Society, economy & sport

Birth of Julian Assange

3 July 1971

Julian Assange was born on 3 July 1971 in Townsville. An Australian publisher and activist, Assange founded WikiLeaks, a website that publishes leaked documents supplied by anonymous sources. It became widely known in 2010 for releasing US military and diplomatic material, including video from a helicopter attack in Baghdad and large collections of war logs and cables. The releases brought praise from supporters of press freedom and strong criticism from governments, who accused him of endangering security. He spent years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and later in a British prison while the United States sought his extradition, and the case became a central debate about journalism and state secrecy.

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This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.