Events 1 - 200 of 287
Event of Interest
30 BC Octavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic

Augustus Caesar
Event of Interest
527 Justinian I becomes the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire

Justinian I
- 607 Ono no Imoko is dispatched as envoy to the Sui court in China (Traditional Japanese date: July 3, 607)
- 649 Pope Martinus I chosen successor of Theodorus I [or 8/7]
- 860 Peace of Koblenz: Charles the Bald, Louis the German & Lotharius II
- 902 Aghlabid emir Ibrahim II of Ifriqiya destroys Taormina, Sicily
- 1021 Synod of Pavia: emperor Henry II convicts married priest
Norman Invasion of England
1086 Results of the Domesday inquiry presented to William the Conqueror in Salisbury (the date of compilation and the Great Domesday are historically contestable)
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Historic Discovery
1498 Christopher Columbus lands on "Isla Santa" (Venezuela)

Christopher Columbus
Event of Interest
1628 Emperor Ferdinand II demands Austria Protestant convert to Catholicism

Ferdinand II
Event of Interest
1711 Surrounded Tsar Peter the Great flees Azov

Peter the Great
- 1715 First Doggett's Coat and Badge race (Waterman's race) held on Thames River (London Bridge to Chelsea)
- 1717 Nicholas Rowe is appointed British Poet Laureate by George I
- 1720 South Sea bubble reaches a frenzy in London as the stock price of the South Sea Company peaks at £1,000, collapses soon after and falls to £124 by December
- 1732 Foundations laid for Bank of England
- 1759 Battle at Minden, Westfalen: Ferdinand van Brunswick beats France
Oxygen Discovered!
1774 English chemist Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen by isolating it in its gaseous state
Learn More- 1780 Sweden declares neutrality
Surrender at Yorktown
1781 British army under general Cornwallis occupies Yorktown, Virginia
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Victory in Battle
1798 Battle of the Nile: British Royal Navy under Admiral Horatio Nelson attacks and decimates the French fleet at Aboukir Bay off the Nile Delta, Egypt

Horatio Nelson
Britain Abolishes the Slave Trade
1834 Slavery Abolition Act 1833 comes into effect, abolishes slavery throughout the British Empire
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Event of Interest
1836 As part of their homeward journey on the HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin returns to Bahia in Brazil

Charles Darwin
- 1838 Apprenticeship system abolished in most of the British Empire. Former slaves no longer indentured to former owners.
- 1840 Labourer slaves in most of the British Empire are emancipated
- 1842 Rotherhithe Tunnel under the Thames opens
- 1842 Lombard Street Riot erupts in Philadelphia [1] [2]
- 1852 San Francisco Methodists establish 1st black church, Zion Methodist
- 1855 Castle Clinton in NYC opens as 1st US receiving station for immigrants
- 1861 Brazil recognizes Confederacy
- 1863 Battle of Little Rock, Arkansas; start of Chattanooga campaign
- 1863 Cavalry action near Brandy Station-End of Gettysburg Campaign
- 1867 Blacks vote for 1st time in a US state election in the South (Tennessee)
- 1869 1st voyage down Colorado River
- 1870 Irish Land Act gives rights to tenants of landlords in Ireland
- 1876 Colorado becomes 38th state of the Union
- 1881 US Quarantine Station authorized for Angel Island, San Francisco Bay
- 1883 A papyrus offered to British Museum for £10,000 (forgery)
- 1883 Amsterdam's Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky gets electric lights
- 1883 Inland postal service begins in Great Britain
- 1886 Great Britain annexes Kermadec-Island near New Zealand
- 1888 The roof of Seville's cathedral collapses after an earthquake
Event of Interest
1890 Cecil Rhodes' colonists reach Lundi

Cecil Rhodes
- 1896 George Samuelson completes rowing Atlantic (NY to England)
Historic Publication
1900 The 1st Michelin Guide is published by the brothers Édouard and André Michelin as a hotel and restaurant reference guide to encourage more road travel and thus boost tire sales (exact date beyond Aug 1900 unknown) [1]

André Michelin
- 1901 Burials within San Francisco City limits prohibited
- 1902 Building begins on Dutch public housing
- 1902 Mine accident in Wollongong, Australia (100 die)
- 1906 Brooklyn Superbas MLB pitcher Harry McIntire no-hits Pittsburgh for 10 2/3 innings but loses in 13th, 1-0 on an unearned run
- 1907 U.S. Army Signal Corps establish a small Aeronautical Division
Event of Interest
1907 Bank of Italy (later Bank of America) opens 1st branch at 3433 Mission Street, San Francisco

Amadeo Giannini
Event of Interest
1911 Omar Bradley, aged 18, begins education in West Point Military Academy

