Sun Yat-sen serves as the republic's first leader. He played a key role in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
All year, we've been highlighting historical news events—and Foreign Affairs articles about those events—as part of our "This Day in History" series. Here are our collected selections for January.
The Viet Cong wins its first major battle during the Vietnam War. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower signs a proclamation making Alaska the 49th state. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
During his State of the Union address, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his plans for the ”Great Society,” a collection of civil rights and anti-poverty programs. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
During the Cold War, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposes a new Middle East policy that promises economic and political aid to countries fighting Communism. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces a troop reduction of 300,000 over the course of the year as part of his goal to create "peaceful coexistence" with the West. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
In his last State of the Union address, President Harry S. Truman announces that that the United States has produced a hydrogen bomb. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Zhou Enlai, the premier of China under Mao Zedong, dies at age 77. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
In his State of the Union address, U.S. President Harry S. Truman exclaims, "...communism...That is what we have got to fight, and unless we fight that battle and win it, we can't win the cold war or a hot one either." Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The League of Nations is formally instituted as the treaty establishing the league, which was ratified by 42 nations in 1919, comes into force. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Both countries sign a treaty with China giving up any special rights they had to its land in order to gain its cooperation with Allied Powers during World War II. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
In a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles announces that the United States will defend against communism through the “deterrent of massive retaliatory power.” Although Dulles did not specifically mention nuclear weapons, it was implied. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
After the UN voted against the Soviet proposal to unseat the nationalist Chinese delegate, the Soviet representative Jacob Malik storms out of the Security Council meeting and announces he will boycott further meetings. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill hold a wartime meeting in Casablanca. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Cartoonist Thomas Nast portrays the Democratic Party as a donkey in an illustration for Harper's Weekly. In 1874, he characterizes the Republican Party as an elephant. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
During the Gulf War, U.S., U.K., French, Saudi, and Kuwaiti aircrafts head for Iraq. President George Bush gives a televised address, stating that Washington's goals are to force Iraqi troops out of Kuwait. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
In his farewell address, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower expresses concern that the United States is being “compelled to create a permanent armaments industry” and falling prey to “the acquisition of unwarranted influence…by the military-industrial complex.” Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The United States leaves an International Court of Justice case that argues the United States violated international law by supplying weapons to the anti-government rebels in Nicaragua. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
After Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's death, Indira Gandhi takes over as the Congress Party leader. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
So-called because it was the fourth point in his inaugural address, President Harry S. Truman announces a program of scientific and technical aid to developing countries. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The former State Department official is found guilty for lying under oath during his 1948 trial, in which he denied any involvement in a Soviet spy ring before and during WWII. Hiss spent four years in jail and maintained his innocence until his death. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
President Ronald Reagan announces his plan to postpone further talks with the Soviet Union until it eases up on Poland. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
In a televised speech, President Richard Nixon explains how the agreement will end U.S. involvement in Vietnam and “bring peace with honor.” Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill passes away at 90 in London. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Ugandan General Idi Amin seizes power while President Milton Obote is in Singapore. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The Indian Constitution, adopted in 1949, comes into force, creating a democratic India. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
A one-kiloton bomb is dropped on Frenchman Flat, a reservation that serves as a U.S. national security site. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
It is the first Western nation to create a law recognizing that a mother's health, among other conditions, should be considered when deciding to perform an abortion. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Riots break out after the police try to arrest a black man for buying a container of allegedly illegal liquor. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
A Hindu extremist murders Mahatma Gandhi outside Birla House in New Delhi. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Germany is the first nation to use poison gas on a large-scale during the Battle of Bolimów against Russia. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
