6 August

258     Pope Sixtus II (died) 1221    Saint Dominic (died), Spanish priest, founded the Dominican Order (born 1170) 1538    Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. 1619    Barbara Strozzi (born), Italian singer and composer (died 1677) 1623    Anne Hathaway (died), English wife of William Shakespeare (born 1555 or 1556) 1637    Ben Jonson (died), English… Continue reading

5 August

882     Louis III of France (died) (born 863) 1100    Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey. 1305    William Wallace, who led the Scottish resistance against England, is captured by the English near Glasgow and transported to London where he is put on trial and executed. 1540    Joseph Justus Scaliger (born), French philologist… Continue reading

4 August

367      Gratian, son of Roman Emperor Valentinian I, is named co-Augustus by his father and associated to the throne aged eight. 1060   Henry I of France (died) (born 1008) 1113     Gertrude of Saxony (died) (born 1030) 1290   Leopold I (born), Duke of Austria (died 1326) 1327    First War of Scottish Independence: James Douglas leads a… Continue reading

3 August

1492    Christopher Columbus sets sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain. 1509    Étienne Dolet (born), French scholar (died 1546) 1527    The first known letter from North America is sent by John Rut while at St. John’s, Newfoundland. 1678    Robert LaSalle builds the Le Griffon, the first known ship built on the Great Lakes. 1692    John… Continue reading

2 August

216 BC  Second Punic War: Battle of Cannae – The Carthaginian army led by Hannibal defeats a numerically superior Roman army under command of consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro. 686     Pope John V (died) (born 635) 1100    William II of England (died) (born 1056) 1343    Olivier de Clisson is found guilty of… Continue reading