1279 BC: Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great becomes Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt (19th Dynasty) 1578: Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich, England, to Frobisher Bay, Canada. Eventually mines fools gold, famously used to pave the streets of London. 1902: Boer War Ends; Treaty of Unity signed, Britain annexes Transvaal 1910: Union of South […]
1453: Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire falls to the Ottoman Turks under Mehmed the Conqueror, ending the Byzantine Empire after 1100 years 1592: Korean navy led by Admiral Yi Sun Shin repels a Japanese fleet in the Battle of Sacheon, the first use of a Korean Turtle ship 1660: On his 30th birthday […]
585 BC: Solar eclipse, as predicted by Greek philosopher Thales, while Lydians at war with the Medes leads to a truce. One of the cardinal dates from which other dates calculated. 1431: Joan of Arc is accused of relapsing into heresy by donning male clothing again, providing justification for her execution 1588: King Philip II […]
1679: Habeas Corpus Act passes in England, strengthening a person’s right to challenge unlawful arrest and imprisonment 1703: Saint Petersburg (Leningrad) founded by Russian Tsar Peter the Great 1873: Heinrich Schliemann discovers “Priam’s Treasure” a cache of gold and other objects in Hisarlik (Troy) in Anatolia 1905: Japanese fleet destroys the Russian East Sea fleet […]
642: Arab forces under Amr ibn al-‘As conquer Alexandria 1683: Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is the first to report the existence of bacteria 1787: The US Constitution is signed by delegates at the Philadelphia Convention 1862: Battle of Antietam [Battle of Sharpsburg], bloodiest day in the American Civil War: 22,000 dead, wounded or missing […]
1720: The Ship “Le Grand St Antoine” reaches Marseille, bringing Europe’s last major plague outbreak. Kills around 100,000. 1810: In the May Revolution, citizens of Buenos Aires expel the Spanish Viceroy Cisneros during Semana de Mayo 1914: British House of Commons passes the Irish Home Rule Bill 1961: JFK announces US goal of putting a […]
1595: Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library 1738: John Wesley is converted, launching the Methodist movement; celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day 1844: Samuel Morse taps out “What hath God wrought” in the world’s first telegraph message 1883: Brooklyn Bridge opened by President Chester A. Arthur […]
1618: Second Defenestration of Prague: Two Catholic Lords Regent and their secretary are thrown out of a window and amazingly are not seriously injured by the 70 foot (21m) fall. Triggers the Thirty Years’ War. 1785: Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals 1813: South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion […]
334 BC: The Macedonian army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus 1570: First atlas ‘Theatrum Orbis Terrarum’ (Theatre of the World), published by Abraham Ortelius in Antwerp with 70 maps 1843: First wagon train departs Independence, Missouri for Oregon with 700-1,000 migrants 1939: Germany’s Adolf Hitler […]
1792: Mount Unzen on Japan’s Shimabara Peninsula, erupts creating a tsunami, killing about 15,000; Japan’s deadliest volcanic eruption 1832: First US Democratic National Convention, is held in Baltimore 1871: French Army attacks Paris beginning the Semaine Sanglante (Bloody Week), a weeklong battle that kills 10,000-15,000 and ends the Paris Commune 1927: Aviator Charles Lindbergh, in […]
