642: Arab forces under Amr ibn al-‘As conquer Alexandria 1683: Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is the first to report the existence of bacteria 1787: The US Constitution is signed by delegates at the Philadelphia Convention 1862: Battle of Antietam [Battle of Sharpsburg], bloodiest day in the American Civil War: 22,000 dead, wounded or missing in first battle on Union soil […]
1620: The Mayflower departs Plymouth, England, with 102 Pilgrims and about 30 crew for the New World [O.S. Sep 6] 1795: British capture Capetown, South Africa, from the Dutch 1810: Mexico issues Grito de Dolores, calling for the end of Spanish rule (Mexican Independence Day) 1848: Slavery abolished in all French territories 1963: Federation of Malaysia formed by Malaya, Singapore, British North […]
1616: First non-aristocratic, free public school in Europe is opened in Frascati, Italy 1821: Act of Independence of Central America: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras & Nicaragua declare their independence from the Spanish Empire 1835: HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin on board reaches the Galapagos Islands 1916: First use of tanks in warfare, “Little Willies” at Battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of […]
1752: Britain and the British Empire (including the American colonies) adopt the Gregorian calendar (no Sept 3 – Sept 13) 1936: 1st prefrontal lobotomy in America performed by Walter Freeman and James W. Watts at George Washington University Hospital in Washington D.C. 1939: World’s 1st practical helicopter, the VS-300 designed by Igor Sikorsky takes (tethered) flight in Stratford, Connecticut 1949: India’s Constituent Assembly […]
509 BC: The temple of Jupiter on Rome’s Capitoline Hill is dedicated on the ides of September 335: Church of Holy Sepulchre consecrated in Jerusalem 1224: Francis of Assisi is afflicted with stigmata after a vision praying on Mount Verna 1501: Michelangelo begins work on his Statue of David, a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture 1782: The Grand Assault on Gibraltar by the allied French and […]
1758: French astronomer Charles Messier mistakenly identifies the Crab Nebula, and begins his Messier Catalogue 1909: World’s first patent for synthetic rubber granted to German chemist Fritz Hofmann 1933: Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives idea of a nuclear chain reaction 1940: Four teens, following their dog down a hole near Lascaux, France and […]
1297: Battle at Stirling Bridge, Scottish rebel William Wallace defeats the English 1609: Expulsion order announced against the Moriscos of Valencia; beginning of the expulsion of all Spain’s Moriscos 1697: Battle of Zenta: forces of Prince Eugen of Savoye defeat the Turks, ending Ottoman control of large parts of Central Europe 1708: Great Northern War: Charles XII of Sweden stops his march to […]
1776: George Washington asks for a spy volunteer, Nathan Hale volunteers 1813: American Naval Commander Oliver Hazard Perry defeats the British in Battle of Lake Erie 1846: Elias Howe takes out a US patent for a lockstitch sewing machine 1924: Leopold and Loeb found guilty of the murder of Robert Franks in Chicago in the “the crime of the century” 1977: Hamida Djandoubi, […]
1000: Battle of Svolder, Baltic Sea: King Olaf on board the Long Serpent defeated in one of the greatest naval battles of the Viking Age. He leaps to his death overboard. 1776: Congress officially renames the country as the United States of America (from the United Colonies) 1817: Alexander Twilight, probably first African American to graduate from a […]
1380: Battle on Kulikovo: Moscow’s great monarch Dimitri defeats the Mongols beginning the decline of the Tatars 1504: Michelangelo’s Statue of David is unveiled in Florence 1522: Spanish navigator Juan de Elcano returns to Seville after a 3 year voyage, completing 1st circumnavigation of the globe (expedition began under Ferdinand Magellan) 1565: 1st permanent European settlement in the US founded at St. […]
