1502 Pope Gregory XIII (born) (died 1585) 1536 Catherine of Aragon (died) (b. 1485) 1558 France takes Calais, the last continental possession of England. 1598 Boris Godunov becomes Czar of Russia. 1608 Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia. 1610 Galileo Galilei makes his first observation of the four Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa, although he… Continue reading
1412 Joan of Arc (born) (died1431) 1537 Alessandro de’ Medici (died), Duke of Florence (born 1510) 1540 King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves. 1714 Percivall Pott (born), English physician (died 1788) 1838 Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph system using dots and dashes (the forerunner of Morse code). 1852 Louis Braille (died), French… Continue reading
1066 Edward the Confessor (died), English king (born 1004) 1527 Felix Manz, a leader of the Anabaptist congregation in Zurich, Switzerland, is executed by drowning. 1554 A great fire occurs in Eindhoven, Netherlands. 1589 Catherine de’ Medici (died), Italian-French wife of Henry II of France (born 1519) 1713 Jean Chardin (died), French explorer (born 1643)… Continue reading
1581 James Ussher (born), Irish archbishop (died 1656) 1809 Louis Braille (born), French educator, invented Braille (died 1852) 1838 General Tom Thumb (born), American circus performer (died 1883) 1839 Carl Humann (born), German archaeologist (died 1896) 1847 Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government. 1865 The New York Stock Exchange… Continue reading
106 BC Cicero (born), Roman politician and philosopher (died 43 BC) 1431 Joan of Arc is handed over to Bishop Pierre Cauchon. 1496 Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine. 1521 Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem. 1777 American General George Washington defeats British General Lord Cornwallis… Continue reading