1189: Third Crusade: the Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan 1609: English explorer Henry Hudson, discovers and explores Delaware Bay 1830: 1st American built locomotive, “Tom Thumb” races a horse-drawn car from Stockton and Stokes stagecoach company from Baltimore to Ellicott Mills. Let history record that due to mechanical problems the horse won! 1845: Scientific American magazine publishes […]
479 BC: Greco-Persian Wars: Battle of Mycale won by Greek forces over Persian naval troops on Ionian coast, double victory with that at Plataea ends Persian invasion 479 BC: Greco-Persian Wars: Battle of Plataea, Persian forces led by Mardonius routed by Greek army under Pausanias; together with Greek success at Battle of Mycale halts Persian invasion of […]
Vikings from Greenland were living in North America’s Newfoundland 1,000 years ago according to evidence from a recent study.
1346: Battle of Crécy, south of Calais in northern France; Edward III’s English longbows defeat Philip VI’s army, cannons used for first time in battle 1682: English astronomer Edmond Halley first observes the comet named after him 1873: First free kindergarten in the U.S. started by Susan Blow in Carondelet, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri 1924: The Catastrophe of Smyrna: known as the […]
The Trojan War is one of the most famous events in Greek mythology. It was a mighty, ten-year war between the Greeks and the Trojans. But what many people do not know is that Troy itself is actually Greek – at least according to what the mythology tells us.
1609: Galileo demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers, including to the Doge (ruler) of Venice, Leonardo Donato 1718: Hundreds of French colonists arrive in Louisiana; New Orleans founded 1768: Captain James Cook departs from Plymouth, England, on his first voyage on board the Endeavour, bound for the Pacific Ocean 1894: Japanese scientist Shibasaburo Kitasato discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague […]
79: Believed until 2018 to be the date of the massive eruption of Mt. Vesuvius which buried the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae, killing untold thousands. Latest evidence suggests the eruption occurred after 17 October. 410: Rome overrun by Visigoths under Alaric I for the first time in nearly 800 years, seen as the fall of the […]
1305: Scottish patriot William Wallace is executed for high treason by Edward I of England at Smithfield, London 1542: Rabbi Joseph Caro completes his commentary of Tur Code 1850: 1st US National Women’s Rights Convention convenes in Worcester, Massachusetts 1942: Battle of Stalingrad: 600 Luftwaffe planes bomb Stalingrad (40,000 die) 1943: 50th day of Battle of Kursk, USSR: Largest tank battle in history ends […]
1485: Battle of Bosworth Field: Henry Tudor’s forces defeat English King Richard III during last battle in the Wars of the Roses. Richard is killed, the last English monarch to die in battle. 1639: Madras (now Chennai), India, founded by the British East India Company on sliver of land bought from local Nayak rulers 1642: English Civil War begins between […]
1461: Empire of Trebizond surrenders to forces of Sultan Mehmet II – last Byzantine Empire remnant to fall. Emperor David exiled and later murdered. 1620: Mayflower sets sail from Southampton, England, with 102 Pilgrims 1900: The Boxer Rebellion: In China, the Empress, her family and court retainers flee while foreign troops move through Peking in an attempt to quell […]
