History Today: When Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' was published for the first time

Adolf Hitler was a mysterious man with his own beliefs. Even now, his way of life and his beliefs intrigue people across the world. So, if you want to know about him, the best way is to read his autobiographical manifesto ‘Mein Kampf’, published on July 18, 1925. Written during his imprisonment at Landsberg Prison, the book combined Hitler’s personal history, political ideology and vision for Germany’s future.

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On this day in 1976, Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci made history at the Montreal Summer Olympics by scoring the first-ever perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics. This event revolutionised the sport.

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Here is all that happened on this day.

Mein Kampf was published

The first volume of Adolf Hitler ’s infamous autobiographical manifesto, Mein Kampf (My Struggle) was published on July 18, 1925.  He largely dictated the book while imprisoned in Landsberg Prison, serving a sentence for his role in the failed Beer Hall Putsch of 1923. The second volume followed in 1926.

Mein Kampf laid out Hitler’s core ideological tenets, including his virulent antisemitism, his concept of “Lebensraum” (living space) for the German people in Eastern Europe, his disdain for parliamentary democracy, and his vision for a racially “pure” Germany. It served as a chilling blueprint for the Nazi Party’s agenda and the atrocities that would later unfold under his regime.

Initially, Mein Kampf had modest sales, but after Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, it was heavily promoted and distributed widely across Nazi Germany. It became mandatory reading in schools and a common wedding gift, with over 12 million copies sold or distributed by the end of World War II .

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The book’s publication marked the beginning of the mainstreaming of Nazi ideology, filled with dangerous propaganda that would later fuel the Holocaust, World War II, and the deaths of millions. Its anti-Semitic and ultranationalist rhetoric directly shaped Nazi policies and Hitler’s totalitarian regime.

After the war, the book was banned in several countries. In Germany, public printing and sale were prohibited for decades. When the copyright expired in 2015, a heavily annotated version was published by the Institute for Contemporary History in Munich, sparking fresh debate on how to confront hate speech and historical responsibility.

Nadia scored a perfect 10 in the Olympics Gymnastics

The world watched in wonder when the first perfect 10 was achieved by Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci on July 18, 1976, at the Montreal Olympic Games. Scoring a perfect score was so unheard of at the time that even the scoreboard was famously unprepared for such an achievement, flashing “1.00” because it could only display three digits. Nadia’s performance marked a technical and artistic peak in gymnastics, combining impeccable form, daring difficulty and calm under pressure.

But this was just the beginning. Over the course of the 1976 Games, she earned seven perfect 10s and won three gold medals in the individual all-around, uneven bars and balance beam categories, along with a silver and a bronze. She became the youngest Olympic gymnastics all-around champion in history at that time.

Her success transformed the global perception of gymnastics. Previously dominated by older athletes, the sport began to shift toward younger, more agile competitors. Nadia’s composure, grace, and innovation inspired a generation of gymnasts and elevated the standard of excellence worldwide.

Back home in Romania, Comaneci became a national hero, celebrated for both her athletic brilliance and the pride she brought to her country during the Cold War era. Internationally, she became a global icon of perfection, with her name forever etched in Olympic history.

This Day, That Year

• On this day in 1944, Allied forces captured the French town of Saint-Lô, a vital communications centre, during World War II.

• French General Ferdinand Foch launched a counterstrike that forced the Germans into a hasty retreat during the Second Battle of the Marne on this day in 1918.