, far from the attendees in the ...
15 Aug 0s
14th August 1980: Lech Walesa leads a strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk and triggers the formation of the Solidarity trade union
Within two years up to 80% of the entire Polish workforce had joined Solidarity or one of its sub-organisations, and they regularly used strikes to achieve political ...
14 Aug 0s
13th August 1521: Aztec Empire ends with the Fall of Tenochtitlan to Spanish forces led by Hernán Cortés
The Aztec defence was led by the Emperor Cuauhtémoc but, despite determined resistance, the defenders were gradually overwhelmed and Cuauhtémoc was captured while trying to flee the ...
13 Aug 0s
12th August 1981: IBM announces the release of the 5150, the first IBM Personal Computer
The IBM PC quickly became a commercial success and a standard in the emerging personal computer industry, establishing a broad market based on the IBM model that accelerated the spread of home ...
12 Aug 0s
11th August 1929: Babe Ruth becomes the first Major League Baseball player to hit 500 home runs
The ball sailed over the right-field fence to land in Lexington Avenue that ran alongside Cleveland’s League ...
11 Aug 0s
10th August 1961: United States begins Operation Ranch Hand to destroy trees and crops during the Vietnam War
Operation Ranch Hand was part of a strategy by the U.S. to counter the guerrilla tactics of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces by targeting agricultural areas and forest cover with chemicals such as Agent ...
10 Aug 0s
