Friday, November 30, 2012
November 30th in History
1718 - Swedish King Charles XII dies during a siege of the fortress Fredriksten in Norway.
1782 - American Revolutionary War: Treaty of Paris – In Paris, representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles (later formalized as the 1783 Treaty of Paris).
1786 - Peter Leopold Joseph of Habsburg-Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, promulgates a penal reform making his country the first state to abolish the death penalty. Consequently, November 30 is commemorated by 300 cities around the world as Cities for Life Day.
1853 - Crimean War: Battle of Sinop – The Imperial Russian Navy under Pavel Nakhimov destroys the Ottoman fleet under Osman Pasha at Sinop, a sea port in northern Turkey.
1872 - The first-ever international football match takes place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England.
1936 - In London, the Crystal Palace is destroyed by fire.
1939 - Winter War: Soviet forces cross the Finnish border in several places and bomb Helsinki and several other Finnish cities, starting the war.
1947 - 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine begins on this day, leading up to the creation of the state of Israel.
1966 - Barbados becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1967 - The People's Republic of South Yemen becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1981 - Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe (the meetings ended inconclusively on December 17).
1982 - Michael Jackson's Thriller, the best-selling album of all time, is released.
1995 - Bill Clinton, then President of the United States, visited Northern Ireland, and spoke in favour of the "Northern Ireland peace process" to a huge rally at Belfast City Hall. He called terrorists "yesterday's men".
2005 - John Sentamu becomes the first black archbishop in the Church of England with his enthronement as the 97th Archbishop of York.
Famous Birthdays:
1340 - John, Duke of Berry, son of John II of France
1427 - Casimir IV Jagiellon, King of Poland
1719 - Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales
1847 - Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena, 6th President of Brazil
1874 - Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1936 - Dmitri Victorovich Anosov, mathematician
1965 - HIH Prince Akishino of Japan, second in line to the Chrysanthemum throne.
1970 - Perrey Reeves, actress
1981 - Billy Lush, actor
1987 - Dougie Poynter, singer and bassist
Thursday, November 29, 2012
November 29th in History
561 - King Chlothar I dies at Compiègne. The Merovingian Dynasty is continued by his four sons — Charibert I, Guntram, Sigebert I and Chilperic I — who divide the Frankish Kingdom.
800 - Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Pope Leo III.
1776 - American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia comes to an end with the arrival of British reinforcements.
1830 - November Uprising: An armed rebellion against Russia's rule in Poland begins.
1850 - The treaty, Punctation of Olmütz, is signed in Olomouc. Prussia capitulates to Austrian Empire, which took over the leadership of German Confederation.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Spring Hill – A Confederate advance into Tennessee misses an opportunity to crush the Union Army. General John Bell Hood is angered, which leads to the Battle of Franklin.
1885 - End of Third Anglo-Burmese War, and end of Burmese monarchy
1944 - Albania is liberated by the Albanian partisans.
1945 - The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia is declared.
1947 - The Partition Plan: the United Nations General Assembly recommends the partition of Palestine.
1963 - US President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
1990 - Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council passes two resolutions to restore international peace and security if Iraq did not withdraw its forces from Kuwait and free all foreign hostages by January 15, 1991.
2012 - The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to recognise Palestine as a non-member state
Famous Birthdays:
1338 - Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, son of King Edward III of England
1427 - Zhengtong, Emperor of China
1690 - Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, father of Catherine II of Russia
1802 - Wilhelm Hauff, poet and novelist
1849 - Sir John Ambrose Fleming, physicist
1898 - C. S. Lewis, writer
1935 - Diane Ladd, actress
1953 - Alex Grey, artist
1973 - Ryan Giggs, footballer
1982 - Imogen Thomas, reality TV star
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
November 28th in History
1095 - On the last day of the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II appoints Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy and Count Raymond IV of Toulouse to lead the First Crusade to the Holy Land.
1520 - After navigating through a strait at the southern end of South America, three ships under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reach the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.
1785 - The Treaty of Hopewell is signed.
1843 - Ka Lā Hui: Hawaiian Independence Day – The Kingdom of Hawaii is officially recognized by the United Kingdom and France as an independent nation.
1905 - Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Féin as a political party with the main aim of establishing a dual monarchy in Ireland.
1914 - World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading.
1918 - Bukovina votes for the union with the Kingdom of Romania.
1919 - Lady Astor is elected as a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. She is the first woman to sit in the House of Commons. (Countess Markievicz, the first to be elected, refused to sit.)
1920 - Irish War of Independence: Kilmichael Ambush - The Irish Republican Army ambush a convoy of British Auxiliaries and kill seventeen.
1943 - World War II: Tehran Conference – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran, Iran to discuss war strategy.
1960 - Mauritania becomes independent of France.
1971 - Wasfi al-Tal, Prime Minister of Jordan, is assassinated by the Black September unit of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
1972 - Last executions in Paris, of the Clairvaux Mutineers, Roger Bontems and Claude Buffet, guillotined at La Sante Prison. (Bontems had been found innocent of murder by the court, but as Buffet's accomplice is condemned to death anyway.) The chief executioner is Andre Obrecht.
1975 - East Timor declares its independence from Portugal.
1981 - Our Lady of Kibeho: Schoolchildren in Kibeho, Rwanda, experience the first of a series of Marian apparitions.
1991 - South Ossetia declares independence from Georgia.
