Category: Today In History

538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius 1894 – Coca-Cola is bottled and sold for the first time in Vicksburg, Mississippi, by local soda fountain operator Joseph A. Biedenharn. 1918 – Moscow becomes the...

141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China. 1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg. 1566 – David Rizzio, private secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots, is murdered in the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh,...

1618 – Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion. 1736 – Nader Shah, founder of the Afsharid dynasty, is crowned Shah of Iran. 1775 – An anonymous writer, thought by some to be Thomas Paine, publishes “African Slavery in America”, the first article in the American colonies calling for the emancipation of slaves...

321 – Emperor Constantine I decrees that the dies Solis Invicti (sun-day) is the day of rest in the Empire. 1277 – Stephen Tempier, bishop of Paris, condemns 219 philosophical and theological theses. 1573 – A peace treaty is signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice, ending the Ottoman-Venetian War and leaving...

363 – Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death. 1496 – King Henry VII of England issues letters patent to John Cabot and his sons, authorising them to explore unknown lands. 1616 – Nicolaus Copernicus’ book On...

537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his bucellarii are almost cut off. 1498 – Vasco da Gama’s fleet visits the Island of Mozambique. 1561 – Mendoza, Argentina is founded by...