Europe

On this day in history, more than 160,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches in Normandy, France marking a critical turning point in World War II.  Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which, “we will accept nothing less than full victory.”

Big Ben, the tower clock in St. Stephen's Tower that looks out over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London began keeping time on May 31, 1859. Designed by Edmund Beckett Denison, the clock was completed in 1854. Five years later, the tower was finished. The name "Big Ben" is of uncertain origin. The clock is highly accurate and regulated by a stack of coins balancing and weighting the clock pendulum.

Due to an “insurance crisis,” a popular Ireland tourist attraction in Ballingarry, North Tipperrary has closed its doors. According to its Facebook page, the Bike Park Ireland will stay closed until the insurance crisis is addressed. Graham Kenny with his family runs the park said the company would have celebrated its fifth year in business, but with everything going on, it was better to shut down.

Italy’s Cinque Terre coastline holds a nearly mythic status for travelers, as most have never seen pictures of the pastel-colored homes tucked in the area’s rugged cliffs with the bright blue sea surrounding them.

On May 12, 1820, Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of modern nursing was born into privileged English society. From the beginning of her life, Florence felt a calling for the nursing profession and this posed a scandal with her privileged family because nursing was considered a profession for the poor and ill-educated.

In 1922, the nation known as the Irish Free State came into existence when 26 counties on the island of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom. The remaining six counties, having a larger Protestant, pro-British or Loyalist population, remained within the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland. During the following 27 years, the King George VI of the United Kingdom continued to exercise formal diplomatic relations on behalf of Ireland.

On April 10, 1912 the RMS Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage. The ship departed Southampton, England, bound for New York City, New York, with Captain Edward J. Smith in command and 2,223 people aboard. The Titanic stopped in France and Ireland to pick up additional passengers. Among the passengers were many famous names: John Jacob Astor and his wife; Denver millionairess Margaret "Molly" Brown; Benjamin Guggenheim; Macy's owner Isidor Straus along with the White Star Line's director J. Bruce Ismay and the ship's builder Thomas Andrews. In the Titanic, there were three classes of passengers; many in third class were Irish and British immigrants looking to a new life in America. On Sunday, April 14, the ship altered course slightly south in response to iceberg warnings. A number of subsequent warnings from other ships were received, but not acted upon. At 11:40 pm, lookouts spotted an iceberg directly [...]

The Irish Government Bill of 1886 was the British parliament's first substantial attempt to create home rule for Ireland. It was introduced on April 8, 1886 by Prime Minister William Gladstone for the purpose of creating a devolved Irish assembly. The Irish Parliamentary Party under Charles Stewart Parnell had been campaigning for home rule for Ireland since the 1870s. The bill, like his Irish Land Act 1870, was very much the work of Gladstone, who excluded both the Irish MPs and his own ministers from participation in the drafting.

The World Health Organization (WHO) was established by the United Nations to act as an international coordinating authority on April 7, 1948. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, WHO succeeded the role of the Health Organization, its predecessor under the League of Nations.

The Games of the I Olympiad were held from April 6 to April 15, 1896 in Athens, Greece, the first Olympic Games in modern times. The first Olympics, or "I Olympiad" also established the International Olympic Committee.

Along with the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid, there may be no more instantly recognizable man-made structure than the Eiffel Tower, inaugurated on this date in 1889. The grand tower was built for the Universal Exhibition held that year in celebration of the French Revolution.

The Georgian capital Tbilisi’s name derives from a word that means warm place. The word applies to both the glorious sulfur baths on which the city was founded, as well as the generosity and warmth of the Georgian people.  A trip to the baths allows visitors a chance to luxuriate in the soothing hot waters, which are part of the centuries-old history of this Caucasus city.