This Day in History: May 15

Here’s a brief look back in time for this day, May 15.

In 1942, the first Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps are organized, allowing women to be officially inducted into the U.S. military. However, due to public opinion at the time, women were never sent to the frontlines during World War II. Most worked as either switchboard operators, mechanics, or nurses. They’d be vital to the Americans victory in both the Pacific and the European theater.

In 1988, the Soviet military begins to withdraw from Afghanistan after an eight-year invasion prompted by themselves. The purpose behind the invasion is generally believed to be the spreading of communism in central Asia. Most of the fighting was between Soviet soldiers and the mujahideen, which consisted of Islamist guerillas rebelling against the pro-Soviet Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Millions of innocent Afghans were either killed, displaced, or forced to flee the country. In the end, the Soviet government decided to withdraw upon agreeing to the Geneva Accords of 1988. Some mujahideen cells are still active today, but most of the surviving Afghans later helped form groups such as the Taliban. Osama bin Laden was one of the fighters, who’d later form Al-Qaeda and help mastermind the 9/11 terrorist attacks.