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 Company voyage departs from London, lead by John Lancaster 1689: Parliament of England adopts the Bill of Rights which establishes the rights of parliament and places limits on […]
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 (age 6) abdicates after losing the support of the Chinese people and thus the “mandate of heaven” 1947: French fashion designer Christian Dior presents his first influential collection, named the “New Look” 1999: US President Bill […]
1858: First vision of the Virgin Mary to 14-year-old Bernadette of Lourdes, France 1929: Vatican City, the world’s smallest country, is made an enclave of Rome 1975: Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for leadership of the British Conservative 1990: Nelson Mandela released after 27 years imprisonment in South Africa 2011: Egyptian Revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the […]
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 Canada to Britain 1824: Simón Bolívar named dictator by the Congress of Peru 1879: Henry Morton Stanley departs for the Congo 1906: British battleship HMS Dreadnought launches after only 100 days, renders all […]
1775: British Parliament declares Massachusetts colony in rebellion 1897: Invasion of Benin City by British Expedition force, the city is burnt and looted, marks the end of Nigerian Kingdom of Benin formed in the 11th century 1904: Japanese torpedo boats make a surprise attack on Russian ships Port Arthur naval base, Manchuria, beginning the Russo-Japanese War. Japanese also land troops at […]
1587: Mary, Queen of Scots, is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle aged 44 after being convicted of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth I in the Babington Plot 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 II of the United Kingdom issued an Order-in-Council, stating […]
1301: Edward of Caernarfon (later Edward II) becomes the first English Prince of Wales 1842: Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien 1856: Colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the 1st piece of legislation (the Electoral Act of 1856) anywhere in the world providing for elections by way […]
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 treaty 1819: Stamford Raffles founds Singapore as a British trading port 1840: The Treaty of Waitangi is signed between 40 Māori Chiefs (later signed by 500) and representatives of the British crown […]
1576: Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV of France) abjures Catholicism at Tours 1597: A group of early Japanese Christians, known as the 26 Martyrs, are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society 1885: King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo as a personal colonial possession 1885 News of the fall […]
211: Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies in Eboracum (York) in England, 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 centuries of Song Dynasty dominance in southern China 1789: 1st US electoral college chooses George Washington as President and John Adams as Vice President 1859: One of the oldest known […]
