This day in history. Read about what happened today. A short and interesting account of historical events and facts about this day as well as any other day of the year. Find historical birthdays, deaths, tragedies, war events, disasters and sports events.

This year in history
In the year 1879

	February 27th	The artificial sweetener saccharin was discovered by two researchers in Johns Hopkins University.
	March 8th	German chemist, Otto Hahn, was born in Frankfurt. He was one of the pioneers of nuclear chemistry and the recipient of the 1944 Nobel prize for chemistry.
	March 14th	German born physicist, Albert Einstein, was born in Ulm, Germany. One of the most famous scientists of all time, he was the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. Contrary to common belief he had not been awarded the Nobel prize for his Theory of Relativity, but rather for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. While he was growing up he has even been characterized as retarded due to his total lack of interest in most school subjects.
	August 8th	Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata was born in the village of Anenecuilco.
	November 7th	Russian revolutionary, Leon Trotsky, was born in Yanovka, Ukraine. He was a Bolshevik revolutionary and one of the most influential political figures in the early years of the Soviet Union. However as an antagonist of Joseph Stalin he was forced to flee the Soviet Union and was eventually assassinated while in Mexico by a Soviet agent.
	December 28th	The Tay Bridge in Dundee, Scotland collapsed while a train was passing over it. The accident caused the death of 75 people.

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