Category: Today In History

754 – Boniface, Anglo-Saxon missionary, is killed by a band of pagans at Dokkum in Frisia. 1817 – The first Great Lakes steamer, the Frontenac, is launched. 1829 – HMS Pickle captures the armed slave ship Voladora off the coast of Cuba. 1832 – The June Rebellion breaks out in Paris in an attempt to...

455 – King Gaiseric and the Vandals sack Rome – Rome looted for 14 days 1098 – First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ends as Crusader forces take the city; the second siege began five days later. 1615 – First Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France. 1692 – Bridget Bishop is...

1215 – Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu. 1495 – A monk, John Cor, records the first known batch of Scotch whisky. 1533 – Anne Boleyn is crowned Queen of England. 1535 –...

455 – Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome. 1578 – King Henry III lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), the oldest bridge of Paris, France. 1669 – Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary. 1790 – The United...

AD 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem. Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall. The Romans build a circumvallation, cutting down all trees within fifteen kilometers. 1381 – Beginning of the Peasants’ Revolt in England. 1431 – Hundred Years’ War: In Rouen, France, the 19-year-old...

1607 – 100 English settlers disembark in Jamestown, the first English colony in America 1626 – Peter Minuit buys Manhattan 1689 – The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants. Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded. 1798 – The Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the United Irishmen against British rule begins. 1813 –...