History

On This Day…

1775 - Second Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and issues paper currency for 1st time 1801 - First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the…

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1386 - Treaty of Windsor between Portugal and England (oldest diplomatic alliance in the world still in force) 1502 - Master navigator and admiral Christopher Columbus, long considered the “discoverer”…

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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…

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Malta: Government charters second Captain Morgan vessel as another 123 migrants are saved

The government has chartered a second Captain Morgan vessel after another 123 migrants were rescued in two separate operations last night. The migrants were rescued in two operations coordinated by…

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1429 - English siege of Orleans broken by Joan of Arc and the French army 1663 - The Theatre Royal, built by the dramatist Thomas Killigrew for his company of…

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1626 - Dutch colonist Peter Minuit organizes the purchase of Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 60 guilders worth of goods, believed to have been Canarsee Indians of the Lenape …

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1260 - Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire 1640 - King Charles I of England dissolved the Short Parliament, the first parliament to be…

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1471 - Battle of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, final battle between the Houses of Lancaster and York: Prince of Wales, Edward of Westminster killed and King Edward IV restored to his throne.…

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1494 - European explorer Christopher Columbus encountered the island of Jamaica, which he named Santiago. 1791 - Constitution of May 3 is proclaimed by the Great Sejm (Parliament) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, becoming the 1st modern…

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1611 - The King James Version of the Bible was first published 1945 - More than 1,000,000 German soldiers officially surrender to the Western Allies in Italy and Austria 1945 - World War II: Battle of Berlin ends as Soviet army…

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1707 - Acts of Union comes into force, uniting England and Scotland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain 1753 - Publication of Species Plantarum by Carolus Linnaeus, and the formal start date of…

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311 - Roman Emperor Galerius issues Edict of Toleration, ending persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire 711 - Islamic conquest of Iberia: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion…

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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 of Gate Pa…

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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 - British Captain James…

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1565 - 1st Spanish settlement in Philippines forms at Cebu City 1865 - Steamboat "SS Sultana" explodes in the Mississippi River, killing up to 1,800 of the 2,427 passengers in the greatest maritime disaster…

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1478 - Pazzi conspirators attack Lorenzo de'Medici and kill Giuliano de'Medici in Florence 1920 - Harlow Shapley and Heber D. Curtis hold "great debate" on the nature of nebulae, galaxies…

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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…

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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…

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215 BC - A temple, built on the Capitoline Hill, is dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene. 1014 - King Brian Boru of Ireland…

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1500 - Pedro Álvares Cabral is the first european to discover Brazil, landing near Monte Pascoal, claims it for Portugal. 1864 - The U.S. Congress passed the Coinage Act of…

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Malta: Unemployment in Malta rises amid COVID-19 crash

Jobless people registering for work increased by 353 last month as the first tangible impacts of COVID-19 started being felt on the economy. The number of people registering for work…

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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.…

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1862 - First pasteurization test completed by Frenchmen Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard. 1871 - Japan's first government-operated postal service opened between Tokyo and Ōsaka. 1902 - Marie and Pierre…

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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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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 Revere and William Dawes ride from…

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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 goal of…

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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 knights Isaac Newton at…

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1755 - Samuel Johnson's "A Dictionary of the English Language" published in London 1877 - 1st telephone installed: Boston-Somerville in Massachusetts 1912 - RMS Titanic sinks at 2:27 AM off Newfoundland as the band plays on, with the…

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1865 - Just after the effective end of the American Civil War, U.S. Pres. Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending a production at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., and died the next morning. 1903…

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1250 - The Seventh Crusade is defeated in Egypt, Louis IX of France captured 1598 - Edict of Nantes grants political rights to French Huguenots 1860 - 1st Pony Express…

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1204 - 4th Crusade occupies & plunders Constantinople. 1606 - The Union Flag, precursor to the Union Jack, was adopted as the national flag of Great Britain. 1811 - 1st…

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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…

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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…

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On This Day.

1483 - Edward V (aged 12) succeeds his father Edward IV as king of England. He is never crowned, and disappears presumed murdered, after incarceration in the Tower of London…

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1767 - Ayutthaya kingdom falls to Burmese invaders. 1886 - William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons. 1838 - The Great…

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30 - Scholars' estimate for Jesus' crucifixion by Roman troops in Jerusalem. 529 - First draft of Corpus Juris Civilis (fundamental work in jurisprudence) issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian…

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46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) in the battle of Thapsus. 1652 - Cape Colony, the 1st European settlement in…

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1242 - Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod defeats Teutonic Knights in the Battle of the Ice. 1614 - Powhatan Indian Pocahontas married Virginia planter and colonial official John Rolfe. 1722 - Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen discovers Easter Island. 1818 - In the Battle of Maipú,…

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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 ailing Vladimir Lenin.…

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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 - The Coinage Act…

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527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne. 1748 - Ruins of Pompeii rediscovered by Spaniard Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre. 1918 - the Royal Air Force (RAF) is formed with…

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1146 - Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade. 1492 - Queen Isabella I of Castile and…

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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 million in…

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1549 - The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded. 1807 - German astronomer Wilhelm Olbers discovered the minor planet Vesta, the brightest asteroid in…

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364 - Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor. 845 - Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in…

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47BC - The legendary Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator, aided by her Roman lover Julius Caesar, was reinstated as coruler of Egypt (with her brother Ptolemy XIV) this day, following a civil war…

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1027 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II Holy Roman Emperor, founder of the Salian dynasty. 1812 - Earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale destroys 90% of Caracas, Venezuela…

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31 - 1st Easter, according to calendar-maker Dionysius Exiguus. 1306 - Robert the Bruce, crowned Scottish king at Scone this day in 1306, freed Scotland from English rule, winning the decisive…

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1603 - Scottish King James VI son of Mary Queen of Scots, becomes King James I of England in succession to Elizabeth I, thus joining the English and Scottish crowns.…

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1490 - 1st dated edition of Maimonides "Mishneh Torah", a code of Jewish religious law is published. 1775 - Patrick Henry proclaims "Give me liberty or give me death" in…

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1622 - First American Indian (Powhatan) massacre of Europeans in Jamestown Virginia, 347 killed. 1765 - Stamp Act passed; 1st direct British tax on American colonists, organized by Prime Minister George Grenville. 1784 - The Emerald Buddha is moved…

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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 Stanley begins his famous…

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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 the Emperor.…

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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 Templar, is burned…

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432 - On this day in 461 A.D., Saint Patrick, Christian missionary, bishop and apostle of Ireland, dies at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland. 1521 - Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines. 1861 - Italy is unified into a…

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597 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king. 1527 - Battle of Khanua: Mughal Emperor Babur defeats Rajput forces led by Rana Sanga consolidating Mughal power. 1660 - English Long Parliament disbands. 1850 - American author Nathaniel…

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