Category: Today In History

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…