1542: Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sets sail from the Mexican port of Navidad to explore the west coast of North America on behalf of the Spanish Empire 1743: War of the Austrian Succession: Battle of Dettingen: in Bavaria, King George II of Britain personally leads troops into battle. The last time a British monarch commanded troops in the field. 1929: 1st color TV […]
363: Roman Emperor Julian is killed during retreat from the Sassanid Empire. General Jovian is proclaimed Emperor by troops on the battlefield. 1794: Battle of Fleurus: major victory by forces of the First French Republic under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan over the Coalition Army (Great Britain, Hanover, Dutch Republic, and Habsburgs) first use of reconnaissance balloon 1857: The first […]
1678: Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia is awarded a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Padua, 1st woman to receive a university doctoral degree or PhD 1876: Battle of the Little Bighorn: US 7th Cavalry under Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull in what has become famously known as “Custer’s […]
1497: John Cabot claims Eastern Canada for England (believes he has found Asia in Nova Scotia) 1509: Henry VIII is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey, London 1793: 1st republican constitution in France adopted 1812: Napoleon Bonaparte’s Grand Armée numbering half a million begin their invasion of Russia by crossing the Nieman River 1853: US President Franklin Pierce signs the Gadsden Purchase, buying 29,670 […]
930: World’s oldest parliament, the Icelandic Parliament, the Alþingi (anglicised as Althing or Althingi), established 1868: Christopher Latham Sholes patents the Sholes and Glidden typewriter, the first commercially successful of its kind 1960: 1st contraceptive pill is made available for purchase in the U.S. 1972: Hurricane Agnes becomes America’s costliest natural disaster, affecting 15 states, with 119 deaths and $3 billion in […]
1633: Galileo Galilei forced to recant his Copernican views that the Earth orbits the Sun by the Pope (Vatican only admits it was wrong on Oct 31, 1992!) 1675: Royal Greenwich Observatory established in England by Charles II 1772: Somerset v Stewart court case finds slavery unsupported by English common law, encouraging the abolitionist movement 1848: Beginning of the June Days […]
1788: US Constitution comes into effect when New Hampshire is the 9th state to ratify it 1854: First Victoria Cross won during bombardment of Bomarsund in the Aland Islands (Crimean War) 1948: Lord Mountbatten resigns as Governor General of India (formerly the last Viceroy) 1990: 7.7 Manjil-Rudbar Earthquake with hundreds of aftershocks hits Iran; killing about 50,000 1993: English mathematician Andrew Wiles […]
451: Battle of the Catalaunian Plains: Roman and Visigoths forces defeat Attila the Hun in north east France, alting Hun invasion of Roman Gaul (exact date disputed) 1214: The University of Oxford receives its charter 1789: French Revolution: The Third Estate of the French Estates-General swears the Tennis Court Oath at the Palace of Versailles, swearing not to disband until a new […]
1306: The Earl of Pembroke’s army defeats Robert the Bruce’s Scottish army at the Battle of Methven 1829: Robert Peel introduces the Metropolitan Police Act 1829 into Parliament to establish a unified police force for London, world’s 1st modern police force 1862: Slavery outlawed in US territories 1865: Union General Gordon Granger declares slaves are free in Texas, now the date the end of slavery […]
618 Coronation of the Chinese governor Li Yuan as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the new Emperor of China, initiating three centuries of the Tang Dynasty’s rule over China 1812 War of 1812 begins as US declares war against Britain 1815 Battle of Waterloo; Napoleon and France defeated by British forces under Wellington and Prussian troops under Blucher 1928 American aviator Amelia Earhart becomes […]
