OnThisDay

On This Day…

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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399 BC - Philosopher Socrates is sentenced to death by the city of Athens for corrupting the minds of the youth of the city and for impiety 590 - Khosrau II, the last great…

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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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1258 - Baghdad, then a city of 1 million, falls to the Mongols as the abbasid Caliphate is destroyed, tens of thousands slaughtered, ending the Islamic Golden Age 1601 - 1st British East India…

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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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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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1265 - First English Parliament summoned other than by royal command (in this instance by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester) mets in Westminster Hall. 1841 - China cedes Hong Kong to…

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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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1599 - Jacob van Neck's fleet leaves Bantam, Java in modern day Indonesia with 1 million pounds of pepper and cloves and a further half a ship full of nutmeg, mace…

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49 BC - Julius Caesar defies the Roman Senate and crosses the Rubicon, uttering "alea iacta est" (the die is cast), signaling the start of civil war which would lead to his appointment…

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1431 - Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government 1760 - Afghans defeat Marathas in battle of Barari Ghat 1839 - Daguerreotype photo…

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1656 - Oldest surviving commercial newspaper begins (Haarlem, Netherlands) 1790 - 1st US President George Washington delivers 1st state of the union address 1835 - US national debt is $0 for the first and only…

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1610 - Galileo Galilei discovers the first three moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa & Ganymede 1714 - Typewriter patented by Englishman Henry Mill (built years later) 1941 - Chinese Kuomintang forces under orders from Chiang…

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Today: Celebrated annually this day, Epiphany is a major feast that commemorates, for Western Christians, the coming of the Magi and, for Eastern Orthodox Christians, Jesus' birth, baptism by John, and first miracle. 1649 - The English Rump Parliament…

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