Monday, May 20, 2024
Today: 1. 1498 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reached India, landing in Calicut. 2. 1506 – Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer who discovered the Americas, died in Valladolid, Spain. 3. 1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law, which provided 160 acres of public land to settlers after five years of […]
Sunday, May 19, 2024
Today: 1. 1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII of England, was beheaded for alleged adultery, treason, and incest. 2. 1568 – Queen Elizabeth I of England arrested Mary, Queen of Scots. 3. 1643 – The French Academy of Sciences was established by Cardinal Richelieu. 4. 1802 – The French Legion […]
Saturday, May 18, 2024
Today: 1. 1804: Napoleon Bonaparte was declared Emperor of the French by the French Senate. 2. 1927: The Bath School disaster occurred in Michigan, USA, where Andrew Kehoe detonated bombs in a school, killing 38 children and 6 adults. 3. 1944: The Allies launched the final assault on Monte Cassino in Italy during World War […]
Friday, May 17, 2024
Today: 1. 1792: The New York Stock Exchange was established. 2. 1875: The first Kentucky Derby horse race was held. 3. 1954: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. 4. 1965: The FBI began investigating the disappearance of three civil rights workers in Mississippi, […]
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Today: 1. 1770: Marie Antoinette married the future King Louis XVI of France, in a proxy wedding in which her brother stood in for the groom. 2. 1866: The U.S. Congress authorized the minting of the first five-cent piece, also known as the “Shield nickel.” 3. 1868: The United States Senate failed by one vote […]
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Today: 1. 1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, stood trial in England accused of treason, adultery, and incest. She was found guilty and sentenced to death. 2. 1618 – Johannes Kepler confirmed his previously formulated laws of planetary motion, which became fundamental to the field of astronomy. 3. 1718 – […]
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Today: 1. 1607 – The English settlers establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. 2. 1796 – Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccination. This marked a significant advancement in medical history and led to the eventual eradication of the disease. 3. 1804 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition departs from […]
Monday, May 13, 2024
Today: 1. 1607 – Jamestown, Virginia was founded as the first permanent English settlement in North America. 2. 1846 – The United States declared war on Mexico, starting the Mexican-American War. 3. 1940 – Winston Churchill gave his famous “blood, toil, tears, and sweat” speech to the House of Commons, his first as Prime Minister […]
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Today: 1. 1588 – The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, set sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel. It was one of the largest fleets ever assembled for military purposes. 2. 1780 – Charleston, South Carolina was taken by British forces during the American Revolutionary War. 3. 1820 – Florence Nightingale, […]
Saturday, May 11, 2024
Today: 1. 330 – Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) was officially dedicated as the capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine I. 2. 868 – The earliest known dated printed book, the Diamond Sutra, was printed in China. 3. 1502 – Christopher Columbus set out on his fourth and final voyage to the New World. 4. […]