in History
Barbarians breach Rome's ancient frontier
Emperor Valentinian I received alarming news: the Alemanni had crossed the Rhine and invaded Gaul, breaching a frontier that had defined the boundary between Roman civilization and Germanic wilderness for centuries. The incursion demanded an immediate military response and foreshadowed the relentless pressure that would eventually overwhelm the Western Empire's defenses.
A poet who flew into the darkness of war
In Bergen, Norway, Nordahl Grieg was born with a voice that would speak for a generation. Poet, novelist, journalist, and political activist, he became one of Norway's most celebrated writers. During World War II, he served as a war correspondent, accompanying bombing missions over Europe. On one such mission to Berlin in 1943, his aircraft was shot down, silencing a brilliant voice forever.
Nuclear weapons testing: The United States successfully detonates Ivy Mike, the first thermonuclear device, at the Eniwetok atoll.
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of their explosion. Over 2,000 nuclear weapons tests have been carried out since 1945. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to signal strength. Because of their destruction and fallout, testing has seen opposition by civilians as well as governments, with international bans having been agreed on.