On This Day…

On This Day…

1542 - Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sets sail from the Mexican port of Navidad to explore the west coast of North America on behalf of the Spanish Empire 1743 - War of the Austrian…
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On This Day…

363 - Roman Emperor Julian is killed during retreat from the Sassanid Empire. General Jovian is proclaimed Emperor by troops on the battlefield. 1794 - Battle of Fleurus: major victory by forces…
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On This Day…

1678 - Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia is awarded a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Padua, 1st woman to receive a university doctoral degree or PhD 1876 - Battle of the Little Bighorn:…
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On This Day…

1497 - John Cabot claims Eastern Canada for England (believes he has found Asia in Nova Scotia) 1509 - Henry VIII is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey, London 1793 - 1st republican constitution…
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On This Day…

1788 - US Constitution comes into effect when New Hampshire is the 9th state to ratify it 1854 - First Victoria Cross won during bombardment of Bomarsund in the Aland Islands (Crimean War)…
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On This Day…

451 - Battle of the Catalaunian Plains: Roman and Visigoths forces defeat Attila the Hun in north east France 1214 - The University of Oxford receives its charter 1789 - French Revolution: The…
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On This Day…

1306 - The Earl of Pembroke's army defeats Robert the Bruce's Scottish army at the Battle of Methven 1829 - Sir Robert Peel introduces the Metropolitan Police Act 1829 into Parliament to establish a unified…
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On This Day…

618 - Coronation of the Chinese governor Li Yuan as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the new Emperor of China, initiating three centuries of the Tang Dynasty's rule over China 1812 - War…
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On This Day…

1373 - Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of Alliance (world's oldest extant) signed in London 1866 - US House of representatives passes 14th Amendment (Civil rights) 1878 - Congress of Berlin begins, determines the territories of…
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On This Day…

1381 - Peasants' Revolt: in England, rebels arrive at Blackheath 1830 - Beginning of the French colonization of Algeria: 34,000 French soldiers land 27 kilometers west of Algiers, at Sidi Ferruch 1864 -…
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On This Day…

1184 BC - Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned, according to calculations by Eratosthenes 631 - Emperor Taizong of Tang of China, sends envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk…
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On This Day…

452 - Italy invaded by Attila the Hun 793 - Vikings in long ships from modern-day Norway plunder St Cuthbert's monastery on Lindisfarne Island, off the northeast coast of England 1191 -…
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On This Day…

1494 - Treaty of Tordesillas: Spain and Portugal divide the new world along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa 1628 - English…
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On This Day…

1523 - Gustav Vasa is elected King of Sweden, marking the end of the Kalmar Union 1716 - French transport the 1st African slaves to Louisiana 1916 - The death of Yuan Shikai, ruler…
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On This Day…

1873 - Sultan Bargash bin Said under British pressure closes the infamous slave market of Zanzibar in modern day Tanzania 1947 - US Secretary of State George Marshall outlines the "Marshall Plan" to rebuild…
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On This Day…

1621 - Dutch West India Company (WIC) receives charter for The West Indies (The Americas, Caribbean and West Africa) 1929 - Chile and Peru sign the Treaty of Lima, finally resolving their…
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On This Day…

4000 BC - Approximate domestication of the horse in the Eurasian steppes near Dereivka, central Ukraine (hypothesis only) 1215 - Beijing, under control of Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured…
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On This Day …

1902 - Boer War Ends; Treaty of Unity signed, Britain annexes Transvaal 1910 - Union of South Africa declares its independence from the United Kingdom 1916 - Battle of Jutland: Largest naval battle…
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On This Day…

1660 - On his 30th birthday Charles II returns to London from exile in the Netherlands to claim the English throne after the Puritan Commonwealth comes to an end 1851 - Sojourner Truth addresses 1st…
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On This Day…

28th May 585 BC - Solar eclipse, as predicted by Greek philosopher Thales, while Lydians at war with the Medes leads to a truce. One of the cardinal dates from which…
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On This Day…

1679 - Habeaus Corpus Act (strengthening person's right to challenge unlawful arrest & imprisonment) passes in England 1703 - Saint Petersburg (Leningrad) founded by Russian Tsar Peter the Great 1873 - Heinrich Schliemann discovers "Priam's…
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On This Day…

1595 - Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library 1738 - John Wesley is converted, launching the Methodist movement; celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day…
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On This Day…

1618 - Second Defenestration of Prague: Two Catholic Lords Regent and their secretary are thrown out of a window and amazingly are not seriously injured by the 70 foot (21m) fall.…
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On This Day…

334 BC - The Macedonian army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus 1570 - 1st atlas 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum' (Theatre of the World), published by Abraham…
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On This Day…

1792 - Mount Unzen on Japan's Shimabara Peninsula, erupts creating a tsunami, killing about 15,000; Japan's deadliest volcanic eruption 1832 - 1st Democratic National Convention (Baltimore) 1881 - Clara Barton founded the American…
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On This Day…

1498 - Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut, India becoming the first European to reach India by sea 1784 - The Netherlands yielded to Great Britain some of its holdings in India and Indonesia in a…
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On This Day…

1643 - Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Harbor form the United Colonies of New England 1649 - England is declared a Commonwealth by an act of the Rump Parliament making England…
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On This Day…

1291 - After 100 years of Crusader control, Acre is the last Crusader stronghold reconquered and destroyed by the Mamluks under Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil 1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed Emperor of France by…
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On This Day…

1527 - Pánfilo de Narváez departs Spain to explore Florida with 600 men - by 1536 only 4 survive 1792 - 24 merchants form New York Stock Exchange at 70 Wall Street…
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On This Day…

