October 17, 1483 — Tomás de Torquemada named a Grand Inquisitor
The most notorious of all members of the Holy Inquisition, Tomás de Torquemada’s fervour in punishing heretics and sinners –...
March 4, 2022
Down I Go
February 2, 1971 — Idi Amin seizes power in Uganda
Idi Amin was already fairly notorious by 1971. As the commander in chief of Uganda’s armed forces, he had recruited...
September 4, 2016
January 2, 1973 — Amin’s regime denounced by US Ambassador
Thomas Patrick Melady was not, in the general run of things, a man given to hyperbole. He was one of...
March 24, 2016
April 17, 1975 — Phnom Penh falls to the Khmer Rouge and Year Zero begins
The Khmer Rouge were a Communist movement allied to the Viet Cong. When the United States military pulled out of...
November 4, 2015
December 12, 1998 — The Neutrality Arch statue is formally dedicated in Ashgabat
Saparmurat Niyazov was the first President of the independent republic of Turkmensistan following the break up of the Soviet Union...
November 14, 2013
February 25, 2004 — Niyazov bans beards in Turkmenistan
Just in case there was any remaining doubt that he was a raving loony, Saparmurat Niyazov, President For Life of...
July 29, 2013
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