1260: Qutuz, Mamluk Sultans of Egypt (1259-60), is assassinated by Baibars, a fellow Mamluk leader, who seizes power for himself 1648: Treaty of Westphalia ends The Thirty Years’ War in the Holy Roman Empire; Switzerland’s independence recognized 1929: “Black Thursday”, start of stock market crash of 1929, Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 12.8% 1962: Cuban […]
42 BC: Roman Republican civil wars: Second Battle of Philippi – Brutus’s army is decisively defeated by Mark Antony and Octavian. Brutus commits suicide. 1911: 1st aerial reconnaissance mission is flown by an Italian pilot over Turkish lines during the Italo-Turkish War 1942: During WWII, Britain launches major offensive at El Alamein, Egypt 1977: Paleontologist […]
1633: Battle of Liaoluo Bay: Dutch East India Company defeated by Chinese Ming naval forces in southern Fujian sea 1721: Tsar Peter the Great titles himself “Emperor of All Russia” 1879: Thomas Edison perfects carbonized cotton filament light bulb 1884: International Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C. adopts Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) worldwide, creating 24 international […]
1805: Battle of Trafalgar: British Admiral Horatio Nelson defeats combined French and Spanish fleet. Nelson shot and killed during battle. 1854: Florence Nightingale with a staff of 38 nurses is sent to the Crimean War 1944 World War II: US troops capture Aachen, 1st large German city to fall 1948: UN rejects Russian proposal to destroy […]
1097 1st Crusaders arrive in Antioch during the First Crusade 1603 Chinese uprising in the Philippines fails after 23,000 killed 1803 US Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase 1917 US suffragette Alice Paul begins a 7 month jail sentence for peacefully picketing in support of the women’s Suffrage (right to vote) Amendment at the White House […]
202 BC: Battle of Zama: Hannibal Barca and the Carthaginian army are defeated by Roman legions under Scipio Africanus, ending 2nd Punic War 1781: British forces under General Charles Cornwallis sign terms of surrender to George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown at 2 pm, ending the US Revolutionary War 1926: Russian Politburo throws […]
1009: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church’s foundations down to bedrock 1685: French King Louis XIV revokes Edict of Nantes cancelling rights of French Protestants 1867: Alaska Purchase: US takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia, having paid $7.2 million […]
1854: French and British forces bombard Sevastopol for the first time during the Crimean War 1907: Guglielmo Marconi’s company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada and Clifden, Ireland 1943: Burma railway completed, built by Allied POWs and Asian laborers for use of the Japanese army 1973: OPEC oil […]
1813: Battle of Leipzig, largest battle in Europe prior to WWI, Napoleon’s forces defeated by Prussia, Austria and Russia 1900: Great Britain and Germany sign the Anglo-German Treaty, agreeing to maintain territorial integrity of China and support ‘open door’ policy called for by US Secretary of State 1934: Mao Zedong and 25,000 troops begin their […]
1581: Commissioned by Catherine de’ Medici, the 1st ballet “Ballet Comique de la Reine” is staged in Paris 1582: Gregorian calendar introduced in Spain, Portugal and pontifical states, after skipping 10 days after Oct 4 to sync the calendar 1815: Napoleon Bonaparte arrives on island of St Helena to begin his exile 1969: Vietnam Moratorium […]
