Today in News History

On July 12, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 911, Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy. In 1174, Baldwin IV, 13, becomes King of Jerusalem, with Raymond III, Count of Tripoli as regent and William of Tyre as chancellor. In 1459, Kaspar, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, German nobleman (died 1527) was born. In 1882, The British Mediterranean Fleet begins the Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt as part of the Anglo-Egyptian War. In 1947, The Exodus 1947 heads to Palestine from France. In 1974, Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (born 1891) passed away. In 1978, Los Alfaques disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain killing 216 tourists. In 1979, America's first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean. In 2011, Ninety-eight containers of explosives self-detonate killing 13 people in Zygi, Cyprus. In 2015, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán escapes from the maximum security Altiplano prison in Mexico, his second escape. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.