1920 - Joan of Arc (Jeanne D'arc) canonized a saint 1943 - Operation Chastise: No. 617 Squadron RAF begins the famous Dambusters Raid, bombing the Möhne and Eder dams in the Ruhr valley with bouncing…
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On This Day…

1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad exstirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition 1618 - German astronomer Johannes Kepler discovers the third of…
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On This Day…

1787 - Delegates gather in Philadelphia to draw up US Constitution 1796 - English country doctor Edward Jenner administers the first inoculation against smallpox, using cowpox pus, in Berkeley, Gloucestershire 1804 - Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's expedition…
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On This Day…

1787 - Arthur Phillip sets sails with 11 ships of criminals to Botany Bay, Australia 1830 - Republic of Ecuador is founded, with Juan Jose Flores as president 1934 - Great dustbowl storm sweeps…
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On This Day…

1789 - William Wilberforce makes his first major speech on abolition in the UK House of Commons, reasoning the slave trade morally reprehensible and an issue of natural justice 1940 - Nazi blitzkrieg and conquest…
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On This Day…

330 - Constantinople (Byzantium) becomes the capital of the Roman Empire 1189 - Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and 100,000 crusaders depart Regensburg for the Third Crusade 1751 - Pennsylvania Hospital founded by Dr.…
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On This Day…

1497 - Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci leaves for his first voyage to the New World (disputed) 1775 - Second Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and issues paper currency for 1st time 1801 - First…
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On This Day…

1386 - Treaty of Windsor between Portugal and England (oldest diplomatic alliance in the world still in force) 1865 - President Andrew Johnson issues a proclamation declaring armed resistance in the South is virtually…
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On This Day…

1660 - English parliament declares Charles Stuart to be King Charles II of England 1835 - 1st installment of Hans Christian Andersen "Fairy Tales" published by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen, Denmark 1895 - China cedes Taiwan…
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On This Day…

1429 - French national heroine Joan of Arc and her troops entered the besieged city of Orléans during the Hundred Years' War. 1862 - New Orleans falls to Union forces during US Civil War 1864 - Battle…
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On This Day…

1611 - Establishment of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines, oldest existing university in Asia and largest Catholic university in the world 1770 -…
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On This Day…

1660 - English Convention Parliament meets and votes to restore Charles II 1792 - Guillotine first used in France, executes highwayman Nicolas Pelletier 1846 - Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border…
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On This Day…

1479 BC - Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty) 1184 BC - The Greeks enter…
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On This Day…

On This Day…

1500 - Pedro Álvares Cabral is the first european to discover Brazil, landing near Monte Pascoal, claims it for Portugal 1915 - 1st military use of poison gas (chlorine, by Germany) in WW I1930 British…
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On This Day…

On This Day…

753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome (traditional date) 1526 - First Battle of Panipat: Central Asian conqueror Babur defeats Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, establishing the Mughal Empire in India 1792 - Brazilian revolutionary Tiradentes, is…
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On This Day…

On This Day…

1862 - First pasteurization test completed by Frenchmen Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard 1902 - Marie and Pierre Curie isolate the radioactive compound radium chloride 1920 - Balfour Declaration recognized, makes Palestine a British Mandate 1968 - British…
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On This Day…

On This Day…

1770 - British explorer Captain James Cook first sights Australia 1775 - American Revolution begins in Lexington, Massachusetts. The "Shot Heard Round the World" took place in Concord later that day 1909 - Joan of Arc receives…
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On This Day…

On This Day…

1025 - Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland 1506 - The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's Basilica is laid in the Vatican by Pope Julius II 1775 - Paul…
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On This Day…

On This Day…

1387 - Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" characters begin their pilgrimage to Canterbury (according to scholars) 1492 - Christopher Columbus signs a contract with the Spanish monarchs to find the "Indies" with the stated…
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On This Day…

On This Day…

1457 - BC Battle of Megiddo: Egyptian forces of Thutmose III defeat a large Canaanite coalition under King of Kadesh. First battle recorded with a reliable account. 1705 - Queen Anne of England…
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On This Day…

On This Day…

1755 - Samuel Johnson's "A Dictionary of the English Language" published in London 1877 - Boston-Somerville installs the world's 1st telephone in Massachusetts 1912 - RMS Titanic sinks at 2:27 AM off Newfoundland as the…
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On This Day…

On This Day…

1204 - 4th Crusade occupies & plunders Constantinople 1811 - 1st US colonists on Pacific coast arrive at Cape Disappointment, Washington 1872 - Jesse James gang robs bank in Columbia, Kentucky (1 dead/$1,500) 1927 -…
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On This Day…

1512 - Battle of Ravenna: French forces under Gaston de Foix defeat the Holy League in a major battle of the Italian Wars 1783 - Hostilities formally cease in the American Revolutionary…
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On This Day…

1407 - Lama Deshin Shekpa visits the Ming Dynasty capital at Nanjing and is awarded the title Great Treasure Prince of Dharma 1516 - 1st Jewish ghetto established: Venice compels Jews to…
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On This Day…

1767 - Ayutthaya kingdom falls to Burmese invaders 1886 - William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.1898 - Battle of Atbara River, Anglo-Egyptian forces crush…
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On This Day…

On This Day…

1581 - Francis Drake knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard Golden Hind at Deptford. 1655 - Battle at Postage Farina, Tunis: English fleet beats Barbary pirates. 1789 - 1st US Congress begins regular sessions during George Washington's…
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On This Day…

On This Day…

1645 - English Long Parliament passes the Self-Denying Ordinance, limiting regional armies, significant step toward New Model Army. 1922 - Joseph Stalin is appointed General Secretary of the Russian Communist Party by an…
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On This Day…

On This Day…

1453 - Mehmed II begins his siege of Constantinople (İstanbul), which falls May 29 1513 - Explorer Juan Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain as the first known European to reach Florida 1792 -…
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