Video: 'CNN - Soviet coup (first reports)' (coverage begins Aug. 18, 1991, at 11:27 p.m. EDT)

(Monday, August 19, 1991, state of emergency declared at 5:57 a.m. Eastern European Summer Time; during the 1991 Soviet coup d’état attempt; part of the Revolutions of 1989 and Dissolution of the Soviet Union) — Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev was tentatively ousted from power today by military and K.G.B. authorities while he was on vacation in the distant Crimea. Continue reading 1991 Soviet coup d’état attempt begins 30 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Aug 19 1991) →