The Three Gorges Dam is officially opened
The hydroelectric dam is the world’s largest power station in terms of installed capacity. Despite its benefits, the project remains controversial because it flooded archeological and cultural sites and displaced some 1.3 million people.

In South Africa, a car bomb planted by anti-Apartheid activists kills 19
The Church Street Bombing was carried out by the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC). It was one of the bloodiest chapters in the ANC’s long and difficult struggle against racial segregation and oppression in South Africa.

The first prisoners arrive at Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz was the biggest extermination camp during World War II. From 1940 to 1945, the Nazi regime murdered at least 1.1 million people here.

Blue jeans are patented
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis invented the garment, which today represents one of the most popular types of trousers worldwide.