Sunday, April 20, 2025
Today: 1657 – Freedom of religion is granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City) by the Dutch colonial governor Peter Stuyvesant. 1775 – The Siege of Boston begins during the American Revolutionary War, following the battles of Lexington and Concord. 1889 – Adolf Hitler is born in Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary. […]
Saturday, April 19, 2025
Today: 1529 – The Protestation at Speyer occurs: German princes protest the imperial ban on Martin Luther, leading to the term “Protestant.” 1770 – British explorer Captain James Cook sights the eastern coast of Australia for the first time. 1775 – The Battles of Lexington and Concord take place, marking the beginning of the American […]
Friday, April 18, 2025
Today: 1506 – The cornerstone of St. Peter’s Basilica was laid in Vatican City, beginning construction of what would become the world’s largest church. 1775 – Paul Revere began his famous midnight ride to warn American colonial militia of the approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord. 1831 – The University of […]
Thursday, April 17, 2025
Today: 1492 – Spain and Christopher Columbus signed the Capitulations of Santa Fe, granting Columbus the authority to seek a westward route to the Indies. 1521 – Martin Luther appeared before the Diet of Worms to defend his writings, famously refusing to recant. 1790 – Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United […]
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Today: 73 – Masada, a Jewish fortress near the Dead Sea, falls to Roman forces, ending the First Jewish-Roman War. 1346 – Stefan Dušan proclaims himself Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks, founding the Serbian Empire. 1746 – The Battle of Culloden takes place in Scotland, ending the Jacobite rising of 1745 with a decisive […]
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Today: 1755 – Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language was published in London, becoming one of the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language. 1817 – The first American school for the deaf, the American School for the Deaf, opened in Hartford, Connecticut. 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln died after […]
Monday, April 14, 2025
Today: 1471 – In the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Barnet was fought in England; Yorkist forces led by Edward IV defeated the Lancastrians and killed Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. 1775 – The first abolition society in North America, the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, was […]
Sunday, April 13, 2025
Today: 1598 – Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, granting freedom of religion to the Huguenots and ending the French Wars of Religion. 1742 – George Frideric Handel’s oratorio “Messiah” premiered in Dublin, Ireland. 1829 – The British Parliament granted Roman Catholics the right to vote and hold political office with the […]
Saturday, April 12, 2025
Today: 1606 – The Union Flag (later known as the Union Jack) was adopted as the flag of England and Scotland. 1861 – The American Civil War began with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. 1877 – The United Kingdom annexed the Transvaal in South Africa. 1934 – The strongest surface wind […]
Friday, April 11, 2025
Today: 491 – Flavius Anastasius became Byzantine Emperor after the death of Zeno. 1241 – The Battle of Liegnitz: Mongols defeated a Polish-German army under Duke Henry II of Silesia. 1689 – William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of England, Scotland, and Ireland. 1814 – Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as Emperor of […]