Historical Events
- 1949-03-30 Riot breaks out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík, when Iceland joins NATO
- 1949-04-04 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) treaty signed in Washington, D.C.
- 1949-07-21 US Senate ratifies North Atlantic Treaty by a vote of 82-13 (NATO)
- 1949-08-24 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) goes into effect
Mutual Defense Assistance Act
1949-10-06 US President Harry Truman signs Mutual Defense Assistance Act (for NATO)
Eisenhower Supreme Commander
1950-11-19 US General Eisenhower becomes supreme commander of NATO-Europe
- 1950-12-19 General Eisenhower named NATO commander
- 1952-04-28 Dwight D. Eisenhower resigns as Supreme Commander of NATO
- 1953-10-23 German FR applies to NATO
- 1954-03-31 USSR offers to join NATO
- 1954-05-07 US, Great Britain & France reject Russian membership of NATO
- 1955-05-06 West Germany joins NATO
- 1955-05-09 German Federal Republic (West Germany) joins NATO
- 1956-12-14 Paul-Henri Spaak appointed secretary-general of NATO
- 1957-03-20 Britain accepts NATO offer to mediate in Cyprus, but Greece rejects it
- 1961-01-31 NATO Secretary-General Paul-Henri Spaak says he'll resign
- 1961-03-04 Paul-Henri Spaak resigns as Secretary-General of NATO
- 1961-04-21 Dirk Stikker chosen as secretary general of NATO
JFK Defends Berlin
1961-07-25 In a speech, US President John F. Kennedy emphasizes that any attack on Berlin is an attack on NATO
- 1962-10-08 Spiegel scandal: Der Spiegel publishes article "Bedingt abwehrbereit" ("Conditionally prepared for defense") about NATO manoeuver called "Fallex 62", uncovering sorry state of West German army. Magazine soon accused of treason.
- 1964-05-12 Italian diplomat and politician Manlio Brosio chosen as secretary-general of NATO
- 1967-12-23 Brussels: NATO Council accept "Flexible Response" strategy
- 1971-06-04 J Luns appointed secretary-general of NATO
- 1971-09-03 Manlio Brosio resigns as secretary general of NATO
- 1971-10-01 Joseph Luns becomes secretary-general of NATO
Event of Interest
1974-09-16 US General Alexander Haig, Jr. becomes NATO supreme commander in Europe
- 1979-06-25 Failed attack on NATO commander Alexander Haig Jr. in Obourg, Belgium by German terrorist Rolf Klemens Wagner, a former member of the Red Army Faction
- 1981-12-02 Spanish government requests membership of NATO
- 1981-12-07 Spain becomes a member of the NATO
- 1982-05-30 Spain becomes 16th member of NATO
- 1984-06-22 Joseph Luns resigns as secretary-general of NATO
- 1984-11-14 NASA launches NATO-3D
- 1985-04-21 Bomb attacks in NATO/AEG-Telefunken building in Brussels
- 1995-08-29 NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces.
- 1995-12-20 NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia
Treaty of Interest
1997-05-27 Russian President Boris Yeltsin signs a historic treaty with NATO
- 1997-07-08 NATO invites Poland, Hungary & Czech Republic to join
- 1998-02-03 Cavalese cable car disaster: 20 people killed after NATO aircraft severs a cable car line
- 1999-03-12 Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO.
- 1999-03-24 Kosovo War: NATO commences air bombardment against Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.
- 1999-04-14 NATO mistakenly bombs a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees - Yugoslav officials say 75 people are killed
- 1999-04-29 Avala TV Tower near Belgrade is destroyed in NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
- 1999-05-07 Kosovo War: In Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade
Agreement of Interest
1999-06-10 Kosovo War: NATO suspends its air strikes after Slobodan Milošević agrees to withdraw Serbian forces from Kosovo.
- 1999-06-12 Kosovo War: Operation Joint Guardian begins - a NATO-led United Nations peacekeeping force KFor enters the province of Kosovo in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
- 2001-08-21 NATO decides to send a peace-keeping force to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
- 2001-09-12 Article V of the NATO agreement is invoked for the first and only time in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States of America.
9/11 Attack on NY's World Trade Towers
2001-10-02 NATO backs US military strikes, following 9/11
- 2002-05-28 NATO declares Russia a limited partner in the Western alliance.
- 2002-11-21 NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.
- 2003-02-10 France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.
- 2003-08-11 NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.
- 2004-03-29 Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join NATO as full members
- 2004-06-28 The 17th NATO Summit starts in Istanbul.
- 2009-04-01 Croatia and Albania join NATO
- 2011-11-26 NATO forces in Afghanistan attack a Pakistani checkpoint in a friendly fire incident, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others
- 2012-03-16 Turkish NATO helicopter crashes into a house killing ten people in the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan
- 2012-05-07 NATO air strike kills 14 and woulds 6 civilians in Afghanistan's Badghis Province
- 2012-05-27 A NATO airstrike kills a family of eight, including six children, in Afghanistan
- 2012-08-18 NATO air strikes kill at least 13 militants in Afghanistan
- 2012-09-01 Two suicide bombings kill 12 people and wound 50 in a NATO base in Afghanistan's Sayed Abad district
- 2012-09-16 8 female civilians are killed by a NATO airstrike in Laghman, Afghanistan
- 2012-10-01 3 NATO soldiers and 16 Afghan police are killed by a suicide bombing in Khost, Afghanistan
- 2013-02-13 10 civilians, including 3 children, are killed by a NATO airstrike in the Kunar Province, Afghanistan
- 2014-04-01 NATO suspends all practical civilian and military cooperation with Russia
- 2014-12-13 Two US soldiers killed in a Taliban bombing of a NATO convoy in Kabul
- 2017-06-05 Montenegro becomes the 29th member of NATO
NATO Marks 70
2019-12-03 70th anniversary of NATO marked by gathering in London of world leaders and reception by Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace
Leaders Discuss Trump
2019-12-03 World leaders discussing US President Donald Trump in unflattering terms at NATO reception caught on camera and goes viral
- 2020-02-29 US and Taliban sign deal to end 18-year war in Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar. US and NATO allies will withdraw their troops after 14 months if deal kept.
