August 29th, 2008

Today in History

2003:
Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia Muslim leader in Iraq, is assassinated in a terrorist bombing, along with nearly 100 worshippers as they leave a mosque in Najaf.

1949:
Soviet atomic bomb project: The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.

1922:
Turkish forces set fire to Smyrna, in Asia Minor.

1907:
The Quebec Bridge collapses during construction, killing 75 workers.

1786:
Shays' Rebellion, an armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers, begins in response to high debt and tax burdens.