1715: King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of 72 years—the longest of any major European monarch. 1878: 1st female telephone operator starts work, Emma Nutt for the Edwin Holmes Telephone Despatch Company in Boston 1905: Wilfrid Laurier oversees Alberta and Saskatchewan joining the Confederation of Canada as its 8th and 9th Canadian provinces 1939: World War II starts when Germany […]
1142: Possible date for establishment of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) League [disputed date – other research places date between 1450 and 1660] 1854: Major outbreak of cholera occurs in Soho, London. Physician John Snow goes on to call it “the most terrible outbreak of cholera which ever occurred in this kingdom.” 1888: The body of Jack the Ripper’s first victim, Mary Ann Nichols, is […]
1146: European leaders outlaw the crossbow, intending to end war for all time 1363: Beginning of the Battle of Lake Poyang; two Chinese rebel leaders Chen Youliang and Zhu Yuanzhang are pitted against each other in what was one of the largest naval battles in history during Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty 1590: Tokugawa Ieyasu enters Edo Castle (Traditional Japanese date: […]
1526: Battle of Mohács: In a decisive battle the Hungarian Empire is conquered by the Ottoman Empire led by Suleiman the Magnificent 1825: Portugal recognizes the Independence of Brazil 1842: Great Britain and China sign Treaty of Nanking, ending the Opium war 1862: Second Battle of Bull Run, fought in Manassas, Virginia begins, Confederate victory (US Civil War) 1949: USSR performs […]
1189: Third Crusade: the Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan 1609: English explorer Henry Hudson, discovers and explores Delaware Bay 1830: 1st American built locomotive, “Tom Thumb” races a horse-drawn car from Stockton and Stokes stagecoach company from Baltimore to Ellicott Mills. Let history record that due to mechanical problems the horse won! 1845: Scientific American magazine publishes […]
479 BC: Greco-Persian Wars: Battle of Mycale won by Greek forces over Persian naval troops on Ionian coast, double victory with that at Plataea ends Persian invasion 479 BC: Greco-Persian Wars: Battle of Plataea, Persian forces led by Mardonius routed by Greek army under Pausanias; together with Greek success at Battle of Mycale halts Persian invasion of […]
1346: Battle of Crécy, south of Calais in northern France; Edward III’s English longbows defeat Philip VI’s army, cannons used for first time in battle 1682: English astronomer Edmond Halley first observes the comet named after him 1873: First free kindergarten in the U.S. started by Susan Blow in Carondelet, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri 1924: The Catastrophe of Smyrna: known as the […]
1609: Galileo demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers, including to the Doge (ruler) of Venice, Leonardo Donato 1718: Hundreds of French colonists arrive in Louisiana; New Orleans founded 1768: Captain James Cook departs from Plymouth, England, on his first voyage on board the Endeavour, bound for the Pacific Ocean 1894: Japanese scientist Shibasaburo Kitasato discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague […]
79: Believed until 2018 to be the date of the massive eruption of Mt. Vesuvius which buried the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae, killing untold thousands. Latest evidence suggests the eruption occurred after 17 October. 410: Rome overrun by Visigoths under Alaric I for the first time in nearly 800 years, seen as the fall of the […]
1305: Scottish patriot William Wallace is executed for high treason by Edward I of England at Smithfield, London 1542: Rabbi Joseph Caro completes his commentary of Tur Code 1850: 1st US National Women’s Rights Convention convenes in Worcester, Massachusetts 1942: Battle of Stalingrad: 600 Luftwaffe planes bomb Stalingrad (40,000 die) 1943: 50th day of Battle of Kursk, USSR: Largest tank battle in history ends […]
