588 BC: Nebuchadnezzar II begins siege of Jerusalem, which ends in 586 BC with the Babylonian exile.
9 BC: Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon River with his army, defying Roman law and triggering civil war that transforms Rome from Republic to Dictatorship. His words: “The die is cast.”
630: Mohammad leads 10,000 soldiers from Medina to conquer Mecca in a nearly bloodless assault.
888: Death of Charles the Fat, Holy Roman Emperor known for his lassitude during a period of fractured alliances.
1412: The Medici family becomes banker to the Papacy, accelerating their rise as Italy’s most powerful family.
1493: Columbus departs Hispanola for Spain, completing the exploratory phase of his first New World voyage.
1559: Elizabeth I crowned Queen of England.
1707: Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union with England, creating the United Kingdom.
1729: Birth of Edmund Burke, considered the father of modern Conservatism.
1741: Birth of Benedict Arnold.
1755: Birth of Alexander Hamilton on Nevis Island in the Caribbean.
1759: British Museum opens in London.
1761: Britain captures Pondicherry, India from France.
1776: Thomas Paine publishes “Common Sense,” a 48-page pamphlet advocating American independence that becomes the highest per-capita bestseller in American history.
1784: US government ratifies the Treaty of Paris; Britain recognizes American independence.
1786: Virginia General Assembly accepts the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, written by Thomas Jefferson.
1794: Death of Edward Gibbon, author of “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”
1808: Birth of Salmon P. Chase, Lincoln’s Treasury Secretary who established national banking and later became Chief Justice.
1831: Birth of Horatio Alger Jr., writer of inspirational stories about boys rising from poverty.
1833: President Andrew Jackson writes to VP Martin Van Buren outlining his objections to South Carolina’s secession threats during the Nullification Crisis.
1863: CSS Alabama sinks USS Hatteras off Galveston, Texas.
1866: Royal Aeronautical Society established in London, 37 years before the Wright Brothers’ first flight.
1870: John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil Company of Ohio in Cleveland.
1875: Birth of Albert Schweitzer, musician, theologian, and medical missionary who won the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize.
1879: Anglo-Zulu War begins with British crossing the Buffalo River into Zululand.
1893: Birth of WWI fighter ace Herman Goering.
1898: Émile Zola publishes “J’Accuse,” exposing the Dreyfus Affair and dividing French society for eight years.
1901: First oil gusher erupts at Spindletop Field near Beaumont, Texas.
1902: Birth of Scottish runner and missionary Eric Liddell, subject of “Chariots of Fire.”
1920: Treaty of Versailles formally signed. French Marshal Foch: “This is not a peace. It is a twenty year armistice.”
1921: First publication of “The Adventures of Tintin” in Belgium.
1923: Birth of automotive designer Carroll Shelby.
1932: Birth of drag racer Don “Big Daddy” Garlits.
1938: Birth of Willie McCovey; Norway annexes Queen Maude Land in Antarctica.
1943: British-Chinese Agreement ends British extraterritorial rights in China; Japanese complete evacuation of Guadalcanal (Operation KE); Casablanca Conference establishes unconditional surrender policy (Roosevelt becomes first sitting president to fly).
1950: First flight of MiG-17 fighter.
1951: Birth of Rush Limbaugh.
1953: Birth of Pat Benatar.
1961: Birth of Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
1964: Karol Wojtyla elevated to Archbishop of Krakow.
1968: NASA’s Surveyor 7 lands near Tycho crater, completing 42 days of lunar surveys—the last unmanned US moon mission.
1976: Death of Agatha Christie, best-selling novelist of all time with 66 books.
1982: Air Florida Flight 90 crashes into DC’s 14th Street Bridge during snowstorm, killing 71.
1991: Congress authorizes military force against Iraq; Operation Desert Storm begins at midnight.
About the Author
If Americans were told to start washing their a$$es with straight bleach at 6AM today, the shelves would be empty…
Peter, you're correct. Whatever mental disease Kennedy Jr. has is spreading among the idiot population.
that's funny. its fake news. look at it. every article is negative about vaccines yet it is disguising itself as…
Awesome! Thanks for posting!
We submitted ours (2) on the first day it came out. I guess council is looking for "better" answers!