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History · 8
- 4 January 2010
The Burj Khalifa opens as the world's tallest building
On 4 January 2010, the Burj Khalifa opened in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At 828 m, it became the world's tallest building by a wide margin, more than 300 m taller than the previous record holder. Designed by the architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, it has more than 160 floors and became a symbol of the city.
- 4 November 1922
Howard Carter finds the tomb of Tutankhamun
On 4 November 1922, in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, workers for the archaeologist Howard Carter found a step cut into the rock. It led to the tomb of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun, hidden for more than 3,000 years. Inside were more than 5,000 objects, including his famous gold mask, now in the Grand Egyptian Museum.
- 28 December 1895
The Lumière brothers hold the first public cinema show
On 28 December 1895, Auguste and Louis Lumière showed ten short films to a paying audience in a basement room of the Grand Café in Paris. Their cinématographe both filmed and projected moving pictures. Each film lasted under a minute, showing scenes such as workers leaving a factory. It is often called the birth of cinema.
- 31 March 1889
The Eiffel Tower is completed in Paris
On 31 March 1889, the engineer Gustave Eiffel climbed to the top of his new iron tower in Paris and raised the French flag. Built for the World's Fair marking the centenary of the French Revolution, it stood about 300 m high, the tallest structure on Earth. Many artists called it ugly. It became the symbol of Paris.
- 1700–1799
The 18th century: Enlightenment, steam and a new Saudi state
The 18th century was the age of the Enlightenment, when thinkers championed reason and knowledge. In 1727, Imam Muhammad bin Saud founded the First Saudi State in Diriyah. In Britain, steam engines and spinning machines launched the Industrial Revolution. The century ended with new nations and new ideas about government.
- 15 July 1799
The Rosetta Stone is found
On 15 July 1799, French soldiers rebuilding a fort near Rashid, known to Europeans as Rosetta, in Egypt, found a stone carved with the same decree in three scripts: hieroglyphs, demotic and ancient Greek. Because scholars could read the Greek, it became the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian writing, which Jean-François Champollion achieved in 1822.
- December 1768
The first Encyclopaedia Britannica begins to appear
In December 1768, the first part of the Encyclopaedia Britannica was published in Edinburgh, Scotland, sold in weekly instalments. The full first edition, in three volumes, was finished in 1771. It became the best-known reference work in the English language, and after more than 240 years in print it moved online in 2012.
- 1750–1759
The 1750s: the first great encyclopedia
In 1751, France's Encyclopédie began gathering the world's knowledge for ordinary readers, a landmark of the Enlightenment. Benjamin Franklin showed lightning is electricity, Samuel Johnson published his famous English dictionary, and the British Museum opened as one of the first free public museums. A great earthquake struck Lisbon in 1755.
On this day · 45
- 13 July 1985
Live Aid concerts raise money for famine relief
On 13 July 1985, the Live Aid concerts were held at Wembley Stadium in London and in Philadelphia, organised by the musicians Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to help people facing famine in Ethiopia. Broadcast to an estimated 1.5 billion viewers, they raised tens of millions of pounds.
- 1 August 1981
MTV goes on the air
On 1 August 1981, MTV, a cable television channel playing music videos around the clock, began broadcasting in the United States. Its first video was, fittingly, 'Video Killed the Radio Star'. MTV changed the music industry, making a song's video as important as the song.
- 22 May 1980
Pac-Man is released
On 22 May 1980, the video game Pac-Man went on sale in Japan, designed by Toru Iwatani of the company Namco. Players steer a yellow circle through a maze, eating dots and avoiding ghosts. It became one of the most famous video games ever made.
- 25 May 1977
Star Wars opens in cinemas
On 25 May 1977, George Lucas's science-fiction film Star Wars opened in American cinemas. Its groundbreaking special effects and story of good against evil made it a worldwide hit. It launched one of the biggest film series in history and changed how films were made and marketed.
- 20 October 1973
The Sydney Opera House is opened
On 20 October 1973, Queen Elizabeth II opened the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Designed by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon, with roofs shaped like sails, it took 14 years to build. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.
- 30 January 1969
The Beatles play their last live concert, on a rooftop
On 30 January 1969, the Beatles played an unannounced concert on the roof of their Apple Corps office in London. Crowds gathered in the streets below until police asked them to turn down the volume. It was the band's last public performance, lasting about 42 minutes.
- 26 September 1969
The Beatles release Abbey Road
On 26 September 1969, the Beatles released Abbey Road, the last album they recorded together. Its cover photograph, of the four walking across a zebra crossing outside the London studio, is one of the most copied in music. Fans still recreate it every day.
- 8 September 1966
Star Trek is first broadcast
On 8 September 1966, the science-fiction television series Star Trek was first broadcast in the United States. Its crew, from many nations and backgrounds, explored space on the starship Enterprise. It lasted only three seasons but inspired films, new series and many future scientists and engineers.
