History

On This Day…

240 BC - 1st recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. 1856 - Russia signs the Treaty of Paris, ending the Crimean War. 1867 - Alaska Purchase: US buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 ($109…

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845 - Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving 1549 - The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of…

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1513 - Spaniard Juan Ponce de León and his expedition first sight Florida 1625 - Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland ascends the English throne 1914 - 1st successful non-direct blood transfusion is…

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31 - 1st Easter, according to calendar-maker Dionysius Exiguus 1436 - Florentine cathedral Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore with then the largest dome in the world by Filippo Brunelleschi, consecrated by…

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1349 - Between 100 and 3,000 Jews are killed in Black Death riots in Erfurt, Germany 1804 - Napoleonic Code adopted in France, stresses clearly written and accessible law 1871 - Journalist Henry Morton…

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1345 - According to scholars at the University of Paris, the Black Death, from what they call “a triple conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars in the 40th degree of Aquarius,…

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1279 - A Mongolian victory at the naval Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China 1644 - 200 members of Peking imperial family and court commit suicide in loyalty to…

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1123 -1st Latern Council (9th ecumenical council) opens in Rome, agreements of the Concordat of Worms ratified 1314 - Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and the last Grand Master of the Knights…

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44 BC - Julius Caesar is stabbed to death by Brutus, Cassius and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March in Rome.221 - Liu Bei, a Chinese warlord…

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843 - Icon veneration officially re-instated in Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople 1502 - Ismail I, founder of the Safavid dynasty, crowned Shah of Persia (rules till 1524) 1918 - Moscow becomes capital of revolutionary…

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1531 - Henry VIII recognised as supreme head of Church in England by the Convocation of Canterbury 1702 - Anne became the last Stuart monarch of Great Britain, having earlier acquiesced to the Act of Settlement of 1701,…

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161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, an unprecedented political arrangement in the Roman Empire 1530 - English King Henry VIII's divorce request is denied by the…

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1479 - Treaty of Alcaçovas: Portugal gives the Canary Islands to Castile in exchange for claims in West Africa 1836 - Battle of the Alamo: After 13 days of fighting 1,500-3,000 Mexican…

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363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a campaign that brings about his own death 1046 - Persian scholar Naser…

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202 - BC Coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place, initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty's rule over China 1710 - In the Battle…

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1776 - At the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, North Carolinian revolutionaries defeated loyalists during the American Revolution. 1884 - Paul Kruger, president of the South African Republic, signed a…

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1616 - Roman Inquisition delivers injunction to Galileo demanding he abandon his belief in heliocentrism, which states the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun 1797 - Bank of England…

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1570 - Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England for heresy and persecution of English Catholics during her reign. Also absolves her subjects from allegiance to the crown. 1793…

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303 - 1st official Roman edict for persecution of Christians issued by Emperor Diocletian 1525 - Battle of Pavia: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's troops beat the French. French King…

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1632 - Galileo's "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems" is published 1774 - British House of Lords rules authors do not have perpetual copyright 1797 - The Last Invasion of Britain by…

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1792 - US postal service created, postage 6-12 cents depending on distance 1872 - New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art opens 1873 - British Naval Officer John Moresby discovers the site of Port…

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356 -Emperor Constantius II shuts all heathen temples. 1600 - Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in South American recorded history. 1878 - Thomas Edison is granted a patent for his…

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1519 - Hernán Cortés leaves Cuba for the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico with 11 ships and 500 men. 1678 - John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" is published in Holborn, London, by Nathaniel Ponder. 1861 - King Victor…

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1568 - Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II agrees to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire for peace. 1865 - Columbia, South Carolina, burns down during American Civil War. 1876 - Sardines first canned…

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1659 - 1st known cheque (£400) (on display at Westminster Abbey) 1840 - American Charles Wilkes discovers Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica 1923 - Howard Carter opens the inner burial chamber of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb and finds…

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1014 - Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry II Holy Roman Emperor 1076 - Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (for the 1st time) 1797 - The Battle of Cape St Vincent: British…

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1700 - The Great Northern War begins in Northern Europe between Denmark–Norway, Saxony and Russia and the Swedish Empire. 1912 - The last Qing Emperor of China, Puyi abdicates after losing the…

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1858 - First vision of the Virgin Mary to 14-year-old Bernadette of Lourdes, France 1929 - Vatican City (world's smallest country) made an enclave of Rome 1975 - Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for leadership of…

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60 - St Paul thought to have been shipwrecked at Malta 1720 - Edmond Halley appointed as the second Astronomer Royal at the Greenwich Observatory 1763 - Treaty of Paris ends French-Indian War, surrendering…