- 2021-07-20 US, NATO members and other states accuse China's Ministry of State Security for using "contract criminal hackers" to infiltrate Microsoft email systems [1]
Famous Birthdays
- 1895-03-03 Matthew Ridgway, American general (World War II, Korean War, NATO Supreme Commander) and Chief of Staff of the US Army (1953-55), born in Fort Monroe, Virginia (d. 1993)
- 1897-02-05 Dirk Stikker, Dutch politician, diplomat (Ambassador to Great Britain, 1952-58; Secretary General of NATO, 1961-64), and CEO (Heineken), Born in Winschoten, Netherlands (d. 1979)
- 1897-10-28 Hans Speidel, German army officer (WWI, WWII), involved in the 20 July Plot to kill Adolf Hitler (19440, and NATO-supreme commander (1957-64), born in Metzingen, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire (d. 1984)
- 1899-01-02 Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian politician (Prime Minister of Belgium, Secretary-General of NATO 1957-61), born in Schaerbeek, Belgium, (d. 1972)
- 1899-03-03 Alfred Gruenther, American general (NATO commander 1953-56), born in Platte Center, Nebraska (d. 1983)
- 1906-12-30 Johann von Kielmansegg, German general (Commander-in-Chief of NATOs forces), born in Hofgeismar, Germany (d. 2006)
- 1907-03-24 Lauris Norstad, American general (NATO commander) and CEO (Owens-Corning Fiberglass), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 1988)
- 1911-08-28 Joseph Luns, Dutch Foreign Minister and Secretary General (NATO), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2002)
- 1915-02-12 Andrew Goodpaster, American general (NATO Supreme Allied Commander 1969-74), born in Granite City, Illinois (d. 2005)
- 1919-06-06 Lord Carrington [Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington], British conservative politician, former British Foreign Secretary (1979-82) and NATO Secretary General (1984-8), born in Chelsea, London (d. 2018)
- 1921-07-16 Bernard W. Rogers, United States Army general who served as the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, born in Fairview, Kansas (d. 2008)
- 1924-04-08 Anthony Farrar-Hockley, English army officer (NATO Commander) and historian, born in Coventry, England (d. 2006)
- 1926-07-15 John Graham, British diplomat (His Majesty's Diplomatic Service, 1950-86, Ambassador to NATO, 1982-86), born in Calcutta, British India (d. 2019)
- 1930-06-13 Ryszard Kukliński, Polish colonel and Cold War spy for NATO, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 2004)
- 1932-03-22 Richard Thomas, British admiral (Royal Navy) and NATO representative, born in Rhyl, Wales (d. 1998)
- 1934-09-24 Manfred Wörner, German general and Secretary-General of NATO (1988-94), born in Stuttgart, Germany (d. 1994)
- 1936-06-27 John Shalikashvili, Polish-American general (NATO), born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 2011)
- 1936-09-25 Edward Jones, British Army officer (UK Military Representative to NATO, Black Rod UK parliament), born in Altrincham, England (d. 2007)
- 1938-04-13 John Weston, British diplomat, representative for NATO (1992-95) and UN (1995-98)
- 1944-09-27 IDG Garnett, British Vice-Admiral, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (NATO)
- 1982-09-03 Kaori Natori, Japanese J-pop, hip-hop, and reggae singer (Spontania), and model, born in Tokyo, Japan
Famous Deaths
- 1972-07-31 Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian politician (Prime Minister of Belgium, Secretary-General of NATO, 1957-61), dies at 73
- 1979-12-24 Dirk Uipko Stikker, Dutch politician, diplomat (Ambassador to Great Britain, 1952-58; Secretary General of NATO, 1961-64), and CEO (Heineken), dies at 82
- 1983-05-30 Alfred Gruenther, American general (NATO commander 1953-56), dies at 84
- 1984-11-28 Hans Speidel, German army officer (WWI, WWII), involved in the 20 July Plot to kill Adolf Hitler (19440, and NATO-supreme commander (1957-64), dies at 87
- 1988-09-12 Lauris Norstad, American general (NATO commander) and CEO (Owens-Corning Fiberglass), dies at 71
- 1994-08-13 Manfred Wörner, German general and Secretary-General of NATO (1988-94), dies at 59
- 1998-12-13 Richard Thomas, British admiral (Royal Navy) and NATO representative, dies at 66
- 2004-02-11 Ryszard Kukliński, Polish colonel and Cold War spy for NATO, dies at 73
- 2005-05-16 Andrew Goodpaster, American general (NATO Supreme Allied Commander 1969-74), dies at 90
- 2006-03-11 Anthony Farrar-Hockley, English army officer (NATO Commander) and military historian, dies at 81
- 2008-10-27 Bernard W. Rogers, United States Army general who served as the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, dies at 87
- 2011-07-23 John Shalikashvili, Polish-American general (NATO), dies at 75
- 2018-07-09 Lord Carrington [Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington], British conservative politician, former British Foreign Secretary (1979-82) and NATO Secretary General (1984-8), dies at 99