Events 1 - 200 of 351
- 69 Batavian nobleman Gaius Julius Civilis proclaimed emperor of Syria
Vespasian Proclaimed Emperor
69 Roman General Vespasian is first proclaimed Emperor by troops in Egypt, during year of the four emperors
- 251 The Battle of Abrittus in the Balkans won by the Goths against the Romans. Roman Emperors Decius and Herennius Etruscus are killed
- 649 Pope Martinus I elected to succeed Theodore I
- 1097 1st Crusaders defeat Sultan Kilidj Arslan of Nicea
- 1200 In China, sunglasses are invented
- 1233 Earl Otto II van Gelre grants Arnhem state justice
- 1244 Duke Frederick II of Austria issues a charter extending rights and protection for Jews - 1st territorial ruler to claim Jews as his own subjects [1]
- 1252 King Alfonso X 'the Wise', King of Castile & Leon crowned
- 1253 Battle at Westkapelle - Floris de Voogd 'the Guardian' defeats Gwijde van Dampierre
- 1347 Engagement of Count Louis of Male to Margaretha, daughter of Jan III
- 1390 French and Genuese armada sails out against barbarian pirates
- 1517 1st burning of Protestants at the stake in the Netherlands
- 1517 Inquisitor Adrian Boeyens (pope Adrianus VI) becomes cardinal
Thomas More on Trial
1535 Thomas More goes on trial in England on charges of treason for refusing to accept Henry VIII's supremacy over the Pope
- 1543 England & Scotland sign peace treaty of Greenwich
- 1569 Latvian Parliament accepts Union of Lublin, incorporating it into Poland
- 1600 Prince Maurits' army occupies Newport Flanders Netherlands
- 1617 Dutch expedition of Jacques Le Maire and Willem Corneliszoon Schouten returns to Zeeland after two years - discovered Cape Horn route around South America (Le Maire died on return voyage) [1]
- 1656 Siege of Warsaw: Polish King Jan II Casimir recaptures Warsaw from Swedish occupiers
- 1674 Spain, France & Netherlands form Triple Alliance
Battle of Boyne
1690 Army of Protestant King William III defeats deposed Roman Catholic King James II in Battle of Boyne in Ireland
Notre Dame of Montreal
1698 Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys canonically constituted a community [1]
- 1747 Battle at Lafeld: France force beats British and Dutch army in Belgium during the Austrian War of Succession
First Vote on Declaration of Independence
1776 1st vote on Declaration of Independence for Britain's North American colonies
- 1810 Louis Napoleon abdicates as king of the Netherlands
- 1816 French frigate Medusa wrecked; basis of Géricault's painting "Raft of the Medusa"
- 1820 1st edition of newspaper "Courrier de la Meuse" published in the Netherlands
- 1823 9th US Postmaster General: John McLean of Ohio takes office; appointed by President Monroe on June 26, not confirmed by US Senate until December 9)
- 1823 United Provinces of Central America declares itself independent of Mexico and Spain
- 1831 Admiral James C Ross reaches magnetic North Pole
Smithsonian Institute
1836 US President Andrew Jackson announces to Congress bequest by James Smithson of 100,000 gold sovereigns to found Smithsonian Institution in Washington
- 1841 Mammoth Cave National Park established with 45,310 acres, including world's largest cave network in Kentucky, US [1]
- 1847 1st US postage stamps go on sale, 5 cent Franklin and 10 cent Washington, NYC
- 1850 At least 626 ships lie at anchor around San Francisco Bay
- 1858 1st Canadian coins minted (1, 5, 10 and 20 cent) at the Royal Mint in London, England
First Reading on Evolution
1858 Joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace's papers on evolution to the Linnean Society renders audience awestruck and silent [1]
- 1859 1st intercollegiate baseball game, Amherst beats Williams 66-32 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
- 1859 Balloon covers a record 809 miles over St Louis
- 1861 1st public schoolhouse opens at Washington and Mason St, San Francisco
- 1861 US War Department decrees that Kansas and Tennessee are to be canvassed for volunteers
Tsar Grants Jews Right to Publish
1862 Alexander II of Russia grants Jews right to publish books
- 1862 Battle at Booneville Mississippi: Confederate superior power driven out
- 1862 Battle of Malvern Hill [Poindexter's Farm], day 7 of 7 days battles, Union forces repel Confederate attack, Tactical Union victory (US Civil War)
- 1862 The Russian State Library is founded in Moscow
- 1862 US Internal Revenue Law imposes 1st federal taxes on inheritance, tobacco and on incomes over $600 (progressive rate)
