Category: Today In History

307 – Jin Huidi, Chinese Emperor of the Jin dynasty, is poisoned and succeeded by Jin Huaidi. 1297 – François Grimaldi, disguised as a monk, leads his men to capture the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco, establishing his family as the rulers of Monaco. 1454 – The papal bull Romanus Pontifex awards the Kingdom...

1066 – Edward the Confessor dies childless, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England. 1757 – Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering, the traditional and gruesome form of capital punishment used...

46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina. 1847 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government. 1853 – After having been kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American South, Solomon Northup regains his freedom; his memoir Twelve Years a Slave later becomes a...

1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem. 1749 – Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont. 1749 – The first issue of Berlingske, Denmark’s oldest continually operating newspaper, is published. 1777 –  George Washington defeats British General Lord...

69 – General Vespasian’s troops occupy Rome after defeating the Emperor Vitellius 1046 – Synod of Sutri: German King Henry III removes Popes Gregory VI 1192 – Richard the Lionhearted captured in Vienna 1606 – Virginia Company settlers leave London to establish Jamestown, Virginia 1669 – First jury trial in Delaware; Marcus Jacobson condemned for...

324 – Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. 1795 – First state appropriation of money for road building, Kentucky 1843 – Charles Dickens publishes “A Christmas Carol,” in England 1903 – Williamsburg bridge opens between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Click here to watch the opening of the bridge 1918 – Robert Ripley began his “Believe...