1620: Mayflower Pilgrims come ashore at in Plymouth Bay, traditionally thought to be at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts [OS=Dec 11] 1898: Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium 1968: Apollo 8: 1st manned Moon voyage launched with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders 1988: Lockerbie disaster: A terrorist bomb destroys Pan Am Flight 103 mid-air, over Scotland; kills all 259 passengers and […]
1522: Suleiman the Magnificent accepts surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually settle in Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta. 1803: French flag lowered in New Orleans to mark the formal transfer of the Louisiana Purchase from France to USA for $27M 1812: “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” or “Children’s and Household […]
1776: Thomas Paine publishes his 1st “American Crisis” essay beginning “These are the times that try men’s souls” (date disputed) 1783: William Pitt the Younger becomes the youngest ever British Prime Minister at age 24 1932: British Broadcasting Corp begins transmitting overseas 1950: Chinese invasion of Tibet forces the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to flee 1958: 1st radio broadcast from space, US […]
218 BC: Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia – Hannibal’s Carthaginian army heavily defeat Roman forces on Italian soil 1271: Kublai Khan renames his empire “Yuan” (元 yuán), marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of China 1603: First fleet of the Dutch East India Company under Admiral Steven van der Haghen departs for the East-Indies 1642: Abel Tasman’s […]
1398: Tamerlane captures and sacks Delhi, defeating Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud’s armies by setting camels loaded with hay alight and charging them at the Sultan’s armored elephants 1526: Pope Clemens VII publishes decree Cum ad zero – forms Inquisition 1788: Russian army of Grigory Potemkin occupies Ocharov 1903: The Wright brothers make the 1st sustained motorized aircraft flight at 10:35 AM, piloted […]
755: An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion during Chinese Tang Dynasty 1598: Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point – in the final battle of the war Korean navy decisively defeats the Japanese 1653: Parliamentarian General Oliver Cromwell appointed as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland 1773: Boston tea party incident – […]
533: Byzantine General Belisarius defeats the Vandals, under King Gelimer, at the Battle of Ticameron 1256: Hulagu Khan captures and destroys Hashshashin stronghold at Alamut, in present-day Iran, part of the Mongol offensive on Islamic southwest Asia 1488: Bartolomeu Dias returns to Portugal after becoming 1st known European to sail round the Cape of Good Hope 1612: German Astronomer Simon […]
644: Uthman ibn Affan, companion of Muhammad, appointed 3rd Caliph of Islam 1287: During St. Lucia’s Flood in Northwest Netherlands the Zuiderzee seawall collapses with loss of over 50,000 lives. Fifth largest recorded flood in history 1542: Princess Mary Stuart succeeds her father James V and becomes Queen Mary I of Scotland at 6 days old 1774: First incident of American […]
1577 Francis Drake sets sail from England on a circumnavigation of the world 1636 The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. Recognized today as the founding of the United States National Guard. 1642 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sights the South Island of present day New Zealand; initially he calls it Staten […]
627: Battle at Nineveh: Byzantine Emperor Heraclius beats Sassanid forces during Byzantine-Sassanid War 1901: Guglielmo Marconi sends the first transatlantic radio signal, from Poldhu in Cornwall to Newfoundland, Canada 1925: Last Qajar Shah of Iran deposed; Rezā Shāh Pahlavi takes over 1946: UN accepts 6 Manhattan blocks as a gift from John D. Rockefeller Jr 2000: US Supreme Court releases its decision […]