Famous Birthdays:
1118 - Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine Emperor
1489 - Margaret Tudor, consort of James IV of Scotland
1681 - Jean Cavalier, Protestant rebel leader
1700 - Sophia Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, Queen of Denmark and Norway
1785 - Victor de Broglie, Prime Minister of France
1857 - King Alfonso XII of Spain
1887 - Ernst Röhm, Nazi official
1950 - Ed Harris, actor
1965 - Erwin Mortier, author
1978 - Aimee Garcia, actress
1986 - Mouhamadou Dabo, footballer
Glossary of Historical terms
Here are a list of some of the terms used by Historians and there definitions:
A
Abolitionist: a person who favours the abolition of the institution of slavery
Absolute Monarchy: Rule, commonly hereditary, by or in the name of a single individual - absolute monarchs wielded unlimited authority
Allies: nations (including Britain, the Soviet Union, and the US) opposing the Axis
Amnesty: General pardon, especially against the State.
Archive: A collection of documents and records.
Attorney General: Legal advisor to a Government
Autobiography: An individual's account of their life.
Axis: commonly applied to the alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during World War II.
B
Baron: A British nobleman of the lowest rank of dignity
Bibliography: A list of works, including books, journals and essays, on a particular subject.
Bill: a proposed law under consideration by a legislature.
Biography: An account of an individual's life, written by another person.
Boer: Inhabitant of South Africa of Dutch or French Huguenot descent, also known as Afrikaners
Bolshevik: A member of the radical majority of the Social Democratic party, 1903 to 1917 (Communist)
Bourbons: European ruling dynasty in France beginning with Henry IV in 1589 and ending with the French Revolution. In Spain, the dynasty ruled beginning with Philip V in 1700 until Alfonso XIII in 1931 (his grandson Juan Carlos was restored to the throne in 1975)
Bourgeoisie: Originally, the urban merchants who developed trade at the end of the middle ages and who led the struggle against the feudal aristocracy for the rights of citizenship. The meaning was later extended to include the whole middle class
Burgundians: A Teutonic tribe which had been given lands on the upper Rhine by the Romans. They moved south and established a kingdom along the Rhone between the Franks and the Ostrogoths. Their kingdom lasted about 100 years until they were conquered in 534 by the Franks.
C
Cavaliers: The name of the Royalist party before, during, and after the English Civil War- defined by loyalty to the crown and to the Anglican church
Celts: An Indo-European people now represented chiefly by the Irish, Gaels, Welsh, and Bretons
Central Powers: Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, between 1882 and 1914
Centurion: A professional middle-ranking officer of a century (100) in the Roman army.
Charter: Document granting certain rights, privileges, powers, or functions - a constitution of sorts for colonies, corporate bodies, or cities
Cherokee: One of the most powerful tribes of the Iroquoian stock who occupied territory ranging in present-day Alabama,Georgia, S.Carolina, N.Carolina and Virginia
Cheyenne: Plains Natives occupying what is now Minnesota and North Dakota
Ciompi: In medieval Florence, the ciompi did not belong to guilds. In 1378 they staged a revolution to secure political power. They were successful, only to lose out completely by the counter-revolution of 1382.
Civil Right: enforceable right or privilege
Civil War: war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic
Common Law: The unwritten law based on the traditional, precedent-based element in the law, as distinct from statute law
Confederate: A supporter of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War
Congress: The legislative branch of the US federal government - it consists of the Senate (upper house) and the House of Representatives (lower house)
Conquistadors(Spanish - "conqueror"): The Spanish soldiers and adventurers who conquered South and Central America in the 16th century
Constitution: The system of fundamental principles according to which a nation, state, corporation, or the like, is governed or the document embodying these principles
Coup d'état (From the French "blow"): A sudden and decisive action in politics, especially one resulting in a change of government illegally or by force
D
Delawares: At one time the most important confederacy of the Algonquian family of Native Americans - occupying present-day New Jersy, eastern Pennsylvania, northern Delaware, and the land now covered by New York City
Demagogue: A person, especially an orator or political leader, who gains power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people
Democracy: a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives.
Dictatorship: A regime in which an individual leader or a small leadership group holds unchallenged power
Directory: The French revolutionary government constituted in 1795, comprising two councils and an executive. Overthrown in 1799
Doctrine of Nullification (United States): Doctrine expounded by the advocates of extreme states' rights - it held that states have the right to declare null and void any federal law that they deem unconstitutional
Duar War: Five month war fought between British India and Bhutan in 1864-1865.
E
Earl: A British nobleman of the third highest rank of dignity in the peerage
Emancipation: efforts to procuring political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchised group
Estates General: A gathering of representatives of the three estates of a realm: the Church; the nobility; and the commons (representatives of the corporations of towns).
Etymology: The study of the historical origin or derivation of a word.
F
Federalist: In U.S. history, the political faction that favoured a strong federal government
Feminism: The social movement towards equalising the status of women socially, economically and politically.
Feudalism: A system of land tenure, characteristic of medieval Europe, in which property is held by a vassal (the feudal inferior) of his lord (the feudal superior) in return for a pledge of homage and services, principally military, and certain other accompanying conditions
Fief: The land held under the feudal system by a vassal from his lord
Franks: Tuetonic tribe which settled originally along the Rhine from Cologne to the North Sea. They began to expand their territory in the 5th c., and under the successors to Clovis, the Frankish dominions embraced nearly all that today is included in France, Belgium, Holland, and western Germany
Fronde (1648 - 1653): Civil war in France
Fugitive Slave Laws: The (U.S.) federal acts of 1793 and 1850 providing for the return between states of escaped black slaves
G
Ghibellines (from the German Waiblingen): Italian political faction during Frederick II's conflict with the papacy - they supported Frederick
Gilded Age, US: America enters an industrial era - this period is marked by depression, Populist revolt, and middle-class reform
Girondist: A member of the French moderate republican Party in power during the Revolution of 1791 to 1793
Gold Standard: The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of gold.
