161: Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, an unprecedented political arrangement in the Roman Empire 1530: English King Henry VIII’s divorce request is denied by Pope Clement VII 1876: Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for the telephone in the US 1912: Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen […]
1479: Treaty of Alcáçovas: Portugal cedes the Canary Islands to Castile in exchange for claims in West Africa 1836: Battle of the Alamo: After 13 days of fighting, 1,500 to 3,000 Mexican soldiers overwhelm the Texan defenders, killing 182 to 257 Texans, including William Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett 1857: Dred Scott Decision: US […]
363: Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sassanid Empire in a campaign that leads to his death 1046: Persian scholar Naser Khosrow begins a seven-year Middle Eastern journey, which he later describes in his book “Safarnama” 1496: English King Henry VII grants John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) a […]
1238: Battle of the Sit River: Mongol forces of Batu Khan overcome Russians under Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal near Yaroslavl in Russia, ending Russian resistanc 1801: Thomas Jefferson is the first US President to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C. 1861: Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th US President 1902: American Automobile Association (AAA) is founded […]
1575: Indian Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Bengali army at the Battle of Tukaroi 1857: Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China 1861: Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs and granting them full rights as free citizens [OS: Feb 19] 1887: Anne Sullivan begins teaching 6-year-old blind-deaf […]
1791: Long-distance communication speeds up with the unveiling of a semaphore machine in Paris 1796: Napoléon Bonaparte is appointed Commander-in-Chief of the French Army in Italy 1807: US Congress bans the slave trade within the US, effective January 1, 1808 1888: The Convention of Constantinople is signed, guaranteeing free maritime passage through the Suez Canal […]
1565: Portuguese soldier Estácio de Sá founds the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1642: Georgeana (York) in Maine becomes the first incorporated American city 1780: Pennsylvania becomes first US state to abolish slavery (for newborns only) 1847: Michigan becomes the first English-speaking jurisdiction to abolish the death penalty (except for treason against the state) […]
202 BC: Coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place, initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty’s rule over China 1710: In the Battle of Helsingborg, 14,000 Danish invaders under Jørgen Rantzau are decisively defeated by an equally sized Swedish force under Magnus Stenbock 1915: French forces attempt to drive the […]
1693: First women’s magazine “The Ladies’ Mercury” is published in London 1900: The Trades Union Congress and the Independent Labour Party (formed in 1893) meet in London, resulting in a Labour Representative Committee and eventually the modern UK Labour Party in 1906 1933: Nazi Germany’s parliament building, the Reichstag, is destroyed by fire, possibly set […]
1616: The Roman Inquisition delivers injunction to Galileo demanding he abandon his belief in heliocentrism, which states the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun 1797: Bank of England issues its first £1 note 1815: Napoléon Bonaparte and his supporters leave Elba to start a 100-day reconquest of France 1885: Berlin Conference gives Congo to […]
