Almanac - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

TOP TEN LISTS

World's Most Dangerous Animals

Deadliest animals in the world ranked by estimated number of human fatalities per year

Best Selling Musicians

Top selling musicians of all time ranked by estimated number of albums sold

Best Selling Books of All-Time

Best selling novels worldwide ranked by estimated number of copies sold

Fastest Manned Aircraft in the World

Fastest manned aircraft (excluding spacecraft) ranked by top speed

World's Most Practiced Religions

Major religions of the world ranked by estimated number of followers

Worst Genocides of the Twentieth Century

The ten worst genocides of the 20th century listed by dictators responsible; ranked by number of deaths

World's Fastest Land Animals

The fastest land animals in the world ranked by maximum speed

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Today in History

Sunday, 02 August 2026

2005

Air France Flight 358, landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport, and ran off the runway causing the plane to burst into flames. There were 12 serious injuries and no fatalities.

1990

Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War.

1989

Pakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after having restoring democracy for the first time since 1972.

A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians.

1985

Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport killing 137.

1980

A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200.

1973

A flash fire kills 51 at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man.

1968

An earthquake hits Casiguran, Aurora, Philippines killing more than 270 people and wounding 261.

1964

Vietnam War: Gulf of Tonkin Incident

1945

World War II: the Potsdam Conference, at which the Allied Powers discuss the future of defeated Germany, is concluded.

FACTOIDS

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime.

Blue Whale

The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived.

Gold

Every ton of seawater contains approximately 1 milligram of dissolved gold.

Mosquito

Studies show that mosquitoes prefer biting blondes to brunettes.

Timelines

People's Republic of China

Afghanistan