Category: Today In History

1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery. 1613 – Mikhail I is unanimously elected Tsar by a national assembly,beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia. 1804 – The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales. 1848 – Karl...

1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark. 1547 – Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey. 1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by United States President George Washington....

116 – Emperor Trajan sends laureatae to the Roman Senate at Rome on account of his victories and being conqueror of Parthia. 1804 – First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS Philadelphia. 1862 – American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee. 1933 – The Blaine...

881 – Pope John VIII crowns Charles the Fat, the King of Italy: Holy Roman Emperor 1502 – Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India. 1554 – A year after claiming the throne of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason. 1832 – Ecuador...

1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. 1590 – Luis de Carabajal the younger is tortured by the Inquisition in Mexico City. 1693 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is granted a charter...