161: Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, an unprecedented political arrangement in the Roman Empire 1530: English King Henry VIII’s divorce request is denied by the Pope 1876: Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for the telephone in the US 1912: Roald Amundsen announces his discovery of the South Pole (located 14 December 1911) 1936: Adolf Hitler breaks the […]
1479 Treaty of Alcaçovas: Portugal gives the Canary Islands to Castile in exchange for claims in West Africa 1836 Battle of the Alamo: After 13 days of fighting 1,500-3,000 Mexican soldiers overwhelm the Texan defenders, killing 182-257 Texans including William Travis, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett 1857 Dred Scott Decision: US Supreme Court rules Africans cannot be US citizens 1869: Dmitri […]
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 Khosrow begins the 7 year Middle Eastern journey which he will later describe in his book Safarnama 1496: English King Henry VII grants John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) a commission to […]
1238: Battle of the Sit River: Mongol forces of Batu Khan overcome Russians under Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal near Yaroslavl in Russia, ending Russian resistance 1801: Thomas Jefferson is the first US President to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C. 1861: Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th US President 1902: American Automobile Association (AAA) founded in Chicago 1933: Franklin D. Roosevelt inaugurated as 32nd US […]
1575: Indian Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Bengali army at the Battle of Tukaroi 1857: Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China 1861: Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs and granting them the full rights of free citizens [O.S. Feb 19] 1887: Anne Sullivan begins teaching 6 year old blind-deaf Helen Keller 1917: 1st major strike of the […]
1791: Long-distance communication speeds up with the unveiling of a semaphore machine in Paris 1796: Napoléon Bonaparte is appointed Commander-in-Chief of the French Army in Italy 1807: US Congress bans the slave trade within the US, effective January 1, 1808 1888: The Convention of Constantinople signed, guaranteeing free maritime passage through the Suez Canal during war and peace 1946: Ho Chi […]
1642: Georgeana (York) in Maine becomes the 1st incorporated American city 1780: Pennsylvania becomes 1st US state to abolish slavery (for newborns only) 1847: Michigan becomes 1st English-speaking jurisdiction to abolish the death penalty (except for treason against the state) 1869: US Postage stamps showing scenes issued for 1st time. These pictorials showed a post horse and rider, a […]
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 of Helsingborg, 14,000 Danish invaders under Jørgen Rantzau are decisively defeated by an equally sized Swedish force under Magnus Stenbock 1854: Republican Party formally organized in Ripon, Wisconsin 1915: WWI: After […]
1693: 1st women’s magazine “Ladies’ Mercury” published in London, England 1900: In London, the Trades Union Congress and the Independent Labour Party (formed in 1893) meet, results in a Labour Representative Committee and eventually the modern Labour Party in 1906 1940: Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14 (radiocarbon dating) at the University of California Radiation Laboratory in […]
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 issues first £1 note 1815: Napoleon Bonaparte and his supporters leave Elba to start a 100 day re-conquest of France 1885: Berlin Conference gives Congo to Belgium and Nigeria to Great Britain 1935: RADAR (Radio […]
