1624: The first submarine is publicly tested in London on the Thames for King James I 1758: French astronomer Charles Messier mistakes the Crab Nebula for a comet while searching for Halley’s Comet, leading him to begin his Messier Catalogue 1909: World’s first patent for synthetic rubber is granted to German chemist Fritz Hofmann 1940: […]
1297: Battle of Stirling Bridge: Scottish rebel William Wallace defeats the English 1609: An expulsion order is issued against the Moriscos of Valencia, beginning the expulsion of all of Spain’s Moriscos (former Muslims and their descendants) 1697: Battle of Zenta: Holy League forces led by Prince Eugene of Savoy defeat an Ottoman army under Mustafa […]
1776: George Washington asks for a spy, and Nathan Hale volunteers 1813: American naval commander Oliver Hazard Perry defeats the British in the Battle of Lake Erie 1846: Elias Howe takes out a US patent for a lockstitch sewing machine 1924: Leopold and Loeb are found guilty of the murder of Bobby Franks in Chicago […]
1000: Battle of Svolder, Baltic Sea: King Olaf on board the Long Serpent is defeated in one of the greatest naval battles of the Viking Age and leaps to his death overboard 1543: Mary Stuart, at nine months old, is crowned Queen of Scots in the central Scottish town of Stirling 1776: Congress officially renames […]
70: Roman army under General Titus completes the siege of Jerusalem by destroying what remained after four months of occupation and plundering 1380: Battle of Kulikovo: Moscow’s great monarch Dmitry defeats the Mongols, beginning the decline of the Tatars 1504: Michelangelo’s statue of David is unveiled in Florence 1565: First permanent European settlement in the […]
1714: Treaty of Baden is signed by the Holy Roman Empire and France, ending the War of the Spanish Succession; France retains Alsace and Landau, and Austria gains the east bank of the Rhine 1812: Battle of Borodino: Napoleon Bonaparte wins a Pyrrhic victory against Russian General Mikhail Kutuzov in the most ferocious battle of […]
1522: Ferdinand Magellan’s Spanish expedition, now led by Juan Sebastián Elcano, returns to Seville without its captain after a three-year epic voyage, becoming the first to circumnavigate the globe 1666: After St. Paul’s Cathedral and much of the city burned down over four days, the Great Fire of London is finally extinguished 1901: US President […]
1666: Firebreaks finally bring the Great Fire of London under control, leaving 13,200 houses destroyed and eight dead 1774: Twelve of the thirteen American colonies adopt a trade embargo against Great Britain at the First Continental Congress in Carpenters’ Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1781: A French fleet of 24 ships under Comte de Grasse defeats British […]
476: Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman Emperor, abdicates after forces led by Odoacer invade Rome, the traditional date for the end of the Western Roman Empire 1609: Navigator Henry Hudson is the first European to discover the island of Manhattan [or September 11] 1781: Los Angeles is founded by 44 Spanish-speaking mestizos in the […]
301: San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world’s oldest republic still in existence, is founded by Saint Marinus 1650: Oliver Cromwell’s English New Model Army defeats a Scottish force in a surprise attack at the Battle of Dunbar 1783: The Treaty of Paris is signed in Paris, ending the […]
