While the history of the alphabet of a particular language may not be of interest to many, it was quite significant to the Greeks. Lots of ancient Greek records contain stories about how they got their alphabet. It was the subject of myth and legend. What exactly did these legends claim about the origin of the alphabet, […]
1568: Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II agrees to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire in exchange for peace 1865: Columbia in South Carolina burns down during the American Civil War 1876: Sardines first canned by Julius Wolff in Eastport, Maine 1972: British Parliament votes to join the European Common Market 2017: Discovery of a new […]
1659: First known cheque written (£400), now on display at Westminster Abbey 1840: American Charles Wilkes discovers the Shackleton Ice Shelf in Antarctica 1923: Howard Carter opens the inner burial chamber of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s tomb and finds the sarcophagus 1959: Fidel Castro becomes the 16th Prime Minister of Cuba after overthrowing Fulgencio Batista 2005: […]
399: BC Philosopher Socrates is sentenced to death by the city of Athens for corrupting the minds of the youth of the city and for impiety 590: Khosrau II, the last great Sasanian king is crowned King of Persia 1763: Austria, Prussia and Saxony sign the Treaty of Hubertusburg, marking the end of the French and […]
1014: Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry II Holy Roman Emperor 1076: Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (for the 1st time) 1797: Battle of Cape St. Vincent: British fleet under Admiral Sir John Jervis defeats larger Spanish fleet under Admiral Don José de Córdoba y Ramos near Cape St. Vincent, Portugal. Captain […]
1258: Baghdad, then a city of 1 million, falls to the Mongols as the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed, tens of thousands slaughtered, ending the Islamic Golden Age 1601: Fleet of five British East India Company vessels departs on their 1st voyage from London, led by Sir James John Lancaster commanding the “Red Dragon”; journey takes […]
1700: The Great Northern War begins in Northern Europe between Denmark–Norway, Saxony and Russia and the Swedish Empire. 1912: The last Qing Emperor of China, Puyi (age 6) abdicates after losing the support of the Chinese people and thus the “mandate of heaven” 1947: French fashion designer Christian Dior presents his first influential collection, named […]
660 BC: Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu 1858: First vision of the Virgin Mary to 14-year-old Bernadette of Lourdes, France 1929: Vatican City, the world’s smallest country, is made an enclave of Rome 1975: Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for leadership of the British Conservative Party 1990: Nelson Mandela is […]
60: St Paul thought to have been shipwrecked at Malta 1720: Edmond Halley appointed as the second Astronomer Royal at the Greenwich Observatory 1763: Treaty of Paris ends French-Indian War, France surrenders Canada to Great Britain 1824: Simón Bolívar named dictator by the Congress of Peru 1906: British battleship HMS Dreadnought launches after only 100 […]
1775: British Parliament declares Massachusetts colony in rebellion 1897: Invasion of Benin City by British Expedition force, the city is burnt and looted, marks the end of the Nigerian Kingdom of Benin formed in the 11th century 1904: Japanese torpedo boats make a surprise attack on Russian ships Port Arthur naval base, Manchuria, beginning the […]
