Today in History January 21 Rasputin 1535 – Following the Affair of the Placards, French Protestants are burned at the stake in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris 1774 – Abdul Hamid I became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam. 1789 – The first American novel, The Power of […]

Today in History January 8 Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un 307 – Jin Huidi, Chinese Emperor of the Jin dynasty, is poisoned and succeeded by Jin Huaidi. 1297 – François Grimaldi, disguised as a monk, leads his men to capture the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco, establishing his family as the rulers of Monaco. […]

Today in History January 6 Click here to hear FDR’s Four Freedoms speech before Congress 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead […]

Today in History December 17 SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with sub-orbital spaceflight capability at speeds of up to 900 m/s (3,000 ft/s), using a hybrid rocket motor. 283 – St Gaius begins his reign as Catholic Pope 546 – Gothic War (535-554): The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome by bribing the […]

Today in History December 4 Juliette Recamier was only child of the King’s counsellor and his wife Julie Mattan. Beautiful and educated, she became a bride at aged fifteen to a banker 30 years her senior and became a socialite, whose salon drew Parisians from the political and literary circles of the early 19th century. […]

Today in History December 2 Charles Dickens 1697 – St Paul’s Cathedral opens in London 1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned emperor of France in Paris 1816 – First savings bank in US opens (Philadelphia Savings Fund Society) 1845 – Manifest Destiny: President James K. Polk announces to Congress that the United States should aggressively […]

Today in History November 25 Castro 1343 – A tsunami, caused by an earthquake in the Tyrrhenian Sea, devastates Naples and the Maritime Republic of Amalfi, among other places. 1487 – Elizabeth of York is crowned Queen of England. The new consort of King Henry VII travelled by barge from Greenwich to the Tower of […]

Today in History November 20 Dali’s Mustache – Photo by Philippe Halsman 1194 – Palermo is conquered by Emperor Henry VI. 1272 – Edward I proclaimed King of England 1637 – Peter Minuit and first Swedish immigrants to Delaware sail from Sweden 1789 – New Jersey is first state to ratify Bill of Rights 1795 […]

Today in History November 19 President Abraham Lincoln “… and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth” 1095 – At the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II calls for a Crusade to the Holy Land. 1493 – Christopher Columbus goes ashore on an island called […]

Today in History November 14 1889 – New York World reporter Nellie Bly aka Elizabeth Cochran, began her attempt to surpass fictitious journey of Jules Verne’s Phileas Fogg by traveling around world in less than 80 days She succeeded, finishing the trip in 72 days and 6 hours 1380 – King Charles VI of France […]

Today in History November 13 1789 – Ben Franklin writes “Nothing . . . certain but death and taxes” 1002 – English king Ethelred II launches massacre of Danish settlers 1775 – American Revolutionary forces capture Montreal 1789 – Ben Franklin writes “Nothing . . . certain but death & taxes” 1841 – James Braid […]

Today in History November 12 Henry Bowers, Titus Oates, Edgar Evans, Robert Falcon Scott, and Edward Wilson at the South Pole on Jan. 18, 1912. 954 – The 13-year-old Lothair III is crowned at the Abbey of Saint-Remi as king of the West Frankish Kingdom. 1793 – Jean Sylvain Bailly, the first Mayor of Paris, […]

Today in History November 7 1910: Pilot Philip Parmalee, ready for take off in a Wright Model B. 1492 – The Ensisheim meteorite, the oldest meteorite with a known date of impact, strikes the Earth around noon in a wheat field outside the village of Ensisheim, Alsace, France. 1665 – The London Gazette, the oldest […]

Today in History November 6 The Edsel 447 – A powerful earthquake destroys large portions of the Walls of Constantinople, including 57 towers. 1217 – The Charter of the Forest is sealed at St Paul’s Cathedral, London by King Henry III, acting under the regency of William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke which re-establishes for […]

Today in History November 5 Raymond Loewy designed several streamlined steam locomotives for the Pennsylvania Railroad, including the experimental S1 seen here. When built in 1938 it was the largest locomotive ever constructed with a rigid frame, and though fast and powerful no more were built due to some operating flaws.  “The Big Engine” was […]

Today in History October 30 Orson Welles 758 – Guangzhou is sacked by Arab and Persian pirates. 1831 – Nat Turner is arrested for leading the bloodiest slave rebellion in United States history. 1925 – John Logie Baird creates Britain’s first television transmitter. 1938 – Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells’s […]

Today in History October 29 Sandy arrives on West Street                         photo: Alison Simko 539 BC –Cyrus the Great (founder of Persian Empire) entered the capital of Babylon and allowed the Jews to return to their land. 312 – Constantine the Great enters Rome […]

Today in History October 28 Elvis receiving the polio vaccine on national TV 312 – Constantine I defeats Maxentius, becoming the sole Roman emperor in the West. 969 – The Byzantine Empire recovers Antioch from Arab rule. 1492 – Christopher Columbus lands in Cuba on his first voyage to the New World. 1726 – The […]

Today in History October 22 The derailment occurred at 4pm on October 22, 1895 when the Granville – Paris Express overran the buffer stop at its Gare Montparnasse terminus. Click here to hear how it happened 794 – Emperor Kanmu relocates the Japanese capital to Heian-kyō (now Kyoto). 1707 – Four British naval vessels run […]

Today in History October 21 Jack Kerouac 1097 – First Crusade: Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemund of Taranto, and Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, begin the Siege of Antioch. 1520 – Ferdinand Magellan discovers a strait now known as Strait of Magellan. 1600 – Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats the leaders of rival Japanese clans […]