1. 1990: East and West Germany Reunite
Photo: pbs
Photo: bundesregierung
It was on this date in 1990 that the reunification of Germany took place when East and West Germany united to become one nation. Prior to that, East Germany had been under the control of the Soviet Union and West Germany under the control of the Allied Nations consisting of the United States, Great Britain, and France since 1945. There were many historical events that took place in this area such as the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and the Berlin Blockade and Berlin Airlift. However when the Soviet Union started to lose power in the late 80’s, they also started to lose control of East Germany. By late 1989, the wall started to crumble down. Soon they had no choice but to sit down and talk reunification with officials from the Allied Countries. The end of the reunification process was celebrated on this date and has been referred to as Unity Day ever since.
2. 1995: O.J. Simpson was acquitted
Photo: nydailynews
Photo: eonline
More than 140 million people were glued to their TV’s or radios as O.J. Simpson’s “Trial of the Century” finally came to an end when the jury read the verdict of “Not Guilty” on this date in 1995. Simpson was on trial for the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman on the night of June 12th, 1994. After taking LAPD on a low-speed chase in the infamous white Bronco on June 17, Simpson finally surrendered and three days later first appeared before a judge and pled not guilty. This started a trial that would last a mind-blowing 252 days before finally coming to a close. Most people refer to this trial as a circus show because it was so heavily involved with the media. Courtroom cameras broadcast almost the entire trial for the world to see. There was a mountain of evidence stacked against O.J., including DNA samples, gloves, shoe prints, no alibi and so on. But Simpson had some of the best attorneys money could buy, and they picked apart the evidence one piece at a time. Simpson may have gotten away unscathed the first time, but he would later be taken to civil court where he was found guilty and was forced to pay a total of $33 million to the victim’s families. To make matters worse, he was arrested in 2007 for armed robbery and kidnapping and was later found guilty and sentenced, interestingly, on this date in 2008 to 33 years in prison.
3. 1952: Great Britain tests its first atomic bomb
Photo: wiki
Great Britain performed their first test of an atomic bomb on this date in 1952 on the Montebello Islands, which are located off the northeastern coast of Australia. The bomb was created as a secret project consisting of roughly 50 Brtish scientists enlisted to build it after working with United States atomic program during WWII. After the war ended, this group of scientists started working on a 25 kiloton device that was similar in both size and power to the one used in Nagasaki, Japan. By February of 1952, British Prime Minister Winston CHruchill was ready to announce to the public that Britain planned on testing the atomic bomb later that year. The successful test made Great Britain the third superpower to have nuclear capabilities, along with the United States and the Soviet Union