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1991: Attempted coup against Gorbachev by communist hard-liners.Mikhail Gorbachev, the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1985 to 1991 and president of the Soviet Union in 1990–91, was removed from office on this day by a so-called Emergency Committee of Soviet hard-liners. With Gorbachev and his family under house arrest in the Crimea, the task of resistance fell to Boris Yeltsin, who had become a political voice for economic reform. Yeltsin branded the coup leaders as traitors, barricaded himself inside the Russian parliament surrounded by his supporters, and dared the military to attack their fellow citizens. After one brief clash, the soldiers indeed wavered, and the coup collapsed within 48 hours. Gorbachev was returned to the office of Soviet president but never regained real power, which had clearly passed to the courageous Yeltsin.More events on this day1960:Francis Gary Powers was sentenced to 10 years' confinement by the Soviet Union for espionage following the U-2 Affair; in 1962 he was released in exchange for the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. |
1945:A commando force formed by Vo Nguyen Giap, under Vietnamese nationalist leader Ho Chi Minh, entered the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. |
1847:U.S. forces under Major General Winfield Scott began the Battle of Contreras, opening the final campaign of the Mexican War. |
1812:The USS Constitution, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, won a brilliant victory over the British frigate Guerrière in the War of 1812. |
1458:Enea Silvio Piccolomini was elected pope as Pius II, following the death of Calixtus III. |
1274:Edward I was crowned king of England at Westminster. |
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