OnThisDay

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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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1498 - Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut, India becoming the first European to reach India by sea 1784 - The Netherlands yielded to Great Britain some of its holdings in India and Indonesia in a treaty signed…

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1643 - Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Harbor form the United Colonies of New England 1649 - England is declared a Commonwealth by an act of the Rump Parliament making England a republic…

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1291 - After 100 years of Crusader control, Acre is the last Crusader stronghold reconquered and destroyed by the Mamluks under Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil 1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed Emperor of France by the…

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1527 - Pánfilo de Narváez departs Spain to explore Florida with 600 men - by 1536 only 4 survive 1792 - 24 merchants form New York Stock Exchange at 70…

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1920 - Joan of Arc (Jeanne D'arc) canonized a saint 1943 - Operation Chastise: No. 617 Squadron RAF begins the famous Dambusters Raid, bombing the Möhne and Eder dams in…

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495 BCE - On the Aventine Hill in Rome, the temple of the Roman god Mercury was dedicated. 1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad exstirpanda, which…

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1607 - The first permanent British settlement in North America was founded at Jamestown, Virginia. 1643 - Four-year-old Louis XIV ascended the throne of France. 1787 - Delegates gather in…

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1787 - Arthur Phillip sets sails with 11 ships of criminals to Botany Bay, Australia 1830 - Republic of Ecuador is founded, with Juan Jose Flores as president 1846 -…

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1789 - William Wilberforce makes his first major speech on abolition in the UK House of Commons, reasoning the slave trade morally reprehensible and an issue of natural justice 1926…

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330 - Constantinople (Byzantium) becomes the capital of the Roman Empire 1189 - Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and 100,000 crusaders depart Regensburg for the Third Crusade 1751 -…

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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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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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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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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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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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