Today in News History

On June 29, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1895, The United States Court of Private Land Claims rules James Reavis's claim to Barony of Arizona is "wholly fictitious and fraudulent.". In 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo; this is the casus belli of World War I. In 1917, World War I: Greece joins the Allied powers. In 1919, The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending the state of war between Germany and the Allies of World War I. In 1938, S. Sivamaharajah, Sri Lankan Tamil newspaper publisher and politician (died 2006) was born. In 1976, The Angolan court sentences US and UK mercenaries to death sentences and prison terms in the Luanda Trial. In 1981, A powerful bomb explodes in Tehran, killing 73 officials of the Islamic Republican Party. In 1987, For the first time in military history, a civilian population is targeted for chemical attack when Iraqi warplanes bombed the Iranian town of Sardasht. In 2001, Slobodan Milošević is extradited to the ICTY in The Hague to stand trial. In 2004, Iraq War: Sovereign power is handed to the interim government of Iraq by the Coalition Provisional Authority, ending the U.S.-led rule of that nation. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.