Today in News History

On July 2, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1566, Nostradamus, French astrologer and author (born 1503) passed away. In 1816, The French frigate Méduse strikes the Bank of Arguin and 151 people on board have to be evacuated on an improvised raft, a case immortalised by Géricault's painting The Raft of the Medusa. In 1839, Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 kidnapped Africans led by Joseph Cinqué mutiny and take over the slave ship Amistad. In 1906, Séra Martin, French middle-distance runner (died 1993) was born. In 1940, World War II: The SS Arandora Star is sunk by U-47 in the North Atlantic with the loss of over 800 lives, mostly civilians. In 1986, Aeroflot Flight 2306 crashes while attempting an emergency landing at Syktyvkar Airport in Syktyvkar, in present-day Komi Republic, Russia, killing 54 people. In 1990, In the 1990 Mecca tunnel tragedy, 1,400 Muslim pilgrims are suffocated to death and trampled upon in a pedestrian tunnel leading to the holy city of Mecca. In 1994, USAir Flight 1016 crashes near Charlotte Douglas International Airport, killing 37 of the 57 people on board. In 1997, The Bank of Thailand floats the baht, triggering the Asian financial crisis. In 2010, The South Kivu tank truck explosion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo kills at least 230 people. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.