31 BC: Battle of Actium: Decisive naval battle that effectively ends the Roman Republic. Octavian’s forces defeat those under Mark Antony and Cleopatra off the western coast of Greece. 1192: Sultan Saladin and King Richard the Lionheart of England sign the Treaty of Jaffa ending the Third Crusade in a compromise neither is happy with. […]
1715: King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of 72 years, the longest of any major European monarch 1878: First female telephone operator starts work, Emma Nutt, for the Edwin Holmes Telephone Dispatch Company in Boston 1905: Wilfrid Laurier oversees Alberta and Saskatchewan joining the Confederation of Canada as its 8th and 9th […]
1142: Possible date for establishment of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) League [disputed date – other research places date between 1450 and 1660] 1854: A major outbreak of cholera occurs in Soho, London; physician John Snow calls it “the most terrible outbreak of cholera which ever occurred in this kingdom” 1888: The body of Jack the Ripper’s […]
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, clash in one of the largest naval battles in history during the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty 1590: Tokugawa Ieyasu enters Edo Castle (Traditional Japanese date: August […]
1526: Battle of Mohács: In a decisive battle, the Kingdom of Hungary is conquered by the Ottoman Empire led by Suleiman the Magnificent 1825: Portugal recognizes the independence of its former colony Brazil 1842: United Kingdom and China sign the Treaty of Nanking, ending the First Opium War 1862: Second Battle of Bull Run begins […]
1189: Third Crusade: Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan 1207: King John of England grants small town of Liverpool a charter (right to elect a mayor and aldermen) 1609: English explorer Henry Hudson is the first European to sail into Delaware Bay, naming it South Bay 1830: The first American-built locomotive, […]
479 BC: Greco-Persian Wars: Battle of Mycale is won by Greek forces over Persian naval troops on the Ionian coast 479 BC: Greco-Persian Wars: Battle of Plataea, Persian forces led by Mardonius are routed by a Greek army under Pausanias; a double victory with the success at Mycale that ends the Persian invasion 663: Battle […]
1346: Battle of Crécy: Edward III’s English longbows defeat Philip VI’s army south of Calais in northern France; cannons are used for the first time in battle 1682: English astronomer Edmond Halley first observes the comet named after him 1873: The first free kindergarten in the United States is started by Susan Blow in Carondelet, […]
1609: Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers, including the Doge (ruler) of Venice, Leonardo Donato 1619: Slavery begins in mainland British colonies of North America when the first known African captives (approximately 20) land at Point Comfort, Virginia, before being sold or traded into servitude [1] 1718: Hundreds of French colonists arrive […]
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 is overrun by Visigoths under Alaric I for the first time in nearly 800 years, seen […]