Omar Bradley
Declaration of War
1914 Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany declares war on his nephew Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in WWI

Wilhelm II

Nicholas II
Event of Interest
1914 Marcus Garvey and others found the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Jamaica with aim of creating black-governed nation in Africa

Marcus Garvey
Event of Interest
1919 Queen Wilhelmina opens 1st Air Fair in Amsterdam

Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
- 1920 Peace of Riga-Independence of Latvia
- 1922 Hendrikus Colijn becomes political editor-in-chief of The Standard
- 1922 In Italy, the socialist 'Alianza del Lavoro' declare a national strike which collapses immediately and fascist forces destroy union and socialist headquarters
- 1924 Brooklyn pitcher Dazzy Vance strikes out a MLB record 7 consecutive batters as the Robins beat Cubs, 4-0
- 1925 Shortwave-radio link between Kootwijk and Netherland East-Indies
- 1926 Battles between Druze & French in Damascus
- 1926 Failed assassination on General Primo de Rivera in Barcelona
- 1927 Earliest date for a film to be considered for the Academy Awards
Baseball Record
1933 NY's future Hall of Fame pitcher Carl Hubbell sets MLB record for consecutive scoreless innings at 45 1/3 as Giants lose 3-1 v Boston Braves

Carl Hubbell
- 1933 Death penalty for anti-fascists in Germany
Event of Interest
1933 National Recovery Administration (NRA) is founded with Hugh S. Johnson as its first director

Hugh S. Johnson

Adolf Hitler
- 1936 Benjamin Mays named president of Morehouse College
- 1941 Luftwaffe bombs German 23rd division
- 1941 NY Yankees pitcher Lefty Gomez sets MLB record for most walks in a shutout, issuing 11 in 9-0 win v St. Louis Browns
- 1941 The first Jeep is produced.
- 1942 German occupier demands listing of all Dutch telephone subscribers
- 1942 Race riots in Harlem, New York
- 1943 Japan declares Burma Independence under U Ba Maw
- 1943 Race riot in Harlem, NYC
- 1943 Sunderland seaplanes sink U-454 & U-383
Election of Interest
1944 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. elected 1st African-American congressman from New York

Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Event of Interest
1944 Anne Frank's last diary entry; 3 days later she is arrested

Anne Frank
- 1944 General Montgomery takes command of 12th & 21st army
- 1944 US 90th division occupies St Hilaire-du-Harcourt
- 1944 US troops enter Tessy-sur-Vir
- 1944 Polish resistance fighters of the Home Army launch the Warsaw Uprising, the largest military effort undertaken by a resistance movement in occupied Europe
- 1945 Japanese city Toyama destroyed by B-29's
- 1945 NY Giants outfielder Mel Ott hits historic 500th MLB home run off Braves Johnny Hutchings, joins Babe Ruth & Jimmy Foxx as only players to reach milestone
Event of Interest
1946 US President Harry Truman establishes Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)

Harry Truman
- 1947 "Medium & The Telephone" opens at Barrymore Theater NYC for 211 performances
- 1948 The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations is founded.
- 1950 American Bowling Congress ends all-white-males rule
- 1950 Guam Organic Act establishes Guam as an unincorporated US territory
- 1950 King Leopold of Belgium abdicates, Baudouin becomes King
Election of Interest
1951 David Ben-Gurion's Mapai-party wins Israeli parliamentary election

David Ben-Gurion
- 1953 California introduces sales tax (for education)
Event of Interest
1953 Fidel Castro arrested in Cuba

Fidel Castro
- 1953 KMBC TV channel 9 in Kansas City, Missouri (MET/ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1953 KOBI TV channel 5 in Medford, Oregon (NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1953 Northern Rhodesia becomes part of Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
- 1953 Boston Red Sox pitcher Ben Flowers sets then MLB record of 8 consecutive games in relief
- 1954 WKBT TV channel 8 in La Crosse, WI (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1954 South African Natives Resettlement Act comes into being, empowers the Government to remove Africans from any area within and next to the magisterial district of Johannesburg
- 1954 Tour de France: Louison Bobet of France wins by 15' 49" from Ferdinand Kübler, for the second of his 3 consecutive wins
- 1955 1st microgravity research begins
- 1955 Tengku Abdul Rahman forms Malacca government
- 1955 WILL TV channel 12 in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1956 KRCR TV channel 7 in Redding-Chico, California (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1957 1st commercial building heated by Sun (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Baseball Record
1957 Gil Hodges hits his 13th MLB career grand slam, a NL record and the last ever by a Brooklyn Dodgers player

