This Week In History

9/20

1870: Italian troops occupied Rome, leading to its incorporation into the Kingdom of Italy and reducing papal authority to the Vatican and a small surrounding area.

9/21

2013: Al-Shabaab militants attacked the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi, an assault that lasted three days and left over 65 people dead, including Ghanaian poet and novelist Kofi Awoonor.

9/24

1957: Federal troops were sent to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce racial desegregation and protect black students attending the local public high school.

1980: Solidarity was founded in Poland as 36 trade unions united under Lech Wałęsa’s leadership, forming a powerful movement of resistance against Soviet control.

9/22

9/23

1846: astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle became the first person to observe Neptune, a planet whose existence had been mathematically predicted by Urbain Le Verrier and John Couch Adams.

9/26

1960: The first historic televised debate between U.S. presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon was broadcast, watched by 85 to 120 million viewers.

9/25

1513: Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean while standing on a peak in Darién, Panama.