October 2, 2026
The Night of Tlatelolco (1968)
Just 10 days before Mexico City hosted the 1968 Summer Olympics, government forces opened fire on student and civilian protesters gathered in a plaza in the Tlatelolco section of the city. The official government explanation was that students provoked the army's violence by firing at them from the buildings surrounding the plaza and that only four people had been killed. Investigations were thwarted until Vicente Fox became president in 2000. What is now believed to have happened that day?
October 1, 2026
Siemens & Halske Telegraph Construction Company Is Founded (1847)
Siemens AG is Europe's largest engineering conglomerate. It was originally founded to build telegraph installations, but under Werner Siemens and his three brothers, it expanded to produce cables, telephones, electric power, and electric lighting. The company built the first long-distance telegraph line in Europe, followed by the monumental Indo-European telegraph line that stretched from Calcutta, India, to London, England. What scandal tainted the company's reputation in the 1940s?
September 30, 2026
Vioxx Withdrawn from Market Because of Cardiovascular Concerns (2004)
Merck's COX-2 selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx (rofecoxib) was approved for use in the US in 1999 and remained on the market for just five years before being pulled due to concerns that it could raise the risk of heart attack and stroke. By that time, some 80 million people worldwide had taken the drug, primarily to treat osteoarthritis, acute pain, and dysmenorrhea. Before long, the drugmaker found itself facing thousands of lawsuits. How much did it earmark for settlements?