Goths: Teutonic people who in the 3rd to 5th centuries invaded and settled in parts of the Roman Empire
Great Depression: The severe economic depression of 1929 to 1934. The stock market crash of 1929 is traditionally seen as the starting point.
Guelfs: Italian political faction during Emperor Frederick II's conflict with the papacy - they opposed the claims of the Hohenstaufen emperor to authority in Italy and were sympathetic to the pope
Guild: A corporation or association of persons engaged in similar pursuits for mutual protection, aid, or co-operation. Known in England from the 7th century.
H
Habeas Corpus: A writ requiring a person to be brought before a judge or court, especially for investigation of a restraint of the person's liberty, used as a protection against illegal imprisonment
Hapsburg: Line of Holy Roman emperors from Albert II until the Empire was abolished in 1806 (with the single exception of Charles VII of Bavaria: 1742-45), monarchs of Austria until 1919
Hellenism: The civilisation that spread from Greece through much of the ancient world from 333 (Alexander the Great) to 63 (dominance of Rome) BCE.
Heruli: Nomadic Germanic people, who were subjugated by the Ostrogoths and Huns in the 3rd to 5th centuries
Hessian: Mercenaries (of the state of Hesse)used by England during the American Revolution
History: the study of the past or the product of our attempts to understand the past, rather than the past itself.
Historian: An individual who studies the past.
Historiography: the methods and principles used in the study of history, or the written result.
Holocaust: The attempted extermination of European Jews (and other persecuted groups such as gypsies and homosexuals) by the Nazis from 1935 to 1945
Hopewellians: Mound building Native group occupying what is now mid-west United States from 300 B.C.E. - 500 A.D.
Hopi: Group of pueblo Natives who have remained in the same territory they occupied when first seen by Coronado's troops in 1540 (modern-day Arizona)
Huguenots (from the German "Eidgenossen"): French Protestants, followers of John Calvin.
I
Impeach: To accuse (a public official) before an appropriate tribunal of misconduct in office
Indenture: A contract by which a person, as an apprentice, is bound to a master craftsman for a specified in order to learn a trade
Interdisciplinary: the study, or practice, of a subject which applies the methods and approaches of several disciplines. For instance, while History, Literature and Archaeology are separate disciplines, they can be combined.
Iroquois: A powerful confederation of Iroquoian tribes, first known as the Five Nations (Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneigda, Onondaga, and Seneca). Became Six Nations when the Tuscarora were adopted into the confederacy.
J
Jacobin: The most radical and ruthless of the political clubs of the French Revolution
Jacquerie: A violent peasant revolt in France in 1358 against war taxes, the heavy ransom for captives taken at Poitiers in 1358, and pillaging mercenary soldiers. This revolt was put down in merciless fashion by the nobles.
Journal: A periodical which normally deals with a specific issue, for instance, National Geographic.
Jutes: The Jutes were a Germanic people who are believed to have originated from Jutland in modern Denmark and part of the Frisian coast.
K
King: The male ruler of an independent state, esp. one who inherits the position by right of birth.
Ku Klux Klan: US secret society that sprang up in Southern states after the Civil War
L
League of Nations: An international organisation created (1920) after World War I with the purpose of achieving international co-operation
Lombards: Germanic barbarian tribe which overran the Po Valley in Italy in the 6th c. Their kingdom lasted 200 years until it ws conquered by Charlemagne in 773
Louisiana Purchase: A treaty signed with France in 1803 by which the U.S. purchased for $15,000,000 the land extending from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico
M
Magna Carta (Latin "Great Charter"): British historical document issued by King John in 1215 - this constitutional document ensures that the King observe the rights of subjects and communities
Manorial System (aka seignorial system): Economic and social system of medieval Europe under which peasants' land tenure and production were regulated, and local justice and taxation were administered
Masonic Order: International fraternity called Freemasons, characterised by elaborate rituals and systems of secret signs, passwords, and handshakes
Mayflower Compact: Agreement Between the Settlers at New Plymouth
Merovingians: Dynasty of kings of the Franks from Clodion (428 - 448) to Childeric III (dethroned in 751 by Pippin). The family was descended from Merovens, a traditional chief of the Salian Franks
Middle Ages: In 1469, Giovanni Andrea of Aleria spoke of writings of the "middle period". In 1518 the Swiss scholar Vadian used the phrase "middle ages". In 1604 the German historian Goldast used a similar expression. The end of the Middle Ages cannot be associated with one comparable event, but 1300 is the year used by this site.
Ming Dynasty: Chinese dynasty ruling from 1668 to 1644
Modus Vivendi: A temporary arrangement between persons or parties pending a settlement of matters in debate
Mohawk: Powerful tribe of the Iroquois, formerly occupying the territory of the Mohawk valley in New York
Monarchy: A form of government in which sovereignty is vested in a single person whose right to rule is generally hereditary and who is empowered to remain in office for life
Moors: Nomadic people of the northern shores of Africa, originally the inhabitants of Mauretania. In the 8th century the Moors were converted to Islam and became fanatic Muslims
Mugwump: Term for the Republicans who in 1884 deserted their party nominee, James G. Blaine, to vote for the Democratic nominee, Grover Cleveland
N
Narragansett: Tribe of Algonquian Natives, at one time the most powerful of southern New England (modern day Rhode Island)
National Assembly: The elected legislature in France 1789 to 1791
Native Americans: The forefathers of the Native Americans came across eastern Siberia in Asian, and then through Alaska and Canada to the territory now known as the United States. These people spread south, west and east, diversifying custom and language as they did.
