40 years ago - June 17th 1972: Watergate break-in

On this day in 1972, 40 years ago, five White House operatives were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington DC. The men were aiming to wiretap the Democrats in preparation for the 1972 presidential election. The incident was the first in a series of revelations which revealed illegal activities of President Richard Nixon’s administration and led to his resignation in 1974. It was discovered the burglars had received money that had been donated to Nixon’s re-election campaign. The administration tried to cover-up its involvement in the 1972 incident. It was later discovered Nixon taped his conversations in the Oval Office and the Supreme Court ordered he hand the tapes over, which implicated the President in the cover-up and led to his resignation to avoid impeachment. Watergate is considered one of the greatest political scandals in history.