1898: Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium 1968: Apollo 8: 1st manned Moon voyage launched with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders 1988: Lockerbie disaster: A terrorist bomb destroys Pan Am Flight 103 mid-air, over Scotland; kills all 259 passengers and crew on board, and 11 people on the ground 1991: Soviet Union formally dissolves as 11 of 12 republics sign […]
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 Fairy Tales” or “Children’s […]
1776: Thomas Paine publishes his 1st “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: 1st radio broadcast from space, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower Christmas message “to all mankind, America’s wish for peace […]
218 BC: Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia – Hannibal’s Carthaginian army heavily defeat Roman forces on Italian soil 1271: 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 departs for the East-Indies 1642: Abel Tasman’s […]
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 1526: Pope Clemens VII publishes decree Cum ad zero – forms Inquisition 1788: Russian army of Grigory Potemkin occupies Ocharov 1903: The Wright brothers make the 1st sustained motorized aircraft flight at 10:35 AM, piloted […]
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 1620: Mayflower Pilgrims come ashore in Plymouth Bay, traditionally thought to be at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts [NS: Dec […]
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 Hope 1612: German Astronomer Simon […]
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 old 1774: First incident of American Revolution – […]
1577: Francis Drake sets sail from England on an epic three year circumnavigation of the world aboard 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 Abel Tasman sights the South Island of present day New Zealand; […]
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 deposed; Rezā Shāh Pahlavi takes over 1946: UN accepts 6 Manhattan blocks as a gift from John D. Rockefeller Jr. 2000: US Supreme Court releases its decision in […]
