1492: 1st Spanish settlement La Navidad in the New World is founded by Christopher Columbus (modern Môle-Saint-Nicolas in Haiti) 1792: Trial of French King Louis XVI, court hears the kings defense brought by Raymond Desèze 1825: Decembrist uprising in Russia against Tsar Nicholas I begins [O.S. 14 December] 2004: 9.3 magnitude earthquake creates a tsunami […]
1: 1st Christmas, according to calendar-maker Dionysus Exiguus 800: Pope Leo III crowns Charles the Great (Charlemagne), Roman Emperor 1066: William the Conqueror is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey, completing the Norman conquest of England 1741: Astronomer Anders Celsius introduces Centigrade temperature scale 1868: Despite bitter opposition, US President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional […]
1565: Compromise of the Nobles in Habsburg Netherlands closes against inquisition 1814: Treaty of Ghent signed, ending the War of 1812 between the United States, the United Kingdom and their allies 1936: 1st radioactive isotope medicine administered in Berkeley, California 1943: US President FDR appoints General Eisenhower Supreme Commander of the Allied forces Source: Onthisday.com
962: Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under future Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, Byzantine troops storm the city of Aleppo, recovering the tattered tunic of John the Baptist 1688: King James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch flees to France from William of Orange 1783: US General George Washington resigns his military commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Army […]
1790: Supposedly impenetrable Turkish fortress of Izmail stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies during the Russo-Turkish War (1787–92) 1885: Samurai Itō Hirobumi, becomes the first Prime Minister of Japan 1989: After 23 years of dictatorial rule, Romania ousts Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu 1990: Labor activist Lech Wałęsa sworn in as Poland’s first […]
1620: Mayflower Pilgrims come ashore in Plymouth Bay, traditionally thought to be at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts [OS: Dec 11] [some sources disagree, and OS/NS adds to confusion, could be +/- several days] 1898: Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium 1968: First manned Moon voyage launched with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders aboard […]
1522: Suleiman the Magnificent accepts surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually settle in Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta. 1803: French flag lowered in New Orleans to mark the formal transfer of the Louisiana Purchase from France to USA, purchased for $15M 1812: “Grimm’s […]
1776: Thomas Paine publishes his first “American Crisis” essay beginning “These are the times that try men’s souls” (date disputed) 1783: William Pitt the Younger becomes the youngest ever British Prime Minister at age 24 1932: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) begins transmitting overseas 1958: First radio broadcast from space, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends […]
218 BC: Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia – Hannibal’s Carthaginian army heavily defeat Roman forces on Italian soil 1271: Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan renames his empire “Yuan” (元 yuán), marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of China 1603: First fleet of the Dutch East India Company under Admiral Steven van der Haghen […]
1398: Tamerlane captures and sacks Delhi, defeating Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud’s armies by setting camels loaded with hay alight and charging them at the Sultan’s armored elephants 1531: Pope Clement VII publishes papal bull “Cum ad nihil magis”, introduces the Inquisition into Portugal at Evora, Coimbra and Lisbon 1788: Russian army of Grigory Potemkin assaults […]
