This Day in History

Sat, 14 Dec 2024

The Dayton Agreement Is Signed in Paris, France (1995)

The Dayton Agreement was a peace agreement that put an end to the Bosnian War that began in 1992. The accord was the result of a meeting between Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian leaders under US auspices in Dayton, Ohio. It called for a Bosnian republic with a central government and two semiautonomous regions roughly equal in size—one dominated by Serbs and the other by Bosniaks and Croats in federation. Later signed in Paris, the accord also provided for the dispatch of what military force? Discuss

Fri, 13 Dec 2024

Sir Francis Drake Begins Circumnavigation of the Globe (1577)

Drake, an English buccaneer and navigator, set out in 1577 with five ships to raid Spanish holdings on the Pacific coast of the New World. After abandoning two ships, he navigated the Straits of Magellan with the remaining three, becoming the first Englishman to do so. Another ship was destroyed in a storm, and a fourth returned to England, but Drake continued alone up the coast of S America, crossed the Pacific, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived in England in 1580. How was he rewarded?

Thu, 12 Dec 2024

Kenya Gains Independence from the United Kingdom (1963)

European settlers began establishing themselves as large-scale farmers in the Kenyan highlands in 1903, taking lands from local tribes like the Kikuyu and Masai. In 1920, the British designated the interior of the region Kenya Colony and a coastal strip the Protectorate of Kenya. Africans began protesting their inferior status, and the Kikuyu staged an armed revolt in the 1950s. Britain eventually put down the rebellion, but Kenya gained its independence soon after. Who was its first president?