Category: Today In History

917 – Liu Yan declares himself emperor, establishing the Southern Han state in southern China, at his capital of Panyu. 1666 – Great Fire of London ends: Ten thousand buildings, including Old St Paul’s Cathedral, are destroyed, but only six people are known to have died. 1698 – In an effort to Westernize his nobility,...

1680 – Pueblo Indians capture Santa Fe from the Spanish during the Pueblo Revolt. 1831 – Nat Turner leads black slaves and free blacks in a rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, which will claim the lives of 55 to 65 whites. 1888 – The first successful adding machine in the United States is patented by...

1540 – Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of treason. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day. 1854 – USS Constellation (1854), the last all-sail warship built by the United States Navy, is commissioned. 1866 – At the age of 18, Vinnie Ream becomes the first and youngest female...

1469 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Edgecote Moor, pitting the forces of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick against those of Edward IV of England, takes place. 1745 – The first recorded women’s cricket match takes place near Guildford, England. 1775 – The office that would later become the United States Post...

1593 – Henry IV of France publicly converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism. 1603 – James VI of Scotland is crowned king of England (James I of England), bringing the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into personal union. Political union would occur in 1707. 1609 – The English ship Sea Venture, en route...

1487 – Citizens of Leeuwarden, Netherlands strike against a ban on foreign beer. 1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate and replaced by her 1-year-old son James VI. 1823 – Slavery is abolished in Chile. 1823 – In Maracaibo, Venezuela the naval Battle of Lake Maracaibo takes place, where Admiral José Prudencio...