On This Day in History

Aware that he was slowing down both physically and mentally in his old age, Winston Churchill retired as prime minister of the United Kingdom.

During the Buddhist Uprising, South Vietnamese military prime minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ personally attempted to lead the capture of the restive city of Đà Nẵng before backing down.

Carrie (pictured), the first novel by American author Stephen King, was published.

Faculty members, clerical workers, and librarians at Boston University went on strike.

In China, the People's Armed Police, primarily responsible for internal security, was founded.

The Libyan secret service bombed a discotheque in West Berlin, resulting in three deaths and 229 others injured.

The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge (pictured), then the world's longest suspension bridge, linking Awaji Island and Kobe in Japan, opened to traffic.

Fan violence broke out before a UEFA Cup semifinal in Istanbul, Turkey, resulting in two Leeds United supporters being stabbed to death and Galatasaray supporters being banned from attending the second leg in England.

In the first reported data breach, 250,000 social security numbers collected by the State of California were stolen from a data center.

The North Korean satellite Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 was launched from the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground and passed over Japan, sparking concerns it may have been a trial run of technology that could be used to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles.

An explosion at a coal mine in West Virginia killed 29 miners in the United States' worst mining disaster in 40 years.

Two bombings in Pakistan killed up to 50 people and injured around 100 others.

Agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided a slaughterhouse in Tennessee, detaining nearly 100 Hispanic workers in one of the largest immigration raids in the history of the U.S.