1618     English adventurer, writer, and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I of England. 1618     Walter Raleigh, English (died), soldier and explorer (born 1554) 1675     Leibniz makes the first use of the long s (∫) as a symbol of the integral in calculus. 1787     Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni receives its… Continue reading →

1538     The first university in the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is established in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic. 1636     A vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establishes the first college in what would become the United States, Harvard University. 1704     John Locke (died), English philosopher (born… Continue reading →

312                   Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. 1275     Traditional founding of the city of Amsterdam. 1327     Elizabeth de Burgh (died), Scottish wife of Robert I of Scotland (born 1289) 1449    Ulugh Beg (died), Persian astronomer, mathematician, and sultan (born 1394) 1485    Rodolphus Agricola (died), Dutch philosopher,… Continue reading →

899      Alfred the Great (died), English king (born 849) 1774    The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1775     King George III of Great Britain goes before Parliament to declare the American colonies in rebellion, and authorized a military response to quell the American Revolution. 1776     Benjamin Franklin departs from America for France on a… Continue reading →

1825     Johann Strauss II (born), Austrian composer (died 1899) 1838     Georges Bizet (born), French composer (died 1875) 1856     Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger (born), Croatian geologist, paleontologist, and archeologist (died 1936) 1864     John Francis Dodge (born), American businessman, co-founded the Dodge Company (died 1920) 1881     Pablo Picasso (born), Spanish painter and sculptor (died 1973) 1921     Bat Masterson (born),… Continue reading →