Monday, November 25, 2024
Today: 1120 – The White Ship sank in the English Channel, killing William Adelin, heir to the English throne, leading to a succession crisis in England. 1491 – The Siege of Granada began, marking the final campaign of the Reconquista in Spain. 1758 – The British captured Fort Duquesne during the French and Indian War, […]
Sunday, November 24, 2024
Today: 1642 – Dutch navigator Abel Tasman became the first European to discover Van Diemen’s Land, later named Tasmania, in Australia. 1859 – Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was published, laying the foundation for the theory of evolution by natural selection. 1863 – The Battle of Lookout Mountain during the American Civil War […]
Saturday, November 23, 2024
Today: 1499 – Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the English throne, was hanged at Tyburn after attempting to lead a rebellion against King Henry VII. 1644 – John Milton published Areopagitica, a pamphlet advocating for freedom of the press. 1863 – During the American Civil War, the Union Army won the Battle of Chattanooga, securing […]
Friday, November 22, 2024
Today: 1307 – Pope Clement V issues the papal bull Pastoralis Praeeminentiae, instructing all Christian monarchs to arrest Knights Templar and seize their assets. 1718 – English pirate Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard, is killed in battle off the coast of North Carolina. 1830 – Charles Grey becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. 1869 […]
Thursday, November 21, 2024
Today: 1620 – The Mayflower Compact was signed by the Pilgrims in Provincetown Harbor, creating a framework for self-governance in the Plymouth Colony. 1676 – Danish astronomer Ole Rømer presented the first quantitative measurement of the speed of light. 1783 – Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes made the first free balloon flight […]
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 […]