Today in News History

On July 10, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1212, The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground. In 1864, Austin Chapman, Australian businessman and politician, 4th Australian Minister for Defence (died 1926) was born. In 1918, James Aldridge, Australian-English journalist and author (died 2015) was born. In 1921, Belfast's Bloody Sunday occurs with 20 killings, at least 100 wounded and 200 homes destroyed during rioting and gun battles in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 1935, Wilson Tuckey, Australian politician was born. In 1940, Keith Stackpole, Australian cricketer (died 2025) was born. In 1974, An EgyptAir Tupolev Tu-154 stalls and crashes at Cairo International Airport, killing all six people on board. In 1985, An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154 stalls and crashes near Uchkuduk, Uzbekistan (then part of the Soviet Union), killing all 200 people on board in the USSR's worst-ever airline disaster. In 1985, The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents, killing Fernando Pereira. In 2011, Amid widespread backlash to revelations of phone hacking, the British weekly tabloid newspaper News of the World publishes its final issue and shuts down after nearly 168 years in print. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.