Navajo: A tribe of southwestern Natives, occupying present-day Arizona and New Mexico
Nazi: Member of the German National Socialist party - led from 1921 (inception) to 1945 by Adolph Hitler
New Deal: F.D.Roosevelt's domestic reform program to provide recovery and relief from the Great Depression
New World: North and South America regarded collectively in relation to Europe
Nez Perces: Powerful Native tribe that roamed the territory between the Blue Montains in Oregon and the Bitter Root Mountains in Idaho
Noble: Belonging to the aristocracy
Non-conformist: A Protestant in England who is not a member of the Church of England; dissenter
Norman: The Northmen, or Norsemen, who conquered Normandy in the 10th cent. and adopted Christianity and the customs and language of France, in 1066 they displaced the Anglo Saxon nobility of England
Norman Conquest: The defeat of King Harold of England by the Normans, under William (the Conqueror) I, in 1066. A Norman aristocracy was superimposed on the English, and the new elite brought with it Norman feudal customs
O
Occoneechee: Native group composed of a Siouan tribe named Eno and the Shakori who merged at the end of the 17th century. They occupied territory in what is now North Carolina
Ostrogoths: A branch of the Goths who invaded the Roman Empire in the 4th century. Under their leader, Theodoric, they invaded Italy in 488
Ottomans: A powerful Muslim clan that settled in what is now Turkey and established a Muslim dynasty that ruled from about the 13th century CE until 1924 (when it fell to the rebellious "young Turks"). It was the major preserver of "official" Islamic continuity in the Mediterranean and adjacent areas during most of that period.
P
Pacifism: A modern term for positions opposed to warfare (e.g. Quakerism).
Paiute: refers to two related groups - Northern Paiute and Southern Paiute - of Native Americans speaking languages belonging to the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan family of Native American languages. The Northern Paiute call themselves Numa (sometimes written Numu); the Southern Paiute call themselves Nuwuvi. Both terms mean "the people."
Paris Commune: A group which seized the municipal government of Paris in the French Revolution and in this capacity played a leading part in the Reign of Terror until suppressed in 1794
Parliament: Legislative assembly
Pastry War (1838 - 1839): Brief and minor conflict between Mexico and France, arising from the claim of a French pastry cook living in Tacubaya, near Mexico City, that some Mexican army officers had damaged his restaurant.
Pawnee: A powerful confederacy of the Caddoan language family consisting of the Chaui, the Kitkehahki, the Pitahauerat, and the Skidi
Pequot: An Algonquian tribe, believed to have been an eastern division of the Mohegan (modern-day Connecticut)
Picts (Latin: Picti=painted people):The Picts were a confederation of tribes in central and northern Scotland from the 3rd century to the 10th century. They lived to the north of the Forth and Clyde.
Pilgrims: The group of separatists and other individuals who were the founders of Plymouth Colony
Pima: Native North American tribe of South Arizona
Pluralism: A general term for situations in which a variety of perspectives are accommodated, or at least tolerated, within the recognised system; e.g. America as a pluralistic society.
Podesta: An administrator responsible for law and order in an Italian city
Pope: Bishop of Rome and Head of the Roman Catholic Church
Primary sources: Material from, or directly related to, the past. In History, primary sources are usually letters, records or other documents created during the period that is being studied, such as diaries, legal notices or accounts. However, primary sources can include photographs, jewelry and other items.
President: a leader of an organization, company, or a republic
Proletariat: Originally, the lower class of Rome and other ancient states, the term was later used to refer to the lower class of any community
Ptolemies: Any of the Kings of the Macedonian dynasty that ruled Egypt from 323 to 30 B.C.E
Q
Queen: Female ruler of an independent state, esp. one who inherits the position by right of birth or a consort of a King
R
Ratify: To confirm by expressing consent, approval, or formal sanction
Rebellion: uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order.
Red Army: Originally the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army set up by Trotsky, later the term refers to the army of the Soviet Union (until shortly after WWII)
Reichstag: Name for the diet of the Holy Roman Empire, for the lower chamber of the federal parliament of the North German Confederation, and for the lower chamber of the federal parliament of Germany from 1871 to 1945
Renaissance (Latin, "rebirth"): Name usually given to the "rebirth" of classical knowledge that erupted in the 15th century and provided background for the protestant reformation and associated events in Europe.
Reparations: Payments or other compensation offered as an indemnity for loss or damage
Republic: A sovereign state ruled by representatives of a widely inclusive electorate
Restoration: The re-establishment of a monarchy
Revolution: A forcible overthrow of a government or social order for a new system.
Romanov: Dynasty that ruled in Russia from the accession of Michael Romanov in 1613 until the overthrow of the last tsar, Nicholas II, in 1917
Roundhead: Derisive name for the supporters of Parliament during the English Civil War
Royalist: A Cavalier adherent of Charles I of England or a loyalist in the American Revolution; Tory
S
Saracen: An Arab or Muslim at the time of the Crusades
Saxons: German people who made settlements in Britain by approximately 450 AD
Secondary sources: Material created by somebody removed from the event being studied - who was either not at the event, or was working later.
