538 Witiges, King of the Ostrogoths, ends his siege of Rome, retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of victorious Byzantine General Belisarius 1455 First record of Johannes Gutenberg’s Bible, letter dated this day by Enea Silvio Piccolomini refers to the bible printed a year before 1642 Abel Tasman is the 1st European to sight New Zealand, viewing […]
843 Icon veneration officially re-instated in Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople 1502 Ismail I, founder of the Safavid dynasty, crowned Shah of Persia (rules till 1524) 1918 Moscow becomes capital of revolutionary Russia 1966 Military coup led by Indonesian General Suharto breaks out 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev replaces Konstantin Chernenko as Soviet leader 2011 9.0 magnitude earthquake strikes 130 km (80 miles) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami […]
241 BC First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands – The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end 1783 USS Alliance under Captain Barry fights and wins last naval battle of US Revolutionary War off Cape Canaveral 1861 West African political leader El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Segou, […]
141 BC Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne of the Han Dynasty in China and rules for 54 years 1522 Martin Luther begins preaching his “Invocavit Sermons” in the German city of Wittenberg, reminding citizens to trust God’s word rather than violence and thus helping bring to a close the revolutionary stage […]
1531 Henry VIII recognised as supreme head of Church in England by the Convocation of Canterbury 1817 The New York Stock Exchange is founded 1867 British North America Act is passed in the House of Commons, serves as Canada’s constitution for more than 100 years 1917 Russian “February Revolution” begins in earnest with protests celebrating International Woman’s Day and riots […]
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 the Pope 1876 Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for the telephone in the US 1912 Roald Amundsen announces his discovery of the South Pole (located 14 December 1911) 1936 Adolf Hitler breaks the […]
1479 Treaty of Alcaçovas: Portugal gives the Canary Islands to Castile in exchange for claims in West Africa 1836 Battle of the Alamo: After 13 days of fighting 1,500-3,000 Mexican soldiers overwhelm the Texan defenders, killing 182-257 Texans including William Travis, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett 1857 Dred Scott Decision: US Supreme Court rules Africans cannot be US citizens 1869 Dmitri […]
363 Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a campaign that brings about his own death 1046 Persian scholar Naser Khosrow begins the 7 year Middle Eastern journey which he will later describe in his book Safarnama 1496 English King Henry VII grants John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) a commission to […]
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 resistance 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) founded in Chicago 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt inaugurated as […]
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 the full rights of free citizens [O.S. Feb 19] 1887 Anne Sullivan begins teaching 6 year old blind-deaf Helen Keller 1917 1st major strike of the […]