- 9 March 1959
The Barbie doll goes on sale
On 9 March 1959, the American company Mattel introduced the Barbie doll at the American International Toy Fair in New York. Created by Ruth Handler and named after her daughter, Barbara, it became one of the best-selling toys in history, with more than a billion sold.
- 4 August 1958
The Billboard Hot 100 chart begins
On 4 August 1958, the American magazine Billboard published its first Hot 100 chart, ranking songs by sales and radio play. Ricky Nelson's 'Poor Little Fool' was the first number one. The Hot 100 remains the best-known measure of a hit song in the United States.
- 17 July 1955
Disneyland opens in California
On 17 July 1955, Walt Disney opened Disneyland in Anaheim, California, a theme park with lands built around stories and characters. The opening day was chaotic, with heat and crowds, but the park became a huge success and inspired theme parks around the world.
- 2 June 1953
The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is televised
On 2 June 1953, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminster Abbey in London. For the first time, a coronation was broadcast on television, and millions of people bought or borrowed sets to watch. The same day, news arrived that Everest had been climbed.
- 25 November 1952
The Mousetrap opens in London
On 25 November 1952, Agatha Christie's murder mystery play The Mousetrap opened in London's West End. It has run ever since, apart from a pause during the pandemic, making it the longest-running play in the world. Audiences are asked to keep the ending secret.
- 2 October 1950
The Peanuts comic strip is first published
On 2 October 1950, Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts first appeared in seven American newspapers, introducing Charlie Brown and, soon, his dog Snoopy. It ran for almost 50 years and was published in thousands of newspapers in dozens of languages.
- 8 June 1949
George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is published
On 8 June 1949, George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four was published in London. It imagined a future in which 'Big Brother' watches everyone and the truth is constantly rewritten. Words from the book, such as 'Big Brother' and 'doublethink', entered everyday language.
- 20 September 1946
The first Cannes Film Festival opens
On 20 September 1946, the first Cannes Film Festival opened on the French Riviera, after an earlier attempt in 1939 was cancelled by the outbreak of war. Films from 21 countries were shown. Cannes became one of the world's most famous film festivals, awarding the Palme d'Or.
- 16 November 1945
UNESCO is founded
On 16 November 1945, 37 countries signed the constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, in London. It works to promote education, science and culture, and it keeps the World Heritage List, which protects places such as the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu and the Pyramids of Giza.
- 30 October 1938
The War of the Worlds radio broadcast
On 30 October 1938, Orson Welles broadcast a radio drama of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds in the United States, presented as a series of realistic news bulletins about a Martian invasion. Some listeners were alarmed, and the programme became a famous example of the power of mass media.
- 21 September 1937
The Hobbit is published
On 21 September 1937, J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit was published in London. The story of Bilbo Baggins's adventure with a wizard and a band of dwarves was an instant success. It led to The Lord of the Rings and modern fantasy fiction.
- 16 May 1929
The first Academy Awards are presented
On 16 May 1929, the first Academy Awards were presented at a dinner in Hollywood, in a ceremony lasting about 15 minutes. Wings, a film about First World War pilots, won the top prize. The Oscars are now the world's best-known film awards.
- 13 December 1928
Gershwin's An American in Paris premieres
On 13 December 1928, George Gershwin's orchestral piece An American in Paris was first performed at Carnegie Hall in New York. Inspired by his visit to Paris, it even included real taxi horns. It later inspired an Oscar-winning film of the same name in 1951.
- 6 October 1927
The Jazz Singer brings sound to feature films
On 6 October 1927, The Jazz Singer opened in New York, the first feature-length film with synchronised singing and spoken dialogue. Audiences heard Al Jolson say: 'You ain't heard nothin' yet!' Within a few years, silent films had almost disappeared.
- 16 February 1923
Howard Carter opens Tutankhamun's burial chamber
On 16 February 1923, the archaeologist Howard Carter opened the sealed burial chamber of the pharaoh Tutankhamun in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. Inside stood a huge gilded shrine. It took years more to reach the king's coffins and his famous gold mask.
- 26 November 1922
Howard Carter sees 'wonderful things' in Tutankhamun's tomb
On 26 November 1922, the archaeologist Howard Carter made a small hole in a sealed doorway in Egypt's Valley of the Kings and looked in by candlelight. Asked if he could see anything, he replied: 'Yes, wonderful things.' The nearly untouched tomb of Tutankhamun became the most famous archaeological find.
- 13 September 1916
Roald Dahl is born
On 13 September 1916, the writer Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, Wales, to Norwegian parents. A wartime fighter pilot, he later wrote much-loved children's books, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and The BFG, which have sold hundreds of millions of copies.
- 24 July 1911
Hiram Bingham reaches Machu Picchu
On 24 July 1911, the American explorer Hiram Bingham was guided by local farmers to Machu Picchu, a 15th-century Inca city high in the Andes of Peru. His photographs made it famous worldwide. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site visited by more than a million people a year.
- 21 August 1911
The Mona Lisa is stolen
On 21 August 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in Paris by Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian who had worked at the museum. It was missing for more than two years before being recovered in Florence in 1913. The theft made it the world's most famous painting.
