1453: Turkish forces under Sultan Mehmed II begin the siege of Constantinople (İstanbul), which falls May 29 1513: Explorer Juan Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain as the first known European to reach Florida 1792: The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint and authorizing the $10 Eagle, $5 half-Eagle & 2.50 quarter-Eagle gold coins & silver dollar, ½ […]
527: Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne 1748: Ruins of Pompeii rediscovered by Spaniard Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre 1952: Big Bang theory proposed in Physical Review by Alpher, Bethe & George Gamow 1974: Ayatollah Khomeini calls for an Islamic Republic in Iran 1976: Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs found Apple Computer in the garage of Jobs’ parents house in […]
1146: Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine are present and join the Crusade. 1492: Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon issue the Alhambra Decree which expels Jews from their kingdoms 1657: English Parliament makes the Humble Petition and Advice to […]
240 BC: 1st recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet 1856: The Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia sign the Treaty of Paris ending the Crimean War 1867: Alaska Purchase: US buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 ($109 million in 2018), roughly 2 cents an acre 1870: 15th Amendment to the US constitution is adopted, […]
845: Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving 1549: The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded 1901: Edmund Barton is elected Prime Minister in Australia’s first parliamentary election 1912: Captain Robert Falcon Scott, storm-bound in a tent near South Pole, makes last entry […]
364: Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor 1854: Great Britain and France declare war on Russia, expanding the Crimean War 1910: 1st seaplane to take off from water under its own power is piloted by Henri Fabre from the Étang de Berre lagoon at Martigues, France 1939: Spanish Civil War ends, Madrid falls to the Nationalists […]
1513: Spaniard Juan Ponce de León and his expedition first sight Florida 1625: Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland ascends the English throne 1914: 1st successful non-direct blood transfusion is performed by Dr. Albert Hustin in Brussels 1958: Nikita Khrushchev becomes Soviet Premier as well as First Secretary of the Communist Party 1977: 583 die in aviation’s worst ever disaster when […]
1027 Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II Holy Roman Emperor, founder of the Salian dynasty 1812 Earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale destroys 90% of Caracas, Venezuela and kills an estimated 15,000–20,000 people 1871: Municipal elections bring revolutionaries to power in Paris to form Commune government 1909: In support of Mohammed Ali Shah’s coup d’etat against the constitutional government […]
1603: Scottish King James VI son of Mary Queen of Scots, becomes King James I of England in succession to Elizabeth I, thus joining the English and Scottish crowns 1837: Canada gives its black citizens the right to vote 1882: German scientist Robert Koch discovers and describes the tubercle bacillus which causes tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), and establishes germ theory 1976: Argentine President Isabel Martínez de […]
1490: 1st dated edition of Maimonides “Mishneh Torah”, a code of Jewish religious law is published 1775: Patrick Henry proclaims “Give me liberty or give me death” in speech in favour of Virginian troops joining US Revolutionary war 1919: 8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party re-establishes a five-member Politburo which becomes the center of political power in the […]
