1587: Queen Elizabeth I of England signs death warrant for her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots 1843: Oldest continuous writer of insurance in America – The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (MONY) opens 1884: 1st volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, published 1908: King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Prince […]
1865: Congress passes, by vote of 121-24, the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution, abolishing slavery in the United States – except as punishment for a crime [1] [2] 1865: General Robert E. Lee named Commander-in-Chief of Confederate Armies during US Civil War 1943: German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to Soviet troops at Stalingrad […]
1661: Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is ritually executed after having been dead for two years 1815: Burned US Library of Congress re-established with Thomas Jefferson’s 6,500 volumes 1902: Britain and Japan sign a treaty after months of negotiating which commits each country to supporting an independent China and Korea, although […]
474: Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire together with his son Leo II (age 6 or 7) 661: Rashidun Caliphate, then the largest empire in history, ends with the death of its leader, Ali. Succeeded by the Umayyad Caliphate. 1595: William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet” is thought to have been first performed. […]
1521: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms in Worms, Germany which lasts until May 25. Produced the “Edict of Worms” which denounced Martin Luther. 1807: London’s Pall Mall becomes the first street lit by gaslight 1813: Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” is published by Thomas Egerton in the United Kingdom 1819: […]
1820: Russian Antarctic Expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev discover the continent of Antarctica 1825: US Congress approves Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for the forced relocation of the Eastern Indian tribes via the “Trail of Tears” 1924: Vladimir Lenin is placed in a Mausoleum in Red Square, Moscow […]
1482: “Pentateuch” the Jewish Bible is 1st printed as a book in Bologna, Italy 1531: Lisbon hit by Earthquake; about 30,000 die 1564: The Council of Trent issued its conclusions in the Tridentinum, establishing a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism 1788: Captain Arthur Phillip and British colonists hoist the Union Flag at Sydney Cove, […]
1554: City of São Paulo founded in Brazil 1565: Battle at Talikota, India: Deccan sultanate destroys Vijayanagar’s army and the last Hindu kingdom of Southern India 1840: American naval expedition under Charles Wilkes is first to identify Antarctica as a new continent 1949: First Israeli election won by David Ben-Gurion’s Mapai party 1971: Military coup […]
41: Claudius succeeds his nephew Caligula as Roman Emperor after the latter’s assassination by officers of the Praetorian Guard 1848: James Marshall finds gold in Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California 1857: University of Calcutta founded as the first full-fledged university in South Asia 1899: Rubber heel for boots or shoes patented by American Humphrey O’Sullivan […]
971: War elephant corps of the Southern Han defeated at Shao by crossbow fire from Song Dynasty troops forcing the Southern Han state to submit to the Song Dynasty. First regular war elephant corps in the Chinese army. 1368: In a coronation ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang, aged 40, ascends to the throne of China as the […]
