Category: Today In History

44 BC – Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus, and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March. 493 – Odoacer, the first barbarian King of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, is slain by Theoderic...

1489 – The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice. 1558 – Ferdinand I appointed Holy Roman Emperor 1743 – First American town meeting in Boston’s Faneuil Hall 1757 – On board HMS Monarch (his own flagship), British Admiral John Byng is executed by firing squad for neglecting his duty “Pour encourager...

607 – 12th recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet 1519 – Cortez lands in Mexico 1639 – Cambridge College renamed Harvard for clergyman John Harvard 1677 – Massachusetts gains title to Maine for $6,000 1759 – 27th recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet 1781 – Sir William Herschel sees “comet” which turned out to be...

1497 – Nicolaus Copernicus’ first recorded astronomical observation 1522 – Marten Luther begins preaching his Invocavit Sermons in Wittenberg 1562 – Kissing in public banned in Naples 1745 – Bells for first American carillon shipped from England to Boston 1839 – Prussian government limits work week for children to 51 hours 1841 – US Supreme...

1702 – Queen Anne ascends throne upon death of King William III 1722 – Afghan monarch Mir Mahmud occupies Persia 1817 – The New York Stock Exchange is founded. 1862 – Confederate ironclad “Merrimack” launched 1884 – Susan B. Anthony addresses the U.S. House Judiciary Committee arguing for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting...

161 – Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, an unprecedented political arrangement in the Roman Empire 321 – Roman Emperor Constantine I decrees that Solis Invicti (sun-day) is the day of rest in the Empire. 1530 – King Henry VIII’s divorce request is denied by the...