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 […]
755: An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion during Chinese Tang Dynasty 1598: Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point – in the final battle of the war Korean navy decisively defeats the Japanese 1653: Parliamentarian General Oliver Cromwell appointed as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland […]
533: Byzantine General Belisarius defeats the Vandals, under King Gelimer, at the Battle of Ticameron 1256: Hulagu Khan captures and destroys Hashshashin stronghold at Alamut, in present-day Iran, part of the Mongol offensive on Islamic southwest Asia 1488: Bartolomeu Dias returns to Portugal after becoming 1st known European to sail round the Cape of Good […]
644: Uthman ibn Affan, companion of Muhammad, appointed 3rd Caliph of Islam 1287: During St. Lucia’s Flood in Northwest Netherlands the Zuiderzee seawall collapses with loss of over 50,000 lives. Fifth largest recorded flood in history 1542: Princess Mary Stuart succeeds her father James V and becomes Queen Mary I of Scotland at 6 days […]
1577: Francis Drake sets sail from England on an epic three year circumnavigation of the world aboard the ‘Pelican’ (later renamed the ‘Golden Hind’) 1636: The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. Recognized today as the founding of the United States National Guard. 1642: Dutch explorer […]
627: Battle at Nineveh: Byzantine Emperor Heraclius beats Sassanid forces during Byzantine-Sassanid War 1901: Guglielmo Marconi sends the first transatlantic radio signal, from Poldhu in Cornwall to Newfoundland, Canada 1925: Last Qajar Shah of Iran is deposed; Reza Shah Pahlavi takes over 1946: The United Nations accepts six Manhattan blocks as a gift from John […]
1282: Llywelyn ab Gruffydd the last native and independent Prince of Wales is killed at the Battle of Orewin Bridge at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, south Wales by forces of Edward I of England. Reigned from 1259 and is known as Llywelyn the Last. 1620: Mayflower Pilgrims come ashore in Plymouth Bay, traditionally thought to be […]
1520: Martin Luther publicly burns papal edict demanding he recant 1684: Isaac Newton’s derivation of Kepler’s laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper “De motu corporum in gyrum” (On the motion of bodies in an orbit), is read to the Royal Society by Edmond Halley. 1799: Metric system first adopted in France […]
