OnThisDay
On This Day…
939 - Athelstan, the first king to rule over all of England, died. 1932 - American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath—whose best-known…
On This Day…
1950 - China entered the Korean War on the side of North Korea against South Korea and the United Nations (UN), the…
On This Day…
1861 - The first transcontinental telegram was sent via the telegraph in the United States, effectively bringing to an end the Pony…
On This Day…
1797 - The first parachute jump of note is made by André-Jacques Garnerin from a hydrogen balloon 3,200 feet above Paris. 1879…
On This Day…
1812 - Napoleon began his disastrous retreat from Russia. 1781 - On this day in 1781, Britain's Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown,…
On This Day…
1775 - African-American poet Phillis Wheatley freed from slavery. 1867 - Alaska Purchase: the US takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia,…
On This Day…
1912 - Following the example of Montenegro, their smaller ally in the tumultuous Balkan region of Europe, Serbia and Greece declare war…
On This Day…
1793 - Nine months after the execution of her husband, the former King Louis XVI of France, Marie Antoinette follows him to…
On This Day…
1581 - Commissioned by Catherine De Medici, the 1st ballet "Ballet Comique de la Reine" is staged in Paris. 1878 - Edison…
On This Day…
1066 - Battle of Hastings: William the Conqueror and his Norman army defeat the English forces of Harold II who is killed…
On This Day…
1492 - Christopher Columbus' expedition makes landfall on a Caribbean island he names San Salvador (likely Watling Island, Bahamas). The explorer believes…
On This Day…
1899 - The South African (Boer) War began between Great Britain and the two Boer (Afrikaner) republics—the South African Republic (Transvaal) and…