1735     John Adams (born), American politician, 2nd President of the United States (died 1826) 1748     Martha Jefferson (born), American wife of Thomas Jefferson (died 1782) 1831     In Southampton County, Virginia, escaped slave Nat Turner is captured and arrested for leading the bloodiest slave rebellion in United States history. 1857     Georges Gilles de la Tourette (born),… Continue reading →

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 →