1775: British Parliament declares Massachusetts Colony in rebellion Benin mask carved of ivory thought to represent 16th century Edo queen IdiaThe Benin Pendant Mask 1897: Invasion of Benin City by British Expeditionary Force; the city is burned and looted, ending the Nigerian Kingdom of Benin formed in the 11th century 1904: Japanese torpedo boats launch […]
1587: Mary, Queen of Scots, is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle at age 44 after being convicted of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth I in the Babington Plot 1672: Isaac Newton reads his first optics paper before the Royal Society in London 1807: Battle of Eylau ends inconclusively between Napoleon’s forces and the Russian Empire, first battle […]
1301: Edward of Caernarfon (later Edward II) becomes the first English Prince of Wales 1842: Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia, defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien 1856: Colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the first piece of legislation, the Electoral Act of 1856, anywhere in the world providing […]
1508: Maximilian I proclaimed Holy Roman Emperor, first Emperor in centuries not crowned by the Pope 1778: Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance signed in Paris, between the United States and France, the first negotiated by the United States. The first established formal diplomatic and commercial relations and the second formed […]
1576: Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV of France) abjures Catholicism at Tours 1597: A group of early Japanese Christians, known as the 26 Martyrs, are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society 1885: King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo as a personal colonial […]
211: Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies in Eboracum (York) in England, leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons, Caracalla and Geta 960: Coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of the Song initiates three centuries of Song Dynasty dominance in southern China 1789: First US Electoral College chooses George Washington […]
1451: Sultan Mehmed II, the Conqueror inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire 1509: Battle of Diu: Portuguese Armada defeats a Mamluk Egyptian fleet in a naval battle at the port of Diu, India, establishing Portuguese trading control in the Indian Ocean 1870: Iowa ratifies the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing suffrage […]
1653: New Amsterdam becomes a city, later renamed New York City 1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican–American War. Mexico loses 55 percent of its territory to the US, including California, Nevada and Utah in exchange for $15 million 1901: Queen Victoria’s funeral takes place in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, England 1922: James […]
1587: Queen Elizabeth I of England signs the death warrant for her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots 1843: Oldest continuous writer of insurance in America opens, the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (MONY) 1884: First volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, is published 1908: King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, […]
1865: Congress passes, by a vote of 121-24, the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, abolishing slavery in the United States except as punishment for a crime 1943: German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to Soviet troops at Stalingrad 1950: US President Harry Truman publicly announces support for the development of a hydrogen bomb 1985: […]