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474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire together with his son Leo II 1775 - British Parliament declares Massachusetts colony is in rebellion 1904 - Japanese land troops at Chemulpo…

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1672 - Isaac Newton reads 1st optics paper before Royal Society in London 1807 - Battle of Eylau ends inconclusively between Napoleon's forces and Russian Empire - 1st battle Napoleon isn't victorious 1960 - Queen Elizabeth…

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1238 - The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir 1301 - Edward of Caernarion (later Edward II) becomes first (English) Prince of Wales 1842 - Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent…

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1508 - Maximilian I proclaimed Holy Roman Emperor, 1st Emperor in centuries not to be crowned by the Pope 1778 - France recognizes USA, signs Treaty of Alliance in Paris, 1st US…

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1576 - Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV of France) abjures Catholicism at Tours 1885 - News of the fall of Khartoum reaches London 1885 - King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo…

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211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies, leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons, Caracalla and Geta 960 - Coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of the Song, initiating three…

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1451 - Sultan Mehmed II, the Conqueror inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire 1509 - The Battle of Diu, naval battle at port of Diu, India between Portugal and the Ottoman Empire,…

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1653 - New Amsterdam becomes a city (later renamed New York) 1848 - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican–American War: US acquires Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona for $15 million…

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1587 - Queen Elizabeth I of England signs death warrant for her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots 1843 - Oldest continuous writer of insurance in America - The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York…

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1865 - Congress passes the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in America (passes 121-24) 1865 - General Robert E. Lee named Commander-in-Chief of Confederate Armies during US Civil War 1933 - Adolf Hitler promises parliamentary democracy 1943 -…

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1661 - Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is ritually executed after having been dead for two years 1815 - Burned US Library of Congress re-established with Thomas Jefferson's 6,500…

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661 - Rashidun Caliphate, then the largest empire in history, ends with the death of its leader, Ali. Succeeded by the Umayyad Caliphate. 1595 - William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet" is…

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1521 - Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms in Worms, Germany which lasts until May 25th. Produced the "Edict of Worms" which dennouced Martin Luther 1807 - London's Pall Mall is 1st street…

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1820 - Russian Antarctic Expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev discover the continent of Antarctica 1825 - US Congress approves Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for the forced relocation…

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1482 - "Pentateuch" the Jewish Bible is 1st printed as a book in Bologna, Italy. 1531 - Lisbon hit by Earthquake; about 30,000 die. 1564 - The Council of Trent issued its conclusions…

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1554 - Founding of the city of São Paulo in Brazil. 1565 - Battle at Talikota India: Deccan sultanate destroy Vijayanagar's army and the last Hindu kingdom of Southern India. 1840 - American…

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41 - Claudius succeeds his nephew Caligula as Roman Emperor after the later's assassination by officers of the Praetorian Guard. 1857 - University of Calcutta founded as the first full-fledged university in South Asia. 1899 -…

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971 - War elephant corps of the Southern Han defeated at Shao by crossbow fire from Song Dynasty troops; Southern Han state forced to submit to the Song Dynasty. 1st regular…

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1689 - Prince William of Orange (future King William III of Britain), summons Convention Parliament to discuss ruling jointly with his wife Mary (daughter of exiled King James II).1840 - Under…

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1525 - The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in Zürich, breaking…

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379 - Theodosius installed as co-emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire 1812 - Peninsular War: After a ten day siege, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, orders British soldiers of the Light and…

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532 - Nika uprising against Emperor Justinian I in Constantinople fails, 30,000 killed by troops loyal to the Emperor in the Hippodrome 1591 - King Naresuan of Siam kills Crown Prince Minchit Sra of…

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1773 - Captain James Cook becomes 1st to cross Antarctic Circle (66° 33' S) 1873 - A group of Modoc warriors defeats the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, a…

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27 BC - The title Augustus is bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian by the Roman Senate 1412 - The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy 1547 - Ivan IV the Terrible (17)…

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588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah's reign. The siege lasts until July 23, 586 BC. 1535 - Henry VIII declares himself head of the Church in…

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1526 - Charles V and Francis I sign the Treaty of Madrid, forcing Francis to give up claims to Burgundy, Italy and Flanders 1641 - United East Indian Company conquers city of Malacca, 7,000 killed…

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532 - Nika riots begin in Constantinople, revolt against Emperor Justinian I, prompted by chariot racing 1785 - John Walter publishes 1st issue of "The Times" of London 1938 - The Church of England…

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1528 - Gustav I of Sweden crowned King of Sweden, rules for 37 years and becomes known as the "father of the nation" 1554 - Bayinnaung crowned King of Burma, goes on…

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