Two Orthodox priests from Dalmatian villages Kričke and Baljci became Catholics 1832. year. Their names were Petar Krička and Marko Busović. They became Catholic priests but remained faithful to their Byzantine rite and tradition. Upon returnal to th...
The well-known Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bikila died on this day. He became famous for winning the gold Olympic medal in 1960, after running the marathon barefoot. The Olympic Games were held in Rome that year. Furthermore, he also managed the...
Eduard Einstein was the son of the scientific genius Albert Einstein and Mileva Marić, a Serbian mathematician and physicist. Mileva was born in the town of Titel in modern Vojvodina (Serbia). Mileva received her secondary education in Zagreb (Croati...
Nazi politician Robert Ley – one of the most famous people in Germany on the eve of World War II – died on this day. Namely, Adolf Hitler personally appointed Robert Ley on the high function of the German Labor Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront – DAF). It...
Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger, a well-known Croatian paleontologist, was born in Zagreb in 1856. His birth name was Karl, but he Croatized it to Gorjanović at the age of 26. His first name Karl (Charles) is also considered cognate to the Croatian Dr...
On this day the U.S. Army received its first African American general in its history. This was an event of great historical significance, especially since there was still strong racial segregation in the southern U.S. For example, “colored” people we...
On this day in World War II, the Americans managed to sink the largest battleship in history – the Japanese Musashi. That mighty ship belonged to the Yamato class, and was built in Mitsubishi's shipyard in Nagasaki. It served as the flagship of the J...
On this day in 1946, the first photos of Earth were taken from space. It is very interesting that this was done using V-2 rockets which were designed in the time of Nazi Germany. Namely, Hitler's Third Reich had a rocket program led by the famous sci...
One of the most famous cathedrals in the world, the Notre-Dame de Chartres, was consecrated on this day in 1260. It is considered a true masterpiece of high gothic architecture. For example, the southern tower is 105 meters tall, but was built during...
One of the most famous cathedrals in the world, the Notre-Dame de Chartres, was consecrated on this day in 1260. It is considered a true masterpiece of high gothic architecture. For example, the southern tower is 105 meters tall, but was built during...
This day in 1273 marked the first time in history that a member of the Habsburg dynasty was crowned king. Rudolf of Habsburg was the founder of the dynasty's power. He was a German count by origin, the owner of the land around Habsburg Castle, from w...
This day in 1944 marked what was according to many indicators the greatest naval battle in the history of warfare – the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The battle took place on the Pacific Front during World War II, and in it the Japanese fought a combined Ame...
The Smurfs first saw the light of day on this day in 1958. They were invented by the Belgian Pierre Culliford, better known as Peyo. At that time, he was drawing comics for the Belgian magazine Spirou. Peyo was a Walloon by nationality (Wallonia is t...
One of the greatest leaders in the history of Siam (now Thailand), King Rama V, died on this day in 1910. Film viewers are likely to know Rama V from the novels and movies on British governess Anna Leonowens (Anna and the King of Siam, The King and I...
The first ruler of modern Bulgaria died on this day in 1893. His name was Alexander Battenberg, and he became a Bulgarian prince in 1879, following the recommendation of Russian Emperor Alexander II, his uncle (the sister of Battenberg's father was t...
This day marked the death of the famous Saint John of Capistrano. He was Italian by birth, and got his name from his home town of Capestrano, in central Italy (the Abruzzo region). St. John of Capistrano was a member of the Franciscan order. He preac...
On this day, American president John F. Kennedy declared on TV that the Soviets had placed rocket launchers capable of firing nuclear missiles on Cuba. He reacted by placing Cuba under a strict quarantine. Kennedy declared that every ship bearing off...
On this day the Nobel Institute declared French philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre to be the winner of the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature. This caused a public incident, because it was the first time in history that someone had rejected the priz...
This day in 2007 marked the death of Ève Curie, the daughter of famous scientists Marie and Pierre Curie. Ève had a sister named Irène Joliot-Curie, who continued in her parents' footsteps and became a scientist. Irène married Frédéric Joliot, and bo...
Former Albanian queen Geraldine died on this day in 2002, aged 87. She was the wife of King Zog of Albania, the former Albanian president who had declared himself king in 1928. He was known for having certain unusual habits, and for the so-called Zog...
Renowned scientist and Nobel Prize winner Albert Szent-Györgyi, whose research was of crucial importance for the discovery of vitamin C, died on this day. He had an interesting heritage; namely, he was actually a Hungarian nobleman, and his full name...
The USS Constitution, the oldest warship still in service, was commissioned on this day in 1797. The USS Constitution is a wooden sailing ship, around 93 meters long and armed with over 50 guns. Its displacement is approximately 2,200 tons, and once...
20-year old Australian pilot Frederick Valentich inexplicably disappeared on this day in 1978, while piloting his Cessna 182L aircraft. Valentich took off from a Melbourne airfield and was headed towards King Island, around half way between the south...
On this day, the Japanese conducted their first kamikaze attack in World War II. This took place in late 1944, when Japan was already in full retreat before the more powerful Americans. In fact, Japan had failed to defeat the Americans in any major b...
Thomas Alva Edison tested the first carbon-filament light bulb on this day. It is assumed that the test was successfully concluded because the light bulb managed to provide light for a full 40 hours. The carbon filament was produced in various ways,...
This day is often considered the beginning of the Tokugawa family’s reign over Japan. Thus began the so-called Tokugawa shogunate, a period that lasted a full 268 years, i.e. from 1600 to 1868, and one of the key periods in Japanese history in genera...
Charles VI, father of the well-known Empress Maria Theresa, died on this day in 1740. He was the last living male member of the Habsburg dynasty, probably the most powerful dynasty in Europe along with the French Capets. The Habsburgs had became the...
Pauline Bonaparte, Napoleon’s younger sister, was born on this day in 1780. She was around 11 years younger than him, so that she was only 12 when he became a general in the French army. When she was 16, Napoleon arranged for her to be married to his...
This day in 1967 marked the death of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, probably the most important politician in post-war Japan. Interestingly, he died a Roman Catholic. Shigeru Yoshida was the Prime Minister of Japan from 1946 to 1954. He was...
The famed Hungarian queen and Austrian archduchess, Maria Theresa, acceded to the throne on this day. Of course, this happened after the death of Emperor Charles VI – he didn't have any sons, so that his throne passed to his eldest daughter, Maria Th...
