Laika the space dog was the commander of Sputnik 2 and the first living being to visit space. The program had no plan to safely return Laika, leading to the first death in the space race.

The Knights Templar was a protective order in France that established a dominant network of banks, allowing Christian pilgrims to access their money. The order spread throughout Europe, but was eventually dissolved by King Philip.

The Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 4th, 1989, saw some 300,000 Chinese troops descend on Beijing, murdering protestors, bystanders and students sleeping in their tents.

In response to his objections to the Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences, Martin Luther wrote his 95 theses which led Pope Leo to condemn Luther as a heretic and ultimately the Protestant Reformation.

The Iran-Contra Affair was a 1980s military-industrial complex scandal where Reagan gave tacit approval to his security council to finance the Contras of Nicaragua by over-charing Iran for weapons.

As Ukraine regained its nationalistic identity in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution, Stalin’s Holodomor Genocide, a forced famine, was intended to break their spirit of independence from Russia.

Originating as the Celtic festival of Beltane, the History of May Day has become associated with workers’ rights and labor demonstrations. Although it’s celebrated by 66 nations, the United States is not one of them.