70 Titus and his Roman legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem in the Siege of Jerusalem. 754 Saint Boniface (died), English missionary, bishop, and martyr 1257 Kraków, in Poland, receives city rights. 1716 Roger Cotes (died), English mathematician (born 1682) 1723 Adam Smith (born), Scottish economist and philosopher (died 1790) 1757 Pierre Jean George… Continue reading
1039 Conrad II (died), Holy Roman Emperor (born 990) 1411 King Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries. 1604 Claudia de’ Medici (born), Italian daughter of Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (died 1648) 1694 François Quesnay… Continue reading
1539 Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain. 1608 Samuel de Champlain completes his third voyage to New France at Tadoussac, Quebec. 1621 The Dutch West India Company receives a charter for New Netherland. 1657 William Harvey (died), English physician (born 1578) 1726 James Hutton (born), Scottish geologist and physician (died 1797) 1781 Jack Jouett… Continue reading
What do Spanish moss, Jack Daniel’s No. 10, Yoknapatawpha County, and Darwinian evolution have in common? The first three conjure up images of the American South, but it is Tillandsia usneoides (Spanish moss) that makes us think of expansive white columned mansions and giant southern live oaks. You’ve seen these trees, growing in the shape… Continue reading
1535 Pope Leo XI (born) (died 1605) 1692 Bridget Bishop is the first person to go to trial in the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Found guilty, she is hanged on June 10. 1731 Martha Washington (born), American wife of George Washington, 1st First Lady of the United States (died 1802) 1740 Marquis de… Continue reading