Category: Today In History

*AD 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate. *1533 – Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn. *1765 – Port Egmont, the first British settlement in the Falkland Islands at the southern tip of South America, is founded. *1858 – The Wedding...

AD 41 – Roman Emperor Caligula, known for his eccentricity and sadistic despotism, is assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards. The Guard then proclaims Caligula’s uncle Claudius as Emperor 1848 – California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento. 1943 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchillconclude...

393 – Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor. 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao. 1556 – The deadliest earthquake in history, the Shaanxi earthquake, hits Shaanxi province, China. The death toll may have been as high as 830,000....

613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (Caesar) by his father Heraclius at Constantinople. 1506 – The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrives at the Vatican. 1901 – Edward VII is proclaimed King after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria. 1905 – Bloody Sunday in Saint Petersburg, beginning of the 1905 revolution....

474 – Seven-year-old Leo II succeeds his maternal grandfather Leo I as Byzantine emperor. He dies ten months later. 1591 – King Naresuan of Siam kills Crown Prince Mingyi Swa of Burma in single combat, for which this date is now observed as Royal Thai Armed Forces day. 1778 – James Cook is the first...

38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey. 395 – Upon the death of Emperor Theodosius I, the Roman Empire is permanently divided into the Eastern Roman Empire under Arcadius, and the Western Roman Empire under Honorius. 1524 – Giovanni...