Monday, July 8, 2024
Today: 1497 – Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama set sail from Lisbon on his first voyage to India. 1663 – Charles II of England granted a Royal Charter to Rhode Island. 1776 – The Liberty Bell rang in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, summoning citizens to the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. 1853 – Commodore […]
Sunday, July 7, 2024
Today: 1456 – A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy, 25 years after her death. 1798 – The United States Congress rescinds treaties with France, sparking the Quasi-War. 1807 – Napoleon I of France defeats Russian forces at the Battle of Friedland. 1865 – Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt […]
Saturday, July 6, 2024
Today: 1415 – Jan Hus, a Czech theologian and reformer, was burned at the stake for heresy in Constance, Germany. 1483 – Richard III was crowned King of England. 1535 – Sir Thomas More was executed for treason in England. 1785 – The dollar was unanimously chosen as the monetary unit for the United States. […]
Friday, July 5, 2024
Today: 1687 – Isaac Newton publishes “Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica” (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), laying the foundations of classical mechanics. 1811 – Venezuela declares independence from Spain. 1830 – France invades Algeria. 1841 – Thomas Cook organizes the first package excursion, from Leicester to Loughborough. 1865 – The United States Secret Service is established. […]
The Founding Fathers from Beyond the Grave
By Angry Tortfeasor There is a lesser-known character in the American Revolution whose influence in the framing of our constitution cannot be understated. This individual lived in the second century BC and had been dead for about 1900 years at the time of the drafting of the American Constitution. Despite this remote location in time, […]
Thursday, July 4, 2024
Today: 1776 – The Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming the independence of the United States from Great Britain. 1802 – The United States Military Academy at West Point officially opens. 1826 – Founding fathers John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both die on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. 1827 – […]
Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Today: 1212 – The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: The beginning of the Christian victory in the Reconquista. 1499 – Portuguese explorer Nicolau Coelho returns to Lisbon, after discovering the sea route to India. 1553 – Lady Jane Grey becomes Queen of England. 1584 – William I of Orange is assassinated in his home […]
Tuesday, July 2, 2024
Today: 1776 – The Continental Congress adopts the resolution for independence from Great Britain. 1839 – 53 African slaves led by Joseph Cinqué, aboard the Spanish ship Amistad, revolt and take control of the ship. 1863 – The Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War ends. 1881 – U.S. President James A. Garfield is […]
Monday, July 1, 2024
Today: 1863 – The Battle of Gettysburg, a turning point in the American Civil War, began in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. 1867 – The British North America Act took effect, creating the Dominion of Canada. 1903 – The first Tour de France bicycle race began. 1916 – The first day of the Battle of the Somme during […]
Sunday, June 30, 2024
Today: 1859: French acrobat Charles Blondin crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope, an astonishing feat at the time. 1908: The Tunguska event occurred in Siberia, where a massive explosion flattened an estimated 2,000 square kilometers of forest. 1934: The Night of the Long Knives, a purge in Nazi Germany, came to an end, consolidating Adolf […]