U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Act is considered to be the most effective piece of federal civil rights legislation ever enacted in the country.
Today (2017 C.E. - 2025 C.E.)
The first session of the UN General Assembly convenes
The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN and the international community.
Japanese scientist Shibasaburo Kitasato discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague
He traveled to Hong Kong in 1894 at the request of the Japanese government during an outbreak of the bubonic plague, and identified a bacterium that he concluded was causing the disease.
Oxford English Dictionary debuts
The Oxford English Dictionary is now the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press.
Thomas Edison establishes the world’s first commercial power plant
Pearl Street Station located in Manhattan and established by Thomas Edison’s Edison Illuminating began with six 100 kW dynamos, and it started generating electricity on September 4, 1882, serving an initial load of 400 lamps to 82 customers. By 1884, Pearl Street Station was serving 508 customers with 10,164 lamps. The station burned down in 1890. It was rebuilt, and ran till 1895, when it was decommissioned, since larger and more efficient plants had been built nearby.
First ‘Impressionist’ art exhibition opens in Paris, featuring Monet, Degas, Renoir, and others
Impressionism is an art movement that took the French art world—and later the artistic spheres of other countries —by storm in the 19th century.
The U.S. formally establishes Yellowstone National Park, the world’s first national park
Although individual countries designate their own national parks differently, there is a common idea: the conservation of ‘wild nature’ for posterity and as a symbol of national pride. As of 2023, there are over 6500 national parks worldwide.
The First Geneva Convention is signed by 12 nations
The 1864 Geneva Convention was the world’s first codified international treaty that covered the sick and wounded soldiers on the battlefield.
The Act of Independence of Central America proclaims the independence of Central America from the Spanish Empire
The Act led to the eventual formation of the modern nations of Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
U.S. Congress abolishes the African slave trade
The U.S. Congress passed an act to “prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States…from any foreign kingdom, place, or country.”