Discover · History

On this day — August 14

A hand-curated thread of what happened on this date, across centuries.

2023

Politics

Former U.S. president Donald Trump is charged in Georgia along with 18 others in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in that state, his fourth indictment of 2023.

2022

Milestone

An explosion destroys a market in Armenia

killing six people and injuring dozens.

2021

Disaster

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake strikes southwestern Haiti

killing at least 2,248 people and causing a humanitarian crisis.

2018

Milestone

The collapse of the Ponte Morandi bridge in Genoa

Italy, left 16 people injured and 43 people killed.

2015

Milestone

The U.S. Embassy in Havana

Cuba re-opens after 54 years of being closed when Cuba–United States relations were broken off.

2013

Politics

Egypt declares a state of emergency as security forces kill hundreds of demonstrators supporting former president Mohamed Morsi.

2013

Milestone

UPS Airlines Flight 1354 crashes short of the runway at Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport

killing both crew members on board.

2007

Milestone

The Kahtaniya bombings kill at least 500 people.

2006

Politics

Lebanon War: A ceasefire takes effect three days after the United Nations Security Council's approval of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, formally ending hostilities between Lebanon and Israel.

2006

Politics

Sri Lankan Civil War

Sixty-one schoolgirls killed in Chencholai bombing by Sri Lanka Air Force air strike.

2005

Milestone

Helios Airways Flight 522

en route from Larnaca, Cyprus to Prague, Czech Republic via Athens, crashes in the hills near Grammatiko, Greece, killing 121 passengers and crew.

2003

Milestone

A widescale power blackout affects the northeast United States and Canada.

1996

Milestone

Greek Cypriot refugee Solomos Solomou is shot and killed by a Turkish security officer while trying to climb a flagpole in order to remove a Turkish flag from its mast in the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus.

1994

Milestone

Ilich Ramírez Sánchez

also known as "Carlos the Jackal", is captured.

1980

Milestone

Lech Wałęsa leads strikes at the Gdańsk

Poland shipyards.