Segregation: To require, often with force, the separation of (a specific racial, religious, or other group) from the general body of society
Seminole: Tribe of the Muskhogean family allied to the Hitchiti and Creek who occupied what is now Georgia and northern Florida
Serf: An unfree medieval peasant under the control of the lord whose lands he worked
Sharecropping: System of farm tenancy that arose at the end of the Civil War out of the plantation system
Sioux: Confederation of Native North American tribes occupying present-day Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota
Slavery: Institution where servitude gradually becamesubject to bondage for life based on race
Suffrage: The right to vote, especially in a political election.
T
Temperance Movement: Social movement, dedicated to promoting moderation and, more often, complete abstinence in the use of intoxicating liquor
Teutons: The Teutons were mentioned as a Germanic tribe in early historical writings by Greek and Roman authors such as Strabo and Velleius.
Thane: A freeman granted land by the king in return for military service in Anglo-Saxon England
Third Reich: Germany during the Nazi regime (1933 to 1945)
Thirteen Colonies: The 13 North American colonies that became the United States of America in 1776. They were: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia
Tory: A member of a British political party traditionally opposed to the Whigs, conservative
Treaty: Formal agreement between sovereign states or organizations of states
Tsar,(also spelled Czar or Tzar and): Official title designating "Emperor" in Russia from about 1480 until 1917. In 1917, Peter I the Great decreed that the Latin-based title imperator should be used instead, but tsar remained in common usage.
U
Union, US: Term referring to the supporters of the Northern Union during the American Civil War
United Nations: International organization established immediately after World War II (replacing the League of Nations), with 51 members - 193 nations are now members of the organization
Ute: An important division of the Shoshoni Natives, closely related to the Paiute and the Bannocks - they lived in what is now Colorado, Utah and New Mexico
V
Vandals: Central European tribe which migrated across France and Spain and settled in Carthage in Africa in 429. They sacked Rome in 455
Vassal: A vassal or liege, in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudalism of medieval Europe, is one who enters into mutual obligations with a lord, usually of military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain guarantees, which came to include the terrain held as a fief.
Veto: The power of one functionary (e.g., the president) of a government, or of one member of a group or coalition, to block the operation of laws or agreements passed or entered into by the other functionaries or members
Viking: Scandinavian warriors who raided the coasts of Europe and the British Isles from the 9th cent. to the 11th cent.
Visigoths: Barbarian Germanic tribe that invaded the Roman Empire and sacked Rome in 410. Invaded Gaul, and then secured control of Spain by 507
W
Wampanoag: An Algonquin tribe who occupied what is now Massachusetts
Waterloo: Napoleon was decisively defeated at this village in central Belgium on 18 June, 1815.
Whig: Historical member of the British reforming and constitutional party; opposed to the Tories
Witan: The Witan (or Witenagemot) was a political institution in Anglo-Saxon England which operated between approximately the 7th century and 11th century.
World War I (1914 - 1918): The war involving Great Britain, France, Russia and the U.S. etc. on one side and Germany, Austria-Hungary, etc. on the other.
World War II (1939 -1945): The war involving Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, the U.S., etc. on one side and Germany, Italy, Japan, etc. on the other.
X
Y
Yeoman: Free man who cultivates his own land, of a lower class than a gentleman - the basis for later time's middle class
Zuni: Important tribe of the Pueblo Natives who settled in what is now New Mexico
A
Abolitionist: a person who favours the abolition of the institution of slavery
Absolute Monarchy: Rule, commonly hereditary, by or in the name of a single individual - absolute monarchs wielded unlimited authority
Allies: nations (including Britain, the Soviet Union, and the US) opposing the Axis
Amnesty: General pardon, especially against the State.
Angevin Age: England from Henry II through Richard II - development of the justice system and of parliament further weaken of the crown, the signing of the Magna Charta.
Angles: Germanic tribe, from Schleswig to East Anglia in the 5th century
Anglo-Saxons: Name given to the Germanic-speaking peoples who settled in England after the decline of Roman rule there
Apache: Tribe of Indians in the Southwest, living in New Mexico when the Spaniards arrived.
Archive: A collection of documents and records.
Attorney General: Legal advisor to a Government
Autobiography: An individual's account of their life.
Axis: commonly applied to the alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during World War II.
B
Baron: A British nobleman of the lowest rank of dignity
Bibliography: A list of works, including books, journals and essays, on a particular subject.
Bill: a proposed law under consideration by a legislature.
Biography: An account of an individual's life, written by another person.
Boer: Inhabitant of South Africa of Dutch or French Huguenot descent, also known as Afrikaners
Bolshevik: A member of the radical majority of the Social Democratic party, 1903 to 1917 (Communist)
Bourbons: European ruling dynasty in France beginning with Henry IV in 1589 and ending with the French Revolution. In Spain, the dynasty ruled beginning with Philip V in 1700 until Alfonso XIII in 1931 (his grandson Juan Carlos was restored to the throne in 1975)
Bourgeoisie: Originally, the urban merchants who developed trade at the end of the middle ages and who led the struggle against the feudal aristocracy for the rights of citizenship. The meaning was later extended to include the whole middle class
Burgundians: A Teutonic tribe which had been given lands on the upper Rhine by the Romans. They moved south and established a kingdom along the Rhone between the Franks and the Ostrogoths. Their kingdom lasted about 100 years until they were conquered in 534 by the Franks.
C
Cavaliers: The name of the Royalist party before, during, and after the English Civil War- defined by loyalty to the crown and to the Anglican church
Celts: An Indo-European people now represented chiefly by the Irish, Gaels, Welsh, and Bretons
Central Powers: Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, between 1882 and 1914
Centurion: A professional middle-ranking officer of a century (100) in the Roman army.