Battle of Gettysburg
1863 Battle of Gettysburg begins in Pennsylvania, Union forces halt Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia
- 1863 Free city delivery of mail begins in 49 US cities; postage 3 cents per oz
- 1863 Slavery abolished in Dutch territories including Sint Maarten, Suriname and the Dutch Antilles, (now marked as Keti Koti Day in Suriname and the Netherlands)
Dominion of Canada
1867 The Dominion of Canada is formed, comprising the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec, with John A. Macdonald serving as the first Prime Minister
Henry Ossian Flipper Enters West Point
1873 Henry Ossian Flipper of Georgia enters West Point Military Academy - later the first African American to graduate
- 1873 Prince Edward Island becomes 7th Canadian province
- 1874 1st US kidnapping for ransom, 4-year-old Charles Ross, $20,000
- 1874 1st zoo in the United States opens in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1874 Dutch 1st Chamber accepts law governing child labor in factories
- 1875 Universal Postal Union comes into effect after established in the Bern treaty, to organize international mail services
- 1877 1st edition of "Amsterdammer" published
- 1878 Canada joins the Universal Postal Union
The Watchtower
1879 Charles Taze Russell publishes the first edition of the illustrated religious magazine "The Watchtower"
- 1879 Ex-khedive Ismael Pasha sails from Alexandria to Naples
- 1881 1st international telephone conversation, Calais, Maine to St Stephen, New Brunswick
- 1881 General Order 70, the culmination of the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Army's organisation, comes into effect
- 1881 US Assay Office in St Louis, Missouri opens
- 1883 ANWB forms in Utrecht, the Netherlands
Root Resigns as Attorney
1885 Elihu Root, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York (since 1883), submits his resignation to President Grover Cleveland after successfully prosecuting James C. Fish
- 1885 The United States terminates reciprocity and fishery agreement with Canada
Douglass Minister to Haiti
1889 Frederick Douglass named US Minister to Haiti
First French Speaking PM
1896 Wilfrid Laurier sworn in as 1st French speaking Prime Minister of Canada
- 1897 Bronx acquires Hutton Square
Roosevelt's Rough Riders
1898 Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders charge up San Juan Hill during US's successful assault on the city of Santiago [1]
- 1899 Gideon Society established to place bibles in hotels
- 1899 San Francisco City Hall turned over to city, after 29 years of building
- 1902 Ranji (230) & Newham (153) add 344 for 7th wkt, Sussex v Essex
- 1902 US Congress passes the Philippines Government Act, providing that the Philippines be governed by a commission appointed by the President, with consent from the senate; Filipinos are to be treated as citizens of their land, no the USA
- 1903 Tour de France: Inaugural race begins in Montgeron, a south-eastern suburb of Paris
1st US Olympic Games
1904 III Summer (Modern) Olympic Games open in St Louis, the first held in the United States
- 1904 Willie Anderson becomes the first 2-time Western Open golf champion, beating fellow Scot Alex Smith by 4 strokes at Michigan's Kent CC
- 1907 The Orange River Colony, known as the Orange Free State, is granted self-government by the British
- 1908 "SOS" (· · · – – – · · ·) distress signal becomes the worldwide standard for help
- 1910 Chicago's White Sox Park (later Comiskey Park) opens - St Louis Browns beat White Sox, 2-0
- 1910 Union of South Africa becomes a dominion
- 1911 Proclamation removes "Dei Gratia" (by the Grace of God) from Canadian coins
- 1911 The German gunboat 'Panther' arrives off Agadir allegedly to protect German interests and nationals in Morocco
- 1913 Serbia and Greece declare war on Bulgaria
Free State National Party
1914 General J. B. M. Hertzog founds the Free State National Party
- 1915 Australia begins Commonwealth Lighthouse Service
- 1915 Australian Survey Corps becomes part of Military Forces
- 1916 1st of 4 fatal Jersey Shore shark attacks occur at Beach Haven when Charles Vansant (25) bled to death, challenging previous scientific belief that sharks never hurt humans, and sparking popular fear over sharks which persists today
- 1916 Battle of the Somme: The British launch their planned offensive in the Somme valley, but the Germans have quietly been preparing for weeks.
