1492: Christopher Columbus sights Cuba and claims it for Spain under the name “Juana” 1538: The first university in the Americas, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is established in Santo Domingo 1746: The Peruvian cities of Lima and Callao are demolished by an earthquake, killing 18,000 1831: Michael Faraday demonstrates his dynamo invention, an […]
312: Roman Emperor Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross 1795: Pinckney’s Treaty [Treaty of San Lorenzo] is signed by Spain and the US, establishing the southern boundary of the US and giving Americans the right to navigate the Mississippi River 1962: Black Saturday during the Cuban Missile […]
1850: Robert McClure sights the fabled Northwest Passage for the first time, from Banks Island towards Melville Island 1861: The Pony Express (Missouri to California) ends after 19 months 1863: International conference begins in Geneva aimed at improving medical conditions on battlefields, leads to the formation of the Red Cross 1977: Last natural case of […]
1415: Battle of Agincourt: Henry V’s forces defeat a larger French army as the longbow overcomes the armored knight at Azincourt, France 1854: Infamous “Charge of the Light Brigade” during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War results in over 100 deaths 1962: US Ambassador to the UN Adlai Stevenson demands USSR UN representative […]
1260: Qutuz, Mamluk Sultan of Egypt (1259-60), is assassinated by Baibars, a fellow Mamluk leader, who seizes power for himself 1648: Treaty of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years’ War in the Holy Roman Empire; Switzerland’s independence is recognized 1929: On “Black Thursday,” the Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 12.8%, marking the start of the stock […]
42 BC: Roman Republican civil wars: Second Battle of Philippi – Brutus’s army is decisively defeated by Mark Antony and Octavian. Brutus commits suicide. 1911: First aerial reconnaissance mission is flown by an Italian pilot over Turkish lines during the Italo-Turkish War 1942: During WWII, Britain launches major offensive at El Alamein, Egypt 1977: Paleontologist […]
1633: Battle of Liaoluo Bay: Dutch East India Company is defeated by Chinese Ming naval forces in the southern Fujian Sea 1721: Tsar Peter the Great titles himself “Emperor of All Russia” 1879: Thomas Edison perfects the carbonized cotton filament light bulb 1884: International Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C. adopts Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) worldwide […]
1805: Battle of Trafalgar: British Admiral Horatio Nelson defeats the combined French and Spanish fleet. Nelson is shot and killed during the battle. 1854: Florence Nightingale, with a staff of 38 nurses, is sent to the Crimean War 1944: US troops capture Aachen, the first large German city to fall in World War II 1948: UN […]
1097: The first Crusaders arrive in Antioch, Ancient Syria, during the First Crusade 1603: Chinese uprising in the Philippines fails after 23,000 people are killed 1803: US Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase 1917: US suffragette Alice Paul begins a seven-month jail sentence for peacefully picketing in support of the Women’s Suffrage (right to vote) Amendment […]
202 BC: Battle of Zama: Hannibal Barca and the Carthaginian army are defeated by Roman legions under Scipio Africanus, ending the Second Punic War 1781: British forces under General Charles Cornwallis sign terms of surrender to George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown at 2 p.m., effectively ending the American Revolutionary War 1926: Russian […]
