1523: Gustav Vasa is elected King of Sweden, marking the end of the Kalmar Union 1716: French transport the first African slaves to Louisiana 1916: The death of Yuan Shikai, ruler of much of China since 1912, causes central government to virtually collapse in the face of pressure from warlords, and from political reformers including […]
1873: Sultan Bargash bin Said under British pressure closes the infamous slave market of Zanzibar in modern day Tanzania 1947: US Secretary of State George Marshall outlines the “Marshall Plan” to rebuild Western Europe 1963: State of siege proclaimed in Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini arrested 1967: Six-Day War begins between Israel and the neighboring Arab states […]
1760: The Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive in Nova Scotia, Canada, to claim land taken from the Acadians 1940: British complete the “Miracle of Dunkirk” by evacuating 338,226 allied troops from France via a flotilla of over 800 vessels including Royal Navy destroyers, merchant marine boats, fishing boats, pleasure craft and even lifeboats 1989: […]
1621: Dutch West India Company receives charter for the West Indies (the Americas, Caribbean and West Africa) 1929: Chile and Peru sign the Treaty of Lima, finally resolving their border dispute from the War of the Pacific (1879–83). Chile keeps Arica and Peru regains Tacna. 1943: A mob of 60 from the Los Angeles Naval […]
455: King Gaiseric and the Vandals sack Rome, looting continues for 14 days 1862: Robert E. Lee takes command of Confederate armies of North Virginia during the American Civil War 1896: Italian engineer and inventor Guglielmo Marconi applies for the first ever patent for a system of wireless telegraphy in the United Kingdom 1953: Coronation […]
4000 BC: Approximate domestication of the horse in the Eurasian steppes near Dereivka, central Ukraine (hypothesis only) 1215: Peking [Beijing], then a city of over one million, under the control of Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured and looted for a month by the Mongols under Genghis Khan 1543: Flemish physician Andreas Vesalius […]
1279 BC: Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great becomes Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt’s 19th Dynasty 1578: Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich, England, to Frobisher Bay, Canada. Eventually mines fools gold, famously used to pave the streets of London. 1902: Treaty of Vereeniging is signed, ending the Second Boer War and making Transvaal and […]
1431: Hundred Years’ War: 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal in Rouen, France 1539: Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto’s expedition of 10 ships and 700 men lands in Florida 1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo between the United States and Mexico comes into force, giving California, Nevada, Utah, and […]
1453: Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, falls to the Ottoman Turks under Mehmed the Conqueror, ending the Byzantine Empire after 1,100 years 1592: The Korean navy, led by Admiral Yi Sun-sin, repels a Japanese fleet in the Battle of Sacheon, the first use of a Korean Turtle Ship 1660: On his 30th birthday, […]
585 BC: Solar eclipse, as predicted by Greek philosopher Thales, while Lydians at war with the Medes leads to a truce. One of the cardinal dates from which other dates calculated. 1431: Joan of Arc is accused of relapsing into heresy by donning male clothing again, providing justification for her execution 1588: King Philip II […]
