1513: Explorer Juan Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain as the first known European to reach it 1792: The Coinage Act is passed, establishing the United States Mint and authorizing the $10 Eagle, $5 Half-Eagle, $2.50 Quarter-Eagle gold coins, and the silver dollar, half dollar, quarter, dime, and half-dime 1801: Battle of Copenhagen: British […]
527: Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne 1748: The ruins of Pompeii are rediscovered by Spaniard Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre 1948: “Big Bang” theory proposed in scientific journal “Physical Review” by American cosmologists Ralph Alpher, Hans Bethe, and George Gamow 1974: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calls […]
1146: Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine are present and join the Crusade. 1492: Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon issue the Alhambra Decree expelling Jews from their kingdoms 1657: English […]
240 BC: First recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet 1856: The Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia sign the Treaty 1867: The United States buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 (109 million in 2018 dollars), roughly 2 cents an acre 1870: The 15th Amendment to the US Constitution […]
845: Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving 1516: Venice compels Jews to live in a specific area, establishing the first Jewish ghetto, in the city’s the Cannaregio district. 1549: The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded […]
364: Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor 1854: Great Britain and France declare war on Russia, expanding the Crimean War 1910: First seaplane takes off from water under its own power, piloted by Henri Fabre from the Étang de Berre lagoon in Martigues, France 1939: Spanish Civil War ends as Madrid […]
1027: Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor, founding the Salian dynasty 1812: Earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale destroys 90% of Caracas, Venezuela, and kills an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people 1871: Municipal elections bring revolutionaries to power in Paris who form the short lived Paris Commune government 1909: Russian […]
31: Christians celebrate the first Easter, according to calendar maker Dionysius Exiguus 1436: Florence Cathedral (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore), started in 1296, is consecrated by Pope Eugene IV. Designed by Filippo Brunelleschi with support from Cosimo de’ Medici, it features the largest dome in the world at the time. 1807: British Parliament abolishes the […]
1603: Scottish King James VI, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, becomes King James I of England in succession to Elizabeth I, uniting the English and Scottish crowns 1837: Canada grants its Black citizens the right to vote 1882: German scientist Robert Koch discovers and describes the tubercle bacillus, which causes tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), establishing […]
1490: First dated edition of Maimonides’ “Mishneh Torah” is published, a code of Jewish religious law 1775: Patrick Henry proclaims “Give me liberty or give me death” in a speech encouraging Virginia troops to join the American Revolutionary War 1919: 8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party re-establishes a five-member Politburo, which becomes the center […]