Charter: Document granting certain rights, privileges, powers, or functions - a constitution of sorts for colonies, corporate bodies, or cities
Cherokee: One of the most powerful tribes of the Iroquoian stock who occupied territory ranging in present-day Alabama,Georgia, S.Carolina, N.Carolina and Virginia
Cheyenne: Plains Natives occupying what is now Minnesota and North Dakota
Ciompi: In medieval Florence, the ciompi did not belong to guilds. In 1378 they staged a revolution to secure political power. They were successful, only to lose out completely by the counter-revolution of 1382.
Civil Right: enforceable right or privilege
Civil War: war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic
Common Law: The unwritten law based on the traditional, precedent-based element in the law, as distinct from statute law
Confederate: A supporter of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War
Congress: The legislative branch of the US federal government - it consists of the Senate (upper house) and the House of Representatives (lower house)
Conquistadors(Spanish - "conqueror"): The Spanish soldiers and adventurers who conquered South and Central America in the 16th century
Constitution: The system of fundamental principles according to which a nation, state, corporation, or the like, is governed or the document embodying these principles
Coup d'état (From the French "blow"): A sudden and decisive action in politics, especially one resulting in a change of government illegally or by force
D
Delawares: At one time the most important confederacy of the Algonquian family of Native Americans - occupying present-day New Jersy, eastern Pennsylvania, northern Delaware, and the land now covered by New York City
Demagogue: A person, especially an orator or political leader, who gains power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people
Democracy: a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives.
Dictatorship: A regime in which an individual leader or a small leadership group holds unchallenged power
Directory: The French revolutionary government constituted in 1795, comprising two councils and an executive. Overthrown in 1799
Doctrine of Nullification (United States): Doctrine expounded by the advocates of extreme states' rights - it held that states have the right to declare null and void any federal law that they deem unconstitutional
Duar War: Five month war fought between British India and Bhutan in 1864-1865.
E
Earl: A British nobleman of the third highest rank of dignity in the peerage
Emancipation: efforts to procuring political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchised group
Estates General: A gathering of representatives of the three estates of a realm: the Church; the nobility; and the commons (representatives of the corporations of towns).
Etymology: The study of the historical origin or derivation of a word.
F
Federalist: In U.S. history, the political faction that favoured a strong federal government
Feminism: The social movement towards equalising the status of women socially, economically and politically.
Feudalism: A system of land tenure, characteristic of medieval Europe, in which property is held by a vassal (the feudal inferior) of his lord (the feudal superior) in return for a pledge of homage and services, principally military, and certain other accompanying conditions
Fief: The land held under the feudal system by a vassal from his lord
Franks: Tuetonic tribe which settled originally along the Rhine from Cologne to the North Sea. They began to expand their territory in the 5th c., and under the successors to Clovis, the Frankish dominions embraced nearly all that today is included in France, Belgium, Holland, and western Germany
Fronde (1648 - 1653): Civil war in France
Fugitive Slave Laws: The (U.S.) federal acts of 1793 and 1850 providing for the return between states of escaped black slaves
G
Ghibellines (from the German Waiblingen): Italian political faction during Frederick II's conflict with the papacy - they supported Frederick
Gilded Age, US: America enters an industrial era - this period is marked by depression, Populist revolt, and middle-class reform
Girondist: A member of the French moderate republican Party in power during the Revolution of 1791 to 1793
Gold Standard: The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of gold.
Goths: Teutonic people who in the 3rd to 5th centuries invaded and settled in parts of the Roman Empire
Great Depression: The severe economic depression of 1929 to 1934. The stock market crash of 1929 is traditionally seen as the starting point.
Guelfs: Italian political faction during Emperor Frederick II's conflict with the papacy - they opposed the claims of the Hohenstaufen emperor to authority in Italy and were sympathetic to the pope
Guild: A corporation or association of persons engaged in similar pursuits for mutual protection, aid, or co-operation. Known in England from the 7th century.
H
Habeas Corpus: A writ requiring a person to be brought before a judge or court, especially for investigation of a restraint of the person's liberty, used as a protection against illegal imprisonment
Hapsburg: Line of Holy Roman emperors from Albert II until the Empire was abolished in 1806 (with the single exception of Charles VII of Bavaria: 1742-45), monarchs of Austria until 1919
Hellenism: The civilisation that spread from Greece through much of the ancient world from 333 (Alexander the Great) to 63 (dominance of Rome) BCE.
Heruli: Nomadic Germanic people, who were subjugated by the Ostrogoths and Huns in the 3rd to 5th centuries
Hessian: Mercenaries (of the state of Hesse)used by England during the American Revolution
History: the study of the past or the product of our attempts to understand the past, rather than the past itself.
Historian: An individual who studies the past.
Historiography: the methods and principles used in the study of history, or the written result.
Holocaust: The attempted extermination of European Jews (and other persecuted groups such as gypsies and homosexuals) by the Nazis from 1935 to 1945
Hopewellians: Mound building Native group occupying what is now mid-west United States from 300 B.C.E. - 500 A.D.
Hopi: Group of pueblo Natives who have remained in the same territory they occupied when first seen by Coronado's troops in 1540 (modern-day Arizona)
Huguenots (from the German "Eidgenossen"): French Protestants, followers of John Calvin.
I
Impeach: To accuse (a public official) before an appropriate tribunal of misconduct in office
Indenture: A contract by which a person, as an apprentice, is bound to a master craftsman for a specified in order to learn a trade
Interdisciplinary: the study, or practice, of a subject which applies the methods and approaches of several disciplines. For instance, while History, Literature and Archaeology are separate disciplines, they can be combined.
