December 9, 2025
Eradication of Smallpox Is Certified (1979)
One of the deadliest diseases in history by sheer loss of life, smallpox was the target of a concerted, worldwide eradication campaign in the 20th century, and it became the first disease to have been successfully wiped out. Efforts focused on vaccination and quickly responding to and curtailing outbreaks. The last person to die from smallpox caught it at a laboratory, where samples of the now-vanquished disease remain. Who is the last person known to have contracted it in the wild? Discuss
December 8, 2025
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty Is Signed (1987)
Signed by US President Ronald Reagan and USSR General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty represented a historic shift in superpower relations. The first treaty to mandate a reduction in stockpiled weapons rather than just a limit on them, it required the destruction of 1,752 Soviet and 859 US missiles. Though the agreement has been upheld by some Soviet successor states, Russian President Vladimir Putin said what about the treaty in 2007?
December 7, 2025
Recording Industry Association of American Sues Napster (1999)
Shortly after Napster was founded in 1999, the popular file-sharing service was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The trial gave Napster so much publicity that usage of the service increased, despite RIAA's claim that Napster users were breaking the law by downloading copyrighted music for free. Though it was forced by an injunction to shut down its network in July 2001, Napster did not fold. What happened to it?
