The crew of the U.S. submarine, named after George Washington, apparently did nothing to help the injured Japanese sailors. Two Japanese were killed, and 13 of them were rescued by other ships. On this day in 1981 U.S. nuclear submarine USS George Wa...
Human rights campaigner and Nobel laureate Martin Luther King was buried on this day in his hometown of Atlanta in the U.S. state of Georgia. He was killed five days earlier by a sniper bullet while he was participating in a campaign of supporting sa...
On this day falls the anniversary of the effective end of the American Civil War. That day the famous Southern General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Northern General Ulysses S. Grant near the town of Appomattox, Virginia. The act of signing the surren...
The Island of Sark, located between the coasts of France and England, is apparently the last feudal estate in Europe. Namely, the island is royal fief owned by John Michael Beaumont, who has the title of "lord" (French: Seigneur). Politically, the is...
General Erich Ludendorff was probably the most powerful man in Germany during the years 1917 and 1918. On this day, one of the most influential military officers in German history was born. His name was Erich Ludendorff, and he held the rank of Gener...
Lorenzo de’ Medici ruled Florence during its golden age. Lorenzo de’ Medici, who ruled Florence when the city was at the height of its power, died on this day in 1492. He was probably the most successful member of the Medici dynasty and earned the ni...
This day in 1937 marked the first successful flight from Japan to London. The plane was called “Kamikaze” which means “holy wind” or “divine wind” in Japanese language. The Mitsubishi Ki-15 was a Japanese aircraft, and something akin to a light bombe...
This day in 1945 marked the sinking of the German ship Admiral Scheer. The ship was a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser similar a battleship due to its heavy armament and armor (surface ships were classified as the most powerful battleships before the...
The first seven were given the name “Mercury Seven” because the first American space program was called Mercury. The American media paid more attention to their private lives than to their previous careers. On this day the U.S. space agency NA...
The former King Zog I of Albania died on this day in 1961. Interestingly, he didn`t die in Albania, but near Paris in France. Zog I was deposed in Albania during the Italian invasion of that country (the Italians invaded Albania in 1939). He took the...
Nikolaus Esterházy became the Hungarian palatine, which was the highest function in his kingdom. This day in 1583 marked the birth of Nikolaus Esterházy, the first member of that family who received the title of count. He was the most responsible for...
Spanish King Philip IV of the Habsburg dynasty was born on this day. His colonial empire was, by far the largest in the world at that time, because it included not only all of the Spanish overseas possessions, but also those of Portugal. Specifically...
On this day actor Clint Eastwood was elected mayor in the Californian city Carmel-by-the-Sea. This city is located on the Pacific coast, 190 kilometers south of San Francisco. It is one of the oldest cities in California, founded by the famous Franc...
Woolly mammoths lived in Eurasia and Northern America from approximately 200,000 years ago until around 10,000 years ago, when most populations went extinct. The mammoths were approximately the same size as modern African elephants, being up to 3.4 m...
On this day in 2005, late Pope Saint John Paul II was ceremoniously buried in the St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. The funeral was marked by the largest gathering of heads of state in the history of the world (outside the UN). The funeral was at...
King Christian’s descendants came to an amazingly high number of European thrones. His grandchildren included four kings, one emperor, one queen consort, one empress consort, and seven princess or princesses. Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderbur...
David Rittenhouse was a multifaceted scientist, similar to Croatian Jesuit Ruđer Bošković (born in Dubrovnik), who was his contemporary. The United States Mint was established in 1792. It produces 10 billion coins per year. David Rittenhouse, a scien...
On this day, Pablo Picasso, one of the most famous artists of all time, died at the age of 91. He died in the French town of Mougins in Provence, six kilometers from the Côte d'Azur. This place is located in the hinterland of the famous Cannes and a...
The largest electric company in the world – Electricité de France (EDF) – was created on this day. It is an interesting fact that it produces as much as 22% of the electricity of the entire European Union, and has an annual revenue of about 65 billio...
On this day in the year 1271, the forces of Sultan Baibars captured the largest Crusader fortress in the Middle East - the famous Krak des Chevaliers. This huge castle was owned by Order of Saint John, also known under the name Hospitallers (they sti...
The Bahrain World Trade Center became the first skyscraper with built-in wind turbines on this day in 2008. Wind turbines are used to convert wind to electricity. The two towers are 240 meters high, and wind turbines are placed between them. The buil...
On this day the famous film director Francis Ford Coppola was born. He gained lasting fame with the Godfather series of films, but is also known for directing other films during his career (he won a total of five Academy Awards). The Coppola family c...
On this day in 1498 the French King Charles VIII, a member of the Capet-Valois dynasty, died. He led an active foreign policy and even invaded Italy in 1494. Namely, his army crossed the Alps and marched to the Kingdom of Naples. He was convinced tha...
St. John Baptist de La Salle died on this day in 1719. He is remembered as the man who did so much in the field of education that he was even proclaimed the patron saint of those who are engaged in the teaching profession. He was born in the time of...
Prince Antoni Radziwill was a sponsor of the famous musician Frédéric Chopin. Niccolò Paganini, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Beethoven also were prince's guests. On this day in 1833, the wealthy Polish-Lithuanian Prince Antoni Radziwill died. He b...
On this day in 1939, the Italian army invaded Albania. At the time, the political leader of Italy was Benito Mussolini who held the title “Head of Government, Duce of Fascism and the founder of the Empire” (Italian: Capo del Governo, Duce del Fascism...
The Albanian king Zog I escaped during the first day of the invasion, and took the country's gold reserves with him. The Italian king Victor Emmanuel III became the King of Albania. On this day in 1939, the Italian army invaded Albania. At the time,...
The Japanese Yamato was the largest battleship ever built. 263 meters long and displacing 71,659 tons, she was armed with the heaviest artillery ever mounted on a vessel – 460 millimeter cannons capable of firing 1,360 kg shells to a distance of 42 k...
On this day in the Middle Ages, a bull was issued to the first university on what was once territory of Germany. It is interesting the university was located in Prague – the famous “Charles University” (Czech: “Univerzita Karlova”). Namely, Prague an...
On this day, exactly on his 35th birthday, St. Francis Xavier sailed to the epoch-making missionary trip that would make him the greatest missionary in the history of the Catholic Church after St. Paul. It is interesting that St. Francis Xavier was a...
