Events
Significant happenings
Articles in this category are re-verified roughly every 180 days.
Events
1883 Krakatau eruption
The 1883 Krakatau eruption was a major volcanic crisis at Krakatau, an island complex in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait. After activity began in May, a climactic sequence of explosions on 26–27 August destroyed much of the pre-existing island and produced deadly tsunamis along the coasts of Java and Sumatra. Historical estimates attribute roughly 36,000 deaths to the disaster, chiefly from the waves. Ash and volcanic gases also affected the atmosphere and produced striking optical and climatic effects. The eruption is one of the best-documented major volcanic disasters of the nineteenth century; details of how its tsunamis formed remain under study.
Updated 20 Oct 2026
Events
2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami
On 26 December 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake ruptured the seafloor off northern Sumatra, generating a tsunami that crossed the Indian Ocean. Coastal communities in 14 nations were affected, and estimates of the death toll exceed 230,000. The disaster exposed the absence of an Indian Ocean-wide public tsunami warning system and prompted regional warning and mitigation efforts established under UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in 2005.
Updated 18 Oct 2026
Events
2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai eruption
The 15 January 2022 eruption of the submarine Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano in Tonga produced a major explosive plume, atmospheric pressure waves and destructive tsunamis. Its unusual combination of volcanic, atmospheric and ocean processes caused severe damage in Tonga and generated tsunami signals far beyond the immediate region. The event also highlighted how monitoring volcanic eruptions and their resulting tsunamis requires observations beyond systems designed primarily for earthquakes.
Updated 24 Oct 2026
Events
Chelyabinsk meteor airburst
On 15 February 2013, a small asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere over Russia and broke apart in a powerful airburst near Chelyabinsk. The event was documented by sensors, video recordings and recovered meteorites, and illustrated both the effects of an atmospheric impact and the difficulty of detecting objects approaching from near the Sun's direction.
Updated 7 Nov 2026
Events
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a severe nuclear accident on 26 April 1986 at Unit 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine. During a low-power test, vulnerabilities in reactor design and shutdown systems combined with unsafe operating conditions and weak safety practices, destroying the reactor and releasing radioactive material. Emergency workers and nearby communities were exposed, and evacuations and long-lasting social, environmental and health consequences followed. A well-documented late health effect was increased thyroid cancer among people exposed as children or adolescents; the broader long-term health burden is more difficult to estimate.
Updated 14 Oct 2026
Events
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day confrontation in October 1962 involving the United States, the Soviet Union and Cuba. After U.S. reconnaissance revealed Soviet nuclear missile sites under construction in Cuba, President John F. Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine while the two superpowers negotiated. The Soviet Union agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba; a separate, initially secret understanding concerned the removal of U.S. Jupiter missiles from Turkey.
Updated 16 Oct 2026
Events
Great Exhibition of 1851
The Great Exhibition of 1851 was an international showcase of industry, manufacturing, science and design held in London's Hyde Park. Housed in the iron-and-glass Crystal Palace, it drew more than six million visitors and displayed work from Britain and abroad. Organized through a Royal Commission with Prince Albert playing a leading role, it helped establish the model of the modern international exposition and left a lasting cultural legacy in South Kensington.
Updated 14 Oct 2026
Events
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major urban fire that devastated much of the City of London from 2 to 5 September 1666. Starting in a baker's premises on Pudding Lane, it spread through densely built streets amid strong winds and highly combustible buildings and goods. The disaster destroyed thousands of homes and important civic and religious buildings, displaced tens of thousands of people, and prompted a long reconstruction, though it did not end the plague or introduce brick buildings to London.
Updated 21 Oct 2026
Events
Great Smog of London
The Great Smog of London was a severe air-pollution episode that covered the city from 5 to 9 December 1952. Coal smoke from homes and industry accumulated in cold, stagnant conditions beneath a temperature inversion, mixing with fog and pollutants carried into the city. The event disrupted transport, caused widespread respiratory illness and deaths, and helped spur the United Kingdom's 1956 Clean Air Act.
Updated 17 Oct 2026
Events
Lake Nyos disaster
The Lake Nyos disaster was a deadly release of carbon dioxide from a volcanic lake in northwestern Cameroon on 21 August 1986. Gas accumulated in deep water and escaped in a sudden limnic eruption, spreading through nearby low-lying areas and killing more than 1,700 people as well as many animals. The event prompted scientific monitoring and engineered degassing to reduce the risk of another release.
Updated 24 Oct 2026
Events
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games are international multi-sport competitions held under the modern Olympic Movement. Inspired by athletic festivals at ancient Olympia, the modern Games were revived in the late nineteenth century, beginning in Athens in 1896. The event has since expanded to include Winter editions and athletes from around the world, while its sports, participants, and organization have changed over time.
Updated 12 Oct 2026
Events
Rwandan genocide
The 1994 Rwandan genocide was an organized campaign of mass murder carried out mainly from April to July. Extremist leaders in Rwanda's Hutu-majority government and allied forces targeted Tutsi civilians, as well as Hutu political figures and others who opposed the killings. Estimates of the dead vary, but more than 800,000 people were killed, primarily Tutsi. The Rwandan Patriotic Front's military victory ended the genocidal government’s control, after which Rwanda faced mass displacement and a long effort to prosecute those responsible.
Updated 20 Oct 2026
Events
Salt March
The Salt March, also called the Dandi March or Salt Satyagraha, was a 1930 campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience against British salt laws in colonial India. Led by Mohandas K. Gandhi, it began at Sabarmati Ashram on 12 March and ended at the coastal village of Dandi in Gujarat, where Gandhi broke the law by collecting salt on 6 April. The march helped launch wider salt-law defiance and drew national and international attention to India’s independence movement.
Updated 1 Nov 2026
Events
Stonewall uprising
The Stonewall uprising was a series of protests in June and July 1969 after New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Patrons and people in the surrounding crowd resisted, and demonstrations continued over the following nights. Stonewall was not the first protest against anti-LGBTQ discrimination, but it became a major catalyst for a more visible, organized movement and is commemorated through Pride events and a national monument.
Updated 13 Oct 2026
Events
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political crisis in the United States that grew from the June 1972 burglary of Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Investigations linked the burglars to President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign and uncovered efforts to conceal the connections and obstruct inquiries. A dispute over White House recordings reached the Supreme Court; facing likely impeachment after the tapes became public, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. The episode became a major test of executive power, congressional oversight and presidential accountability.
Updated 15 Oct 2026