Iroquois: A powerful confederation of Iroquoian tribes, first known as the Five Nations (Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneigda, Onondaga, and Seneca). Became Six Nations when the Tuscarora were adopted into the confederacy.
J
Jacobin: The most radical and ruthless of the political clubs of the French Revolution
Jacquerie: A violent peasant revolt in France in 1358 against war taxes, the heavy ransom for captives taken at Poitiers in 1358, and pillaging mercenary soldiers. This revolt was put down in merciless fashion by the nobles.
Journal: A periodical which normally deals with a specific issue, for instance, National Geographic.
Jutes: The Jutes were a Germanic people who are believed to have originated from Jutland in modern Denmark and part of the Frisian coast.
K
King: The male ruler of an independent state, esp. one who inherits the position by right of birth.
Ku Klux Klan: US secret society that sprang up in Southern states after the Civil War
L
League of Nations: An international organisation created (1920) after World War I with the purpose of achieving international co-operation
Lombards: Germanic barbarian tribe which overran the Po Valley in Italy in the 6th c. Their kingdom lasted 200 years until it ws conquered by Charlemagne in 773
Louisiana Purchase: A treaty signed with France in 1803 by which the U.S. purchased for $15,000,000 the land extending from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico
M
Magna Carta (Latin "Great Charter"): British historical document issued by King John in 1215 - this constitutional document ensures that the King observe the rights of subjects and communities
Manorial System (aka seignorial system): Economic and social system of medieval Europe under which peasants' land tenure and production were regulated, and local justice and taxation were administered
Masonic Order: International fraternity called Freemasons, characterised by elaborate rituals and systems of secret signs, passwords, and handshakes
Mayflower Compact: Agreement Between the Settlers at New Plymouth
Merovingians: Dynasty of kings of the Franks from Clodion (428 - 448) to Childeric III (dethroned in 751 by Pippin). The family was descended from Merovens, a traditional chief of the Salian Franks
Middle Ages: In 1469, Giovanni Andrea of Aleria spoke of writings of the "middle period". In 1518 the Swiss scholar Vadian used the phrase "middle ages". In 1604 the German historian Goldast used a similar expression. The end of the Middle Ages cannot be associated with one comparable event, but 1300 is the year used by this site.
Ming Dynasty: Chinese dynasty ruling from 1668 to 1644
Modus Vivendi: A temporary arrangement between persons or parties pending a settlement of matters in debate
Mohawk: Powerful tribe of the Iroquois, formerly occupying the territory of the Mohawk valley in New York
Monarchy: A form of government in which sovereignty is vested in a single person whose right to rule is generally hereditary and who is empowered to remain in office for life
Moors: Nomadic people of the northern shores of Africa, originally the inhabitants of Mauretania. In the 8th century the Moors were converted to Islam and became fanatic Muslims
Mugwump: Term for the Republicans who in 1884 deserted their party nominee, James G. Blaine, to vote for the Democratic nominee, Grover Cleveland
N
Narragansett: Tribe of Algonquian Natives, at one time the most powerful of southern New England (modern day Rhode Island)
National Assembly: The elected legislature in France 1789 to 1791
Native Americans: The forefathers of the Native Americans came across eastern Siberia in Asian, and then through Alaska and Canada to the territory now known as the United States. These people spread south, west and east, diversifying custom and language as they did.
Navajo: A tribe of southwestern Natives, occupying present-day Arizona and New Mexico
Nazi: Member of the German National Socialist party - led from 1921 (inception) to 1945 by Adolph Hitler
New Deal: F.D.Roosevelt's domestic reform program to provide recovery and relief from the Great Depression
New World: North and South America regarded collectively in relation to Europe
Nez Perces: Powerful Native tribe that roamed the territory between the Blue Montains in Oregon and the Bitter Root Mountains in Idaho
Noble: Belonging to the aristocracy
Non-conformist: A Protestant in England who is not a member of the Church of England; dissenter
Norman: The Northmen, or Norsemen, who conquered Normandy in the 10th cent. and adopted Christianity and the customs and language of France, in 1066 they displaced the Anglo Saxon nobility of England
Norman Conquest: The defeat of King Harold of England by the Normans, under William (the Conqueror) I, in 1066. A Norman aristocracy was superimposed on the English, and the new elite brought with it Norman feudal customs
O
Occoneechee: Native group composed of a Siouan tribe named Eno and the Shakori who merged at the end of the 17th century. They occupied territory in what is now North Carolina
Ostrogoths: A branch of the Goths who invaded the Roman Empire in the 4th century. Under their leader, Theodoric, they invaded Italy in 488
Ottomans: A powerful Muslim clan that settled in what is now Turkey and established a Muslim dynasty that ruled from about the 13th century CE until 1924 (when it fell to the rebellious "young Turks"). It was the major preserver of "official" Islamic continuity in the Mediterranean and adjacent areas during most of that period.
P
Pacifism: A modern term for positions opposed to warfare (e.g. Quakerism).
Paiute: refers to two related groups - Northern Paiute and Southern Paiute - of Native Americans speaking languages belonging to the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan family of Native American languages. The Northern Paiute call themselves Numa (sometimes written Numu); the Southern Paiute call themselves Nuwuvi. Both terms mean "the people."
Paris Commune: A group which seized the municipal government of Paris in the French Revolution and in this capacity played a leading part in the Reign of Terror until suppressed in 1794
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
November 27th on History
1095 - Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont.
1295 - The first elected representatives from Lancashire are called to Westminster by King Edward I to attend what later became known as "The Model Parliament".