Gil Hodges
- 1957 Ex MLB outfielder Glen Gorbous throws a regulation baseball a record 136m (445' 10") in a game promotion
- 1957 US and Canada create North American Air Defense Command (NORAD)
- 1958 US 1st class postage up to 4 cents (had been 3 cents for 26 years)
- 1958 US atomic submarine USS Nautilus begins 1st transit of North Pole "operation Sunshine"
Catholic Encyclical
1959 Pope John XXIII publishes encyclical Sacerdotii nostri primordia

John XXIII
- 1959 WAAY TV channel 31 in Huntsville, AL (ABC/NBC) begins broadcasting
Music Recording
1960 Aretha Franklins 1st recording session

Aretha Franklin
Event of Interest
1961 Australian cricket captain Richie Benaud takes 6 for 70 in England's 2nd innings for a 54 run 4th Test win at Old Trafford

Richie Benaud
- 1961 German DR limits traffic to West Berlin
- 1961 New San Francisco Hall of Justice opens
- 1961 Whitney Young Jr named executive director of National Urban League
- 1962 Boston Red Sox pitcher Bill Monboquette no-hits Chicago White Sox, 1-0
- 1962 Failed assassination on President Nkrumah of Ghana
- 1963 Beatles Book is sold out on its 1st day of sale
- 1963 Germany FR annexes Elten village
- 1963 WQAD TV channel 8 in Moline, Illinois (ABC) begins broadcasting
Davis Cup
1963 Arthur Ashe becomes first African-American tennis player to be named in the US Davis Cup team

Arthur Ashe
- 1964 ALM (Antillian Airlines) begins operation
- 1964 Beatles' single "A Hard Day's Night" goes #1 & stays #1 for 2 weeks
- 1964 Dan 'Big Daddy' Garlits becomes first drag racer to run the 1/4 mile at over 200mph (201.34mph at Island Dragway, New Jersey)
- 1965 Scottish Lotus driver Jim Clark wins the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring to clinch his second F1 World Drivers Championship
- 1966 Charles Whitman wounds 31 and kills 16 at University of Texas
- 1966 Yakubu Gowon becomes Nigerian Head of State after a military coup d'état
- 1967 Izaak Samkalden becomes mayor of Amsterdam
- 1967 WBRA TV channel 15 in Roanoke, VA (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1968 Canada begins replacing silver with nickel in coins
- 1968 Cleveland Metroparks begins operating Zoo
- 1968 WXIX TV channel 19 in Cincinnati-Newport, OH (IND) begins broadcasting
- 1968 The coronation is held of Hassanal Bolkiah, the 29th Sultan of Brunei.
- 1969 110,000 attend Atlantic City Pop Festival
- 1969 36th Chicago Charities College All-Star Game: NY Jets 26, All-Stars 24 (74,208)
- 1969 Mariner 6 sends close-up photos of Mars
- 1970 EAA Convention moves from Rockford Ill to Oshkosh, Wi
- 1970 KTSD TV channel 10 in Pierre, SD (PBS) begins broadcasting
Baseball Record
1970 Future Hall of Fame outfielder Willie Stargell smacks 3 doubles and 2 homers in a 20-10 Pirates win v Braves

Willie Stargell
Music Concert
1971 George Harrison's concert for Bangladesh takes place in NYC

George Harrison
Event of Interest
1971 Richard Petty wins the Dixie 500 in Atlanta, Georgia to become the first NASCAR driver to win $1m in career earnings

Richard Petty
Event of Interest
1973 Struggling ABA club Virginia Squires trades star forward Julius Erving to New York Nets for George Carter and cash

Julius Erving
- 1973 H J Witteveen appointed as director of IMF
- 1973 MLB All Star catchers Thurman Munson of the NY Yankees and Boston Red Sox' Carlton Fisk brawl at home plate Fenway Park; Red Sox win, 3-2
- 1974 China's People's Liberation Army Navy, put into service ChangZheng 1, their first nuclear-powered submarine
- 1975 38 government leaders signs Helsinki accord
- 1975 41st Chicago Charities College All-Star Game: Pittsburgh 21, All-Stars 14 (54,103)
- 1975 Helsinki Pact guaranteeing boundaries, rights signed by 35 nations
- 1975 CSCE Final Act creates the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe
- 1976 XXI Summer Olympic Games, Montreal, Canada: Officially close
- 1976 Flash flood in Big Thompson Canyon Colo on Route 34, kills 139
- 1976 Seattle Seahawks take the field for the first time in pre-season game v SF 49ers at the newly constructed Kingdome in Seattle
Event of Interest
1976 Reigning world F1 champion Niki Lauda of Austria suffers a near fatal crash during the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim

Niki Lauda
Baseball Record
1977 San Francisco Giants 1st baseman Willie McCovey hits NL record 18th MLB career grand slam

Willie McCovey
Event of Interest
1977 Former Lockheed U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers crashes the news helicopter he was flying in Los Angeles

Francis Gary Powers