1204: The Fourth Crusade occupies and plunders Constantinople 1811: First US colonists on the Pacific coast arrive at Cape Disappointment, Washington 1861: Fort Sumter in South Carolina is attacked by the Confederacy, beginning the American Civil War 1927: Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek begins a counter-revolution by violently suppressing Communist groups 1961: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin […]
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 American Revolutionary War after the Continental Congress proclaims the “Cessation of Arms” against His Britannic Majesty [1] 1814: Napoléon Bonaparte abdicates unconditionally and is exiled to the […]
1407: Lama Deshin Shekpa visits the Ming Dynasty capital at Nanjing and receives the title Great Treasure Prince of Dharma 1815: Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies experiences a cataclysmic eruption, one of the most powerful in history, killing around 71,000 people and causing a global volcanic winter 1858: Big Ben, a 13.76-tonne bell, […]
1483: Edward V, aged 12, succeeds his father Edward IV as King of England. He is never crowned and disappears, presumed murdered, after being incarcerated in the Tower of London with his younger brother Richard (the “Princes in the Tower”) 1731: British mariner Robert Jenkins’ ear is cut off by Spanish Guarde Costa in the […]
1767: Ayutthaya Kingdom in present-day Thailand falls to Burmese invaders 1820: The famous ancient Greek statue Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos 1886: William Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill in the British House of Commons 1898: Battle of Atbara River: Anglo-Egyptian forces defeat 15,000 Sudanese during the […]
30: Scholars estimate for the crucifixion of Jesus by Roman troops in Jerusalem [or April 3] 529: First draft of Corpus Juris Civilis or the Justinian Code (a fundamental work in jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I 1948: World Health Organization is formed by the United Nations 1954: US President Dwight D. […]
46 BC: Battle of Thapsus: Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) near Thapsus in modern-day Tunisia 1453: Turkish forces under Sultan Mehmed II begin the siege of the Byzantine Empire’s capital, Constantinople (now Istanbul), which falls on May 29 1652: Cape Colony, the first European settlement in South […]
1242: Battle on the Ice: Russian Prince of Novgorod Alexander Nevsky defeats the Teutonic Knights on the frozen Lake Peipus between Estonia and Russia 1722: Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen is the first European to discover Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, in the southeastern Pacific Ocean 1818: Battle of Maipú: Chile’s independence movement, led […]
1581: Francis Drake is knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard his galleon Golden Hind at Deptford, England 1655: Battle of Porto Farina: English fleet defeats Barbary corsairs in Tunis 1789: First US Congress begins regular sessions during George Washington’s presidency at Federal Hall, NYC (ends 1791) 1949: The North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington, […]
1367: Battle of Navarrete: Alliance of King Peter of Castile, Edward the Black Prince and John of Gaunt of England, Aquitaine, Majorca and Navarre defeats Count Henry of Castile near Nájera in La Rioja, Castile 1645: English Long Parliament passes the Self-Denying Ordinance, limiting regional armies, a significant step toward the New Model Army 1860: […]