- 1916 British court martial for the Easter uprising
- 1916 Coca-Cola brings current coke formula to the market
Five Miles of Mud Costs a Million Casualties
1916 First day of the Battle of the Somme in World War I: The British Army suffers its worst day, losing 19,240 men
Wagner's Record Home Run
1916 Pittsburgh shortstop Honus Wagner, at 42 and 4 months, connects at Cincinnati to become the oldest to hit an inside-the-park HR; Pirates beat Reds, 2-1
- 1917 257cm (100-inch) diameter mirror for telepscope is delivered to Mount Wilson Observatory, in Los Angeles, California
- 1917 In contravention of state law, Robins (Dodgers) play their 1st Sunday MLB game in Brooklyn; owner and manager arrested but escape with a fine; Robins edge Philadelphia, 3-2
- 1917 MLB Cincinnati Reds' Fred Toney pitches 2 complete games in doubleheader victories over Pittsburgh Pirates, allows 3 hits each game, fewest allowed by any pitcher winning 2 MLB games in one day
- 1917 Racial strife in East St Louis, Illinois turn deadly, as two White police officers are killed while driving through a previously attacked neighborhood in an unmarked car [1]
- 1919 SVV Scheveningen soccer club is established in the Dutch seaside town
- 1919 US 1st class postage drops from 3 cents to 2 cents
- 1920 Sir Herbert Samuel takes over as high commissioner over Palestine, where Arab resistance to the British mandate continues
- 1920 St Louis Cardinals become tenants of their AL rival St Louis Browns, as they abandon Robison Field midway through the MLB season and return to Sportsman's Park
Johnson's Only No-hitter
1920 Washington Senators pitching legend Walter Johnson no-hits Boston Red Sox 1-0 at Fenway Park, the only no-hitter of his illustrious career
- 1926 Canada restores gold standard
- 1929 US Immigration law of 1924 in effect
- 1930 Great Britain signs accord for Independence of Iraq
- 1931 Cleveland Municipal Stadium (MLB: Indians, NFL: Browns, 78,189 capacity) opens; demolished 1996
- 1931 Ice vending machines introduced in Los Angeles 25 lbs, 15 cents
- 1931 Trans African Railway in use (Benguela, Angola-Jadotville, Congo)
Moratorium on War Debts
1931 US President Herbert Hoover places a one year moratorium on war debt payments
Roosevelt Nominated for President
1932 NY Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated for president at Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois
- 1932 NY newspaper Evening Standard goes bankrupt
- 1933 114°F (45.6°C), Las Animas, Colorado (state record, tied in 1954; broken in 2019)
- 1933 German nazi regime declares that married women shouldn't work
- 1933 Strauss & von Hofmannsthal's opera "Arabella," premieres at the Semperoper Opera House in Dresden, Germany
- 1933 The Canadian Parliament suspends all Chinese immigration.
- 1934 1st x-ray photo of entire body, taken by Arthur Fuchs of Eastman-Kodak Company in Rochester, New York
- 1934 Brookfield Zoo opens in Chicago, Illinois
- 1935 Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANP, General Dutch Press Agency) forms in Amsterdam
- 1936 AVRO radio broadcast studios in Hilversum opens
- 1936 Watchfulness Committee forms in Amsterdam
- 1937 Rev Martin Niemöller arrested in Nazi Germany for activities against the State
Bishops Support Franco
1937 Spanish bishops support Francisco Franco and his fascist movement
- 1938 The South African Press Association (SAPA) is established as a non-governmental institution by South Africa's major newspapers to facilitate the sharing of news, both national and international
- 1940 Australia refuses entry to Dutch Jewish refugees
- 1941 1st commercial TV licenses granted-W2XBS-WNBT (NBC) & WCBW (CBS), NYC
- 1941 Bulova Watch Co pays $9 for 1st ever network TV commercial
DiMaggio Ties Streak
1941 NY outfielder Joe DiMaggio, on way to a record 56, ties Willie Keeler's 44 game MLB hit streak in a 9-2 win over Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium
- 1941 WCBW (now WCBS) TV channel 2 in NY, NY (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1941 WNBT TV (W2XBS, Now WNBC) channel 4 in NYC (NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1942 WWI: German troops conquer Black Sea port city of Sevastopol, Crimea, after a 250 battle; Russia takes it back in 1944
- 1943 "Pay-as-you-go" - 1st withholding tax from paychecks
- 1944 2,500+ killed in London/SE England by German flying bombs
Bretton Woods Conference
1944 Bretton Woods Conference starts, dominated by Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes and leads to establishment of the IMF and the World Bank
Eisenhower Visits Front
1944 General Eisenhower visits front in Normandy
- 1944 German officer Claus von Stauffenberg promoted to colonel
- 1944 US headquarter moves to Colombières Normandy
- 1944 Von Rundstedt against Keitel: "Sign peace, idiots!"
