On this day: Key events held on July 14, from the storming of the Bastille in 1789 to NASA’s first spacecraft on Pluto

On this day: Key events held on July 14 include historic moments from the French Revolution and NASA's significant achievement in space. The French Revolutionaries stormed the Bastille on July 14, 1789. Since then, July 14 has been celebrated as Bastille Day every year. Centuries later, the space agency NASA successfully sent Horizon to Pluto on this day in 2015. NASA's Horizon became the first spacecraft to explore Pluto up close.

Bastille Day in 1789

Bastille Day is celebrated across France to commemorate the date of the storming of the Bastille, a fortress in Paris known as Bastille Saint-Antoine. The event occurred on July 14, 1789, during the earliest stages of the French Revolution.

Bastille Day is celebrated with huge fervour and joy across the nation. Bastille Day is a national holiday in France. The day is celebrated with fireworks at the Eiffel Tower and a massive military parade in Paris. The Bastille Day parade is one of the largest military parades in Europe and the oldest ongoing in the world.

NASA sends Horizon to Pluto in 2015

NASA sent New Horizons to become the first spacecraft to visit planet Pluto. The NASA spacecraft moved past the dwarf planet and its moons on July 14, 2015.

Terrorist attack in France, 2016

The day also marked a ghastly attack in Nice, France, on July 14, 2016. The attack targeted the people who joined the Bastille Day celebrations in 2016. During that year's celebration, a 19-tonne truck was driven into the crowd. The attacker was eventually shot by the police.

Coup in Iraq, 1958

Iraq witnessed a coup on this day after Abd al-Karim Qasim, a brigadier in the Iraqi Army staged a military coup in the country on July 14, 1958. The military coup was intended to overthrow the Hashemite monarchy. During the coup, the Iraqi King Faisal II, the Crown Prince Abd al-Ilah, and Prime Minister Nuri al-Said were assassinated.