1791: Constitution of May 3 is proclaimed by the Great Sejm (Parliament) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the first modern constitution in Europe 1808: Day depicted by Spanish painter Francisco Goya in his “The Third of May,” which he paints in 1814 1926: Britain’s Trade Union Congress calls for the country’s first-ever general strike, begins at […]
1945: Battle of Berlin ends as the Soviet army storms the capital, forcing German commander of the city, General Helmuth Weidling, to surrender 1945: More than 1,000,000 German soldiers officially surrender to the Western Allies in Italy and Austria 1949: Arthur Miller wins a Pulitzer Prize for his play “Death of a Salesman” 1982: Argentine […]
1707: Acts of Union come into force, uniting England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain 1753: Publication of “Species Plantarum” by Carl Linnaeus, the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature 1840: “Penny Black,” the world’s first adhesive postage stamp is issued by the United […]
311: Roman Emperor Galerius issues the Edict of Toleration, ending the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire 711: Islamic conquest of Iberia: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) 1562: Jean Ribault and colonists arrive in Florida, the first French colonists in […]
1864: Battle of Gate Pā (Pukehinahina): 1,700 British troops suffer their worst defeat of the New Zealand Wars at the hands of 230 entrenched Māori warriors in Tauranga [1] 1872: Jesse James’ gang robs a bank of $1,500 in Columbia, Kentucky, killing bank employee Robert A.C. Martin during the crime 1916: Irish republicans abandon the […]
1565: First Spanish settlement in the Philippines is founded in Cebu City 1865: Steamboat “SS Sultana” explodes in the Mississippi River, killing up to 1,800 of the 2,427 passengers in the greatest maritime disaster in United States history; most are paroled Union POWs on their way home. 1904: The Australian Labor Party under Prime Minister […]
1478: Pazzi conspirators attack Lorenzo de’ Medici and kill Giuliano de’ Medici in Florence 1920: Harlow Shapley and Heber D. Curtis hold the “Great Debate” on the nature of nebulae, galaxies, and the size of the universe at the US National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C. 1945: Marshal Philippe Pétain, leader of France’s Vichy collaborationist […]
1660: English Convention Parliament meets and votes to restore Charles II 1792: Guillotine first used in France, executes highwayman Nicolas Pelletier 1846: Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War 1915: First landings at Gaba Tepe and Cape Helles on the Gallipoli Peninsula by ANZAC forces during World […]
1184 BC: The Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional date) 1877: Russo-Turkish War: Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire 1898: Spanish–American War: Spain declares war after rejecting US ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba 1916: Easter Rising of Irish republicans against British occupation begins in Dublin 1967: American General William Westmoreland says in […]
215 BC: A temple dedicated to Venus Erycina is built on Capitoline Hill to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene 1014: King Brian Boru of Ireland defeats Viking forces at the Battle of Clontarf, freeing Ireland from foreign control 1597: William Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” is first performed with Queen Elizabeth I […]
