Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Today: 1789 – New Jersey became the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights. 1820 – The American whaling ship Essex was attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in the Pacific Ocean, an event that inspired Herman Melville’s *Moby-Dick*. 1866 – Howard University, a historically black university, was founded in Washington, D.C. […]
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Today: 1493 – Christopher Columbus first sighted the island of Puerto Rico during his second voyage to the Americas. 1620 – The Pilgrims reached Cape Cod aboard the Mayflower after a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. 1703 – The Great Storm of 1703 began, one of the most severe storms ever recorded in the British […]
Monday, November 18, 2024
Today: 326 – The old St. Peter’s Basilica was consecrated in Rome by Pope Sylvester I. 1307 – William Tell is said to have shot an apple off his son’s head as per Swiss folklore. 1493 – Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Puerto Rico during his second voyage. 1626 – St. Peter’s Basilica […]
Sunday, November 17, 2024
Today: 1307 – William Tell reputedly shot an apple off his son’s head, as part of his defiance against Austrian rule, according to Swiss legend. 1421 – A dike in the Netherlands broke, flooding 72 villages and killing an estimated 10,000 people in the St. Elizabeth’s flood. 1477 – William Caxton published *Dictes or Sayengis […]
Saturday, November 16, 2024
Today: 1272 – Edward I becomes King of England following the death of his father, Henry III, though he is abroad and will not return to England for nearly two years. 1532 – Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro captures Inca Emperor Atahualpa after the Battle of Cajamarca in Peru. 1776 – British troops capture Fort Washington […]
Friday, November 15, 2024
Today: 1492 – Christopher Columbus notes in his journal the sighting of a new land, which he names Española (Hispaniola). 1777 – The Articles of Confederation are adopted by the Continental Congress, establishing a unified government for the Thirteen Colonies. 1806 – Explorer Zebulon Pike sights the distant mountain peak that bears his name, Pike’s […]
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Today: 1533 – Spanish conquistadors, led by Francisco Pizarro, arrive in Cusco, Peru. 1666 – Samuel Pepys reports on the first blood transfusion in England, between two dogs. 1770 – James Bruce discovers what he believes is the source of the Nile River. 1851 – Herman Melville’s novel *Moby-Dick* is published in the United States. […]
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Today: 1002 – English King Æthelred II ordered the massacre of all Danes in England, known as the St. Brice’s Day massacre. 1093 – Saint Margaret of Scotland, wife of King Malcolm III, passed away, later canonized as a saint. 1642 – First known European sighting of New Zealand by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman. 1775 […]
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Today: 1028 – Future Byzantine empress Zoe marries Romanos Argyros. 1439 – Plymouth, England, becomes the first town incorporated by the English Parliament. 1793 – Jean Sylvain Bailly, the first Mayor of Paris, is guillotined during the French Revolution. 1893 – The treaty of the Durand Line is signed, establishing the border between present-day Pakistan […]
Monday, November 11, 2024
Today: 1215 – The Fourth Lateran Council meets in Rome, convened by Pope Innocent III, defining key doctrines of the Catholic Church. 1620 – The Mayflower Compact is signed by Pilgrims at Provincetown Harbor in what is now Massachusetts, establishing a form of self-government. 1675 – Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz demonstrates integral calculus for the first […]