History

On This Day…

1687 - Isaac Newton's great work Principia published by Royal Society in England, outlining his laws of motion and universal gravitation 1811 - Venezuelan Declaration of Independence: 7 provinces declare…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1776 - US Congress proclaims the Declaration of Independence and independence from Britain 1785 - James Hutton, geologist, publicly reads an abstract of his theory of uniformitarianism for the first…

Read More Here

On This Day…

324 - Battle of Adrianople: Roman Emperor Constantine I defeats his co-emperor Licinius, who flees to Byzantium 1187 - Battle of Horns of Hattin: Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria,…

Read More Here

On This Day…

626 - Incident at Xuanwu Gate: in fear of assassination, Li Shimin ambushes and kills his rival brothers Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng 1776 - Continental Congress resolves "these United…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1689 - Matsuo Basho, zen poet, leaves for 150 days journey on Honshu, Japan 1858 - The joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace's papers on evolution to…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1520 - Spanish conquistadors are expelled from Tenochtitlan following an Aztec revolt against their rule under Hernán Cortés during "La Noche Triste" (the Night of Sadness). Many soldiers drown in…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1613 - Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, England, burns down during a performance of "Henry VIII" 1900 - The Imperial Chinese Court issues what is essentially a declaration of war…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1389 - Ottomans defeat Serbian army in the bloody Battle of Kosovo, opening the way for the Ottoman conquest of Southeastern Europe 1519 - King Carlos I elected Holy Roman Catholic Emperor Charles…

Read More Here

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 1693 - 1st women's magazine "Ladies'…

Read More Here

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…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1678 - Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia is awarded a doctorate of philosophy, the 1st woman to receive a university doctoral degree or PhD 1876 - Battle of the Little Bighorn: US 7th Cavalry under…

Read More Here

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 1793 - 1st republican constitution in…

Read More Here

On This Day…

930 - World's oldest parliament, the Icelandic Parliament, the Alþingi (anglicised as Althing or Althingi), established 1868 - Christopher Latham Sholes patents the Sholes and Glidden typewriter, the first commercially successful of its kind …

Read More Here

On This Day…

1633 - Galileo Galilei forced to recant his Copernican views that the Earth orbits the Sun by the Pope (Vatican only admits it was wrong on Oct 31, 1992!) 1675 - Royal Greenwich Observatory established…

Read More Here

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)…

Read More Here

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 1567 - The Casket Letters—which…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1829 - Sir Robert Peel introduces the Metropolitan Police Act 1829 into Parliament to establish a unified police force for London 1862 - Slavery outlawed in US territories 1934 -The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)…

Read More Here

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 1429 -…

Read More Here

On This Day…

656 - Ali ibn Abu Talib elected the 4th Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate 1579 - English navigator Francis Drake lands on the coast of California at Drakes Bay, names it "New Albion" 1631 -Mumtaz…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1858 - Abraham Lincoln says "A house divided against itself cannot stand" accepting Illinois Republican Party's nomination for the Senate 1880 - Salvation Army forms in London 1903 - The Ford Motor Company was founded…

Read More Here

On This Day…

763 BC - Assyrians record a solar eclipse that will be used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history 1215 - King John signs Magna Carta at Runnymede, near Windsor, England 1775 - George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1381 - Richard II in England meets leaders of Peasants' Revolt on Blackheath. The Tower of London is stormed by rebels who enter without resistance 1645 - Battle of Naseby,…

Read More Here

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…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1381 - Peasants' Revolt: in England, rebels arrive at Blackheath 1701 - The Act of Settlement, the law that continues to regulate the succession to the throne of the United…

Read More Here

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…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1190 - Third Crusade: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa drowns while crossing the Saleph River (modern Turkey) leading an army to Jerusalem 1786 - A landslide dam on the…

Read More Here

On This Day…

68 - Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide, imploring his secretary Epaphroditos to slit his throat to evade a Senate-imposed death by flogging 721 - Odo of Aquitaine defeats the Moors…

Read More Here

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…

Read More Here

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…

Read More Here

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…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1849 - The absolute monarchy in Denmark was abolished and replaced by a new constitution that established a constitutional monarchy with a parliament, as well as freedom of the press,…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1760 - Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada taken from the Acadians 1783 - Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier launched an uncrewed hot-air balloon,…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1621 - Dutch West India Company (WIC) receives charter for The West Indies (The Americas, Caribbean and West Africa) 1864 - Considered one of the worst Northern defeats of the…

Read More Here

On This Day…

455 - King Gaiseric and the Vandals sack Rome - Rome looted for 14 days 1862 - Robert E. Lee takes command of Confederate armies of North Virginia during the…

Read More Here

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,…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1279 BC - Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great becomes Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt (19th Dynasty) 1578 - Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich, England, to Frobisher Bay, Canada. Eventually mines…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1431 - Hundred Years' War: 19 year old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal in Rouen, France 1539 - Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto's expedition of 10 ships and…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1453 - Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire falls to the Turks under Muhammad II; ends the Byzantine Empire 1592 - Battle of Sacheon: Korean navy led by Admiral Yi Sun…

Read More Here

On This Day…

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 other…

Read More Here

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…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1521 - The Edict of Worms banned the writings of Martin Luther—a German cleric whose efforts to change the church led to the Reformation—and declared him an outlaw and a heretic who was to…

Read More Here

On This Day…

1720 - The Ship "Le Grand St Antoine" reaches Marseille, bringing Europe's last major plague outbreak. Kills around 100,000 1787 - the Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia, where 55 state delegates, initially charged with amending the Articles…

Read More Here

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 1844 - Samuel Morse taps out "What…

Read More Here

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. Triggers the Thirty…

Read More Here

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 Ortelius in Antwerp with…

Read More Here

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 Association of the Red Cross (later the American Red…

Read More Here