- 8 February 1910
The Boy Scouts of America is founded
On 8 February 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated, inspired by Robert Baden-Powell's scouting movement in Britain. Scouting taught young people outdoor skills, first aid and community service. The world scouting movement today has tens of millions of members in more than 170 countries.
- 25 June 1910
Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird is first performed
On 25 June 1910, The Firebird, a ballet with music by the young Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, was first performed in Paris by the Ballets Russes. Its colourful, dramatic score made Stravinsky famous overnight, and he became one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.
- 26 May 1897
Bram Stoker's Dracula is published
On 26 May 1897, the Irish writer Bram Stoker's novel Dracula was published in London. Told through letters and diary entries, the story of a vampire count was a modest success at first. It went on to inspire hundreds of films, plays and books.
- 13 February 1895
The Lumière brothers patent the cinématographe
On 13 February 1895, Auguste and Louis Lumière patented the cinématographe in France, a light machine that could film, develop and project moving pictures. Later that year they used it for the first public, paid film show in Paris, often called the birth of cinema.
- 28 December 1895
The first public film screening
On 28 December 1895, the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière showed short films to a paying audience at the Grand Café in Paris, using their Cinématographe. Around 30 people watched ten short films. The evening is often seen as the birth of cinema.
- 31 March 1889
The Eiffel Tower is inaugurated
On 31 March 1889, the engineer Gustave Eiffel climbed to the top of his new iron tower in Paris and raised the French flag. Built for the World's Fair, it was the tallest structure on Earth, at about 300 m. Many critics hated it at first. It is now the symbol of Paris.
- 23 November 1889
The first jukebox plays in San Francisco
On 23 November 1889, a coin-operated phonograph was installed at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. Customers paid a nickel to listen to a recording through one of four listening tubes. It is considered the ancestor of the jukebox and an early step in the music business.
- 26 July 1887
The first book of Esperanto is published
On 26 July 1887, the eye doctor L. L. Zamenhof published the first book describing Esperanto in Warsaw, a language he designed to be easy to learn and to help people of different nations understand each other. It is still spoken by an estimated hundreds of thousands of people.
- 28 October 1886
The Statue of Liberty is dedicated
On 28 October 1886, the Statue of Liberty was dedicated on an island in New York Harbor. A gift from the people of France to the United States, it was designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, with an iron frame by Gustave Eiffel. It welcomed millions of immigrants arriving by ship.
- 1 February 1884
The first part of the Oxford English Dictionary appears
On 1 February 1884, the first instalment of what became the Oxford English Dictionary was published, covering words from 'A' to 'Ant'. The editors had asked the public to send in examples of words in use. The full dictionary took until 1928 to finish, and it is still being updated online.
- 3 March 1875
Bizet's opera Carmen is first performed
On 3 March 1875, Georges Bizet's opera Carmen opened at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. Its first audiences were cool towards it, and Bizet died three months later. But its melodies, such as the Habanera and the Toreador Song, made it one of the most performed operas in the world.
- 23 March 1839
'OK' appears in print for the first time
On 23 March 1839, the Boston Morning Post printed 'o.k.' as a joke abbreviation for 'oll korrect', a playful misspelling of 'all correct'. The fashion for such abbreviations soon faded, but OK survived and spread. It is now one of the most widely used words on Earth.
- 7 May 1824
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is first performed
On 7 May 1824, Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was first performed in Vienna. Beethoven, by then almost completely deaf, stood on stage, and had to be turned around to see the audience applauding. Its final movement, the 'Ode to Joy', is now the anthem of Europe.
- 8 April 1820
The Venus de Milo statue is found
On 8 April 1820, a farmer on the Greek island of Milos found a marble statue buried in the ground, later known as the Venus de Milo. Carved more than 2,000 years ago, it was taken to Paris, where it became one of the most famous works in the Louvre museum.
- 28 January 1813
Pride and Prejudice is published
On 28 January 1813, Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice was published in London, without her name on it. The witty story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy became one of the best-loved novels in the English language, read and filmed around the world.
- 15 July 1799
The Rosetta Stone is found
On 15 July 1799, French soldiers rebuilding a fort near Rashid, known to Europeans as Rosetta, in Egypt, found a stone carved with the same text in three scripts, including Greek and hieroglyphs. It became the key that let the scholar Jean-François Champollion decipher ancient Egyptian writing in 1822.
- 10 August 1793
The Louvre opens as a public museum
On 10 August 1793, the Louvre, a former royal palace in Paris, opened to the public as a museum, displaying hundreds of paintings. It is now the world's most visited museum, home to the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, with almost 10 million visitors in some years.
- 5 April 1722
European sailors reach Easter Island
On 5 April 1722, the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen became the first European to reach Rapa Nui, a remote island in the Pacific. Because of the day, he named it Easter Island. He found the giant stone statues, the moai, carved by the island's Polynesian people. Hundreds still stand.