1689: Prince William of Orange, the future King William III of Britain, summons the Convention Parliament to discuss ruling jointly with his wife, Mary, the daughter of the exiled King James II 1879: Battle of Rorke’s Drift: A British garrison of about 150 holds off 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses and several […]
1525: Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz’s mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union 1789: The first American novel, William Hill Brown’s “The Power of Sympathy” is published by Isaiah Thomas 1793: Louis XVI of […]
1265 First English Parliament is summoned without royal command, in this instance by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. It meets in Westminster Hall. 1841 China cedes Hong Kong Island to Britain during the First Opium War 1921 Republic of Turkey is declared from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire 1942 Nazi officials hold the […]
379: Theodosius installed as co-emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire by Emperor Gratian, charged with repelling the Goths 1812: After a ten-day siege, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, orders British soldiers of the Light and Third Divisions to storm Ciudad Rodrigo during the Peninsular War 1883: The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, […]
532: Nika uprising against Emperor Justinian I in Constantinople fails; 30,000 are killed by troops loyal to the emperor in the Hippodrome 1591: King Naresuan of Siam kills Crown Prince Minchit Sra of Burma in single combat, date is now observed as Royal Thai Armed Forces Day 1788: First elements of the First Fleet, carrying […]
1773: Captain James Cook becomes the first person to cross the Antarctic Circle (66°33′ S) 1873: Modoc warriors defeat the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, part of the Modoc War 1912: Captain Robert Scott’s expedition arrives at the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen 1920: First day of alcohol […]
27 BC: The title Augustus is bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus by the Roman Senate 1412: The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy 1547: Ivan the Terrible, aged 17, crowns himself the first Tsar of Russia 1605: First edition of “El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha” (Part One of […]
588 BC: Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem during Zedekiah’s reign. The siege lasts until July 23, 586 BC. 1535: King Henry VIII declares himself head of the Church of England 1559: Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey in London 1759: British Museum opens at Montagu House in London […]
1526: Charles V and Francis I sign the Treaty of Madrid, forcing Francis to renounce his claims to Burgundy, Italy, and Flanders 1641: Dutch East India Company conquers the city of Malacca, killing about 7,000 people 1724: Spanish King Philip V abdicates the throne in favor of his 17-year-old son Louis I; he returns to […]
532: Nika riots begin in Constantinople, a revolt against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I that leaves half the city burned and thousands dead. The riots were prompted by the failed execution of chariot racing supporters and only stopped after Empress Theodora refused to flee, forcing her husband to act decisively. 1888: The National Geographic Society is […]
