46 BC: Battle of Thapsus: Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) near Thapsus in modern-day Tunisia 1453: Turkish forces under Sultan Mehmed II begin the siege of the Byzantine Empire’s capital, Constantinople (now Istanbul), which falls on May 29 1652: Cape Colony, the first European settlement in South […]
1242: Battle on the Ice: Russian Prince of Novgorod Alexander Nevsky defeats the Teutonic Knights on the frozen Lake Peipus between Estonia and Russia 1722: Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen is the first European to discover Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, in the southeastern Pacific Ocean 1818: Battle of Maipú: Chile’s independence movement, led […]
1581: Francis Drake is knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard his galleon Golden Hind at Deptford, England 1655: Battle of Porto Farina: English fleet defeats Barbary corsairs in Tunis 1789: First US Congress begins regular sessions during George Washington’s presidency at Federal Hall, NYC (ends 1791) 1949: The North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington, […]
1367: Battle of Navarrete: Alliance of King Peter of Castile, Edward the Black Prince and John of Gaunt of England, Aquitaine, Majorca and Navarre defeats Count Henry of Castile near Nájera in La Rioja, Castile 1645: English Long Parliament passes the Self-Denying Ordinance, limiting regional armies, a significant step toward the New Model Army 1860: […]
1513: Explorer Juan Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain as the first known European to reach it 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, and the silver dollar, half dollar, quarter, dime, and half-dime 1801: Battle of Copenhagen: British […]
527: Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne 1748: The ruins of Pompeii are rediscovered by Spaniard Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre 1948: “Big Bang” theory proposed in scientific journal “Physical Review” by American cosmologists Ralph Alpher, Hans Bethe, and George Gamow 1974: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calls […]
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 expelling Jews from their kingdoms 1657: English […]
240 BC: First 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 1867: The United States buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 (109 million in 2018 dollars), roughly 2 cents an acre 1870: The 15th Amendment to the US Constitution […]
845: Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving 1516: Venice compels Jews to live in a specific area, establishing the first Jewish ghetto, in the city’s the Cannaregio district. 1549: The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded […]
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: First seaplane takes off from water under its own power, piloted by Henri Fabre from the Étang de Berre lagoon in Martigues, France 1939: Spanish Civil War ends as Madrid […]
