Today in History     September 5 Munich Massacre 1590 – Alexander Farnese’s army forces Henry IV of France to lift the siege of Paris. 1666 – Great Fire of London ends: Ten thousand buildings, including Old St Paul’s Cathedral, are destroyed, but only six people are known to have died. 1698 – In an […]

Today in History     September 4 Click to watch Albert Schweitzer at his pedal-piano  in Lambarene – with cat and fly. “There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life – music and cats.” 476 – Romulus Augustulus is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself “King of Italy”, thus ending the Western Roman […]

Today in History   July 31 JEAN DUBUFFET   Maquette zur Lithografie  “Nez carotte” April 23, 1961 30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian’s forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide. 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: 6th […]

Today in History July 30 An early example of the Volkswagen Beetle 762 – Baghdad is founded. 1609 – Beaver Wars: At Ticonderoga (now Crown Point, New York), Samuel de Champlain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs on behalf of his native allies. 1626 – An earthquake in Naples, Italy, kills about 10,000 people. 1729 […]

Today in History ~ July 25 Constantine l 306 – Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops. 1261 – The city of Constantinople is recaptured by Nicaean forces under the command of Alexios Strategopoulos, re-establishing the Byzantine Empire. 1467 – The Battle of Molinella: The first battle in Italy in which firearms are used extensively. […]

Today in History     July 24 The Dust Bowl 1487 – Citizens of Leeuwarden, Netherlands, strike against a ban on foreign beer. 1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate and replaced by her 1-year-old son James VI. 1847 – After 17 months of travel, Brigham Young leads 148 Mormon pioneers into Salt […]

Today in History ~ July 23 Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia         photo by Arnold Newman 1958 811 – Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I plunders the Bulgarian capital of Pliska and captures Khan Krum’s treasury. 1632 – Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe, France. 1829 – In the United States, William […]

Today in History July 22 Happy Birthday Alex Trebek, with his wife Jean Currican Trebek 1456 – Ottoman wars in Europe: Siege of Belgrade: John Hunyadi, Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, defeats Mehmet II of the Ottoman Empire 1587 – Roanoke Colony: A second group of English settlers arrives on Roanoke Island off North […]

Today in History July 19 Musicians in the Orchestra, 1872, oil on canvas,  by Edgar Degas AD 64 – The Great Fire of Rome causes widespread devastation and rages on for six days, destroying half of the city. 1545 – The Tudor warship Mary Rose sinks off Portsmouth; in 1982 the wreck is salvaged in […]

Today in History July 18 The Messerschmitt Me 262 was the world’s first jet fighter aircraft. Click to watch and hear its jet engines. 390 BC – Roman-Gaulic Wars: Battle of the Allia – a Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, leading to the subsequent sacking of Rome 64 – Great Fire of Rome begins […]

Today in History July 17 The cover of Punch magazine volume 1, published in London in 1841. 1054 – Emperor Henry III crowns his son Henry IV king 1203 – Siege of Constantinople begins during the fourth Crusade, Crusaders aboad a Venetian fleet attack the city 1762 – Catherine II becomes tsar of Russia upon […]

Today in History July 16 The first atomic explsion 463 – Start of Lunar Cycle of Hilarius 622 – Moslem Era begins-Mahomet begins flight from Mecca to Medina 1054 – Three Roman legates fracture relations between Western and Eastern Christian churches by placing invalid Papal Bull of Excommunication on altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon […]

Today in History July 15 Rembrandt’s Danae was first painted in 1636, but later extensively reworked probably in the 1640s. It is in the Hermitage Museum, in St. Petersburg, Russia. 1099 – The first Crusaders capture, plunder Jerusalem 1381 – John Ball, a leader in the Peasants’ Revolt, is hung, drawn and quartered in the […]

Today in History July 12 Hamilton and Burr duel in New Jersey AD 70 – The armies of Titus attack the walls of Jerusalem after six months of battle. Three days later they breach the walls, which enables the army to destroy the Second Temple. 1806 – Sixteen German imperial states leave the Holy Roman […]

Today in History July 10 Tesla 1086 – King Canute IV of Denmark is killed by rebellious peasants. 1212 – The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground. 1553 – Lady Jane Grey takes the throne of England. 1850 – President Millard Fillmore is sworn in, […]

Today in History July 9 Anne of Cleves was Queen of England from  January 6 to July 9, 1540 as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII  Portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger, c.1539. 1540 – King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. The French ambassador, Charles de Marillac, […]

Today in History The Liberty Bell Click here to listen 951 – Paris is founded 1497 – Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama departs on his first voyage, which leads him to become first European to reach India by sea. 1693 – The City of New York authorizes the first police uniforms in American colonies 1835 […]

Today in History July 3 Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent-Motorwagen 987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revolution in 1792. 1754 – French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces. 1775 – American Revolutionary […]

Today in History July 2 Amelia Earheart 1698 – Thomas Savery patents the first steam pump 1843 – An alligator falls from sky during a thunderstorm in Charleston, South Carolina 1890 – Congress passes Sherman Antitrust Act The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 is an antitrust law that regulates competition among enterprises, passed by Congress […]

Today in History July 1 1656 – First Quakers Mary Fisher and Ann Austin arrive in Boston and are subsequently imprisoned. 70 – Roman General Titus and his forces set up battering rams to assault the walls of Jerusalem 251 – The Battle of Abrittus is won by the Goths against the Romans.Roman Emperors Decius […]