1594     Gustavus Adolphus (born) of Sweden  (died 1632) 1608     John Milton (born), English poet (died 1674) 1793     New York City’s first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is established by Noah Webster. 1872     In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first serving African-American governor of a U.S. state. 1883     Joseph Pilates (born), German physical culturist,… Continue reading →

1542    Mary, Queen of Scots (born), (died 1587) 1765    Eli Whitney (born), American inventor, invented the cotton gin (died 1825) 1859    Thomas De Quincey (died), English author (born 1785) 1861     William C. Durant (born), American businessman, founded General Motors and Chevrolet (died 1947) 1886    Diego Rivera (born), Mexican painter (died 1957) 1925    Sammy Davis, Jr…. Continue reading →

1732     The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London, England. 1817     William Bligh (died), English admiral and administrator, 4th Governor of New South Wales (born 1745) 1863     Richard Warren Sears (born), American businessman, co-founded Sears (died 1914) 1869     American outlaw Jesse James commits his first confirmed bank robbery in Gallatin, Missouri. 1873     Willa Cather… Continue reading →

1675     John Lightfoot (died), English churchman, academic, and scholar (born 1602) 1768     The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published. 1790     The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1823     Friedrich Max Müller (born), German philologist and orientalist (died 1900) 1865     The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified,… Continue reading →

1484    Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger as inquisitorsto root out alleged witchcraft in Germany and leads to one of the most oppressive witch hunts in European history. 1492    Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola (now… Continue reading →