1520     After navigating through a strait at the southern end of South America, three ships under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reach the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.  Subsequently, the strait is named the Strait of Magellan. 1582     In Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare and… Continue reading →

8 BC     Horace (died), Roman poet (born 65 BC) 176       Emperor Marcus Aurelius grants his son Commodus the rank of Imperator and makes him Supreme Commander of the Roman legions. 1811      Andrew Meikle (died), Scottish engineer, designed the Threshing machine (born 1719) 1839     In Boston, Massachusetts, the American Statistical Association is founded. 1843     Cornelius Vanderbilt… Continue reading →

1476     Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Bathory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time. 1604     Johannes Bach (born), German composer and musician (died 1673) 1607     John Harvard (born), English-American minister (died 1638) 1609     Henry Dunster (born), English-American clergyman and academic,… Continue reading →

1783    The last British troops leave New York City three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris. 1835     Andrew Carnegie (born), Scottish-American businessman, founded the Carnegie Steel Company (died 1919) 1844     Karl Benz (born), German engineer and businessman, founded Mercedes-Benz (died 1929) 1864    A group of Confederate operatives calling themselves the Confederate Army… Continue reading →

1632     Baruch Spinoza (born), Dutch philosopher (died 1677) 1642     Abel Tasman becomes the first European to discover the island Van Diemen’s Land (later renamed Tasmania). 1713     Junípero Serra (born), Spanish missionary (died 1784) 1835     The Texas Provincial Government authorizes the creation of a horse-mounted police force called the Texas Rangers (which is now the Texas… Continue reading →