- 1945 55th Postmaster General: Robert E Hannegan of Mo takes office
- 1945 Allies troop land on Balikpapan
Greenberg's Return Game
1945 First MLB superstar to return from WW II, Hank Greenberg homers in his 1st game (Detroit beats Philadelphia A's 9-5)
The Cession of Sarawak
1946 The last White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke cedes Sarawak to the British Crown
- 1946 US drops atom bomb on Bikini atoll (4th atomic explosion)
- 1947 192m long passenger ship Willem Ruys (Achille Lauro) launched
- 1947 Basketball Association of America (BAA), which later became the National Basketball Association (NBA), holds its inaugural college player draft
- 1947 British Dominion Affairs office becomes Commonwealth Relations office
Bradman's Scores 128
1948 Australian cricket captain Don Bradman scores 128 in 141 mins with 15 fours in a tour match vs Surry
Campanella Debuts
1948 Brooklyn's future Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella debuts with 3 hits in a 6-4 loss to the rival NY Giants
- 1948 NYC subway fare goes to 10 cents, bus fare to 7 cents and combo fare at 12 cents
Magna Carta of the Information Age
1949 "Magna Carta of the Information Age" "A Mathematical Theory of Communication", article of book by Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver laying foundation for information theory, published in "Scientific American" [1]
- 1949 WBRC TV channel 6 in Birmingham, AL (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1949 WCCO TV channel 4 in Minneapolis-St Paul, MN (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1950 1st 407 US soldiers flown to South Korea
- 1950 NYC bus fare rises to 10 cents equal to subway fare, combo fare at 15 cents
- 1950 WHBF TV channel 4 in Rock Island, IL (CBS) begins broadcasting
Sports History
1951 Cleveland Indians veteran hurler Bob Feller pitches his 3rd career no-hitter beating Detroit Tigers, 2-1
- 1952 English architect Michael Ventris says he has solved one of the 20th century's greatest linguistic riddles, by deciphering Linear B in BBC interview. Is an ancient form of Greek on clay tablets from Minoan palace of Knossos. [1]
- 1953 KLAS TV channel 8 in Las Vegas, NV (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1953 KTVH (now KWCH) TV channel 12 in Hutchinson-Wichita, KS (CBS) begins
- 1954 WDBO (now WCPX) TV channel 6 in Orlando, FL (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1955 KOTA TV channel 3 in Rapid City, SD (ABC/NBC) begins broadcasting
TV Show Appearance
1956 Elvis Presley, wearing a tuxedo, appears on Steve Allen Show
- 1956 Ibrahim Hashiroe succeeds Said el-Moefti as premier of Jordan
Sports History
1956 LPGA Western Open Women's Golf, Wakonda CC: Beverly Hanson wins by 4 strokes from Louise Suggs; second of her 3 major titles
- 1957 International Geophysical Year begins (until Dec 31, 1958)
- 1957 WRLP TV channel 32 in Greenfield/Keene/Brat, Massachusetts (IND) begins broadcasting
- 1958 The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation links television broadcasting across Canada via microwave
- 1959 Heinrich Lubke elected President of West Germany
- 1959 Israeli Knesset agrees to weapon sales to West Germany
- 1959 The Party of the African Federation (PFA) holds its constitutive conference.
- 1959 World Refugee Year begins
- 1959 WVTV TV channel 18 in Milwaukee, WI (IND) begins broadcasting
Music History
1960 Benjamin Britten's cantata "Carmen Baseliense" premieres in Basel, Switzerland
Event of Interest
1960 Fidel Castro nationalizes Esso, Shell & Texaco in Cuba
- 1960 First Nations peoples in Canada granted the right to vote in Federal elections, while still retaining their status and treaty rights [1]
- 1960 Ghana becomes a republic
- 1960 No passports needed inside Benelux
- 1960 Robert Bolt's "A Man For All Seasons" premieres in London
- 1960 The independent Somali Democratic Republic, commonly known as Somalia, is formed out of former British and Italian territories
- 1960 USSR shoots down US RB-47 reconnaissance plane
- 1961 Haleakala National Park forms in Hawaii
- 1961 KNDU TV channel 25 in Richland-Pasco-Kennew, WA (NBC) 1st broadcast