1815 - Adoption of Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland.
1830 - St. Catherine Laboure experiences a vision of the Blessed Virgin standing on a globe, crushing a serpent with her feet, and emanating rays of light from her hands.
1856 - The Coup of 1856 leads to Luxembourg's unilateral adoption of a new, reactionary constitution.
1895 - At the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies.
1912 - Spain declares a protectorate over the north shore of Morocco.
1924 - In New York City, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held.
1942 - World War II: At Toulon, the French navy scuttles its ships and submarines to keep them out of Nazi hands.
1975 - The Provisional IRA assassinates Ross McWhirter, after a press conference in which McWhirter had announced a reward for the capture of those responsible for multiple bombings and shootings across England.
1991 - The United Nations Security Council adopts Security Council Resolution 721, leading the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia.
1999 - The Labour Party takes control of the New Zealand government with leader Helen Clark becoming the first elected female Prime Minister in New Zealand's history.
2005 - The first partial human face transplant is completed in Amiens, France.
Famous Birthdays:
1127 - Emperor Xiaozong of Song, Emperor of China
1576 - Shimazu Tadatsune, Tozama daimyo (Ruler) of Satsuma
1635 - Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon, consort of Louis XIV of France
1833 - Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, mother of Queen Mary of Teck, the consort of King George V of the United Kingdom
1843 - Elizabeth Stride, victim of Jack the Ripper
1874 - Chaim Weizmann, 1st President of Israel
1928 - Ronald William "Josh" Kirby, artist
1970 - Patricia Zentilli, actress
1979 - Hilary Hahn, violinist
1981 - Bruno Alves, footballer
Monday, November 26, 2012
November 26th in History
1476 - Vlad III Dracula defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Bathory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time.
1778 - In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui.
1863 - President Abraham Lincoln proclaims November 26 as a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated annually on the final Thursday of November (since 1941, on the fourth Thursday).
1918 - The Podgorica Assembly votes for "union of the people", declaring assimilation into the Kingdom of Serbia.
1922 - Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.
1942 - World War II: Yugoslav Partisans convene the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia at Bihać in northwestern Bosnia.
1949 - The Indian Constituent Assembly adopts India's constitution presented by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
1950 - Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China launch a massive counterattack in North Korea against South Korean and United Nations forces (Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and Battle of Chosin Reservoir), ending any hopes of a quick end to the conflict.
1970 - In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 1.5 inches (38.1 mm) of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever recorded.
1998 - Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Parliament Republic of Ireland.
2003 - Concorde makes its final flight, over Bristol, England.
2011 - 2011 NATO attack in Pakistan: NATO forces in Afghanistan attack a Pakistani checkpost in a friendly fire incident, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others
Famous Birthdays:
1436 - Princess Catherine of Portugal, daughter of King Edward of Portugal and his wife Eleanor of Aragon.
1678 - Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan, geophysicist
1858 - St. Katharine Drexel, Catholic Saint
1869 - Maud, Queen of Norway
1895 - William Griffith "Bill" Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous
1918 - Patricio Aylwin, former President of Chile
1949 - Martin Lee, singer
1973 - Kristin Bauer van Straten, actress
1983 - Chris Hughes, businessman, co-founder of Facebook
1990 - Rita Ora, singer
1992 - Louis Ducruet, son of Princess Stéphanie of Monaco, 7th in the line to the Monegasque throne
Sunday, November 25, 2012
November 25th in History
1120 - The White Ship sinks in the English Channel, drowning William Adelin, son of Henry I of England.
1703 - The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain, reaches its peak intensity which it maintains through November 27. Winds gust up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people die.
1758 - French and Indian War: British forces capture Fort Duquesne from French control. Fort Pitt is built nearby and it grows into modern Pittsburgh.
1783 - American Revolutionary War: The last British troops leave New York City three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
1795 - Partitions of Poland: Stanislaus August Poniatowski, the last King of independent Poland, is forced to abdicate and is exiled to Russia.
1905 - Prince Carl of Denmark arrives in Norway to become King Haakon VII of Norway.
1926 - The deadliest November tornado outbreak in U.S. history strikes on Thanksgiving day. 27 twisters of great strength are reported in the Midwest, including the strongest November tornado, an estimated F4, that devastates Heber Springs, Arkansas. There are 51 deaths in Arkansas alone, 76 deaths and over 400 injuries in all.
1943 - World War II: Statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina is re-established at the State Anti-Fascist Council for the People's Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
1947 - Red Scare: The "Hollywood Ten" are blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios.
1952 - Korean War: After 42 days of fighting, the Battle of Triangle Hill ends as American and South Korean units abandon their attempt to capture the "Iron Triangle".
1960 - The Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic are assassinated.
1963 - President John F. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
1975 - Suriname gains independence from the Netherlands.
Famous Birthdays:
1454 - Queen Catherine Cornaro of Cyprus
1609 - Queen Henrietta Maria of France, consort of King Charles I of England
1638 - Queen Catherine of Braganza, consort of King Charles II of England
1868 - Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
1876 - Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Grand Duchess of Hesse
1881 - Pope John XXIII
1915 - Augusto Pinochet, dictator
1920 - King Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail of Malaysia
1950 - Alexis Wright, author
1960 - John F. Kennedy, Jr., son of former US President, John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy
1971 - Christina Applegate, actress
1981 - Barbara Bush, daughter of former US President George W. Bush and Laura Bush
1981 - Jenna Bush, daughter of former US President George W. Bush and Laura Bush
1986 - Katie Cassidy, singer and actress
Saturday, November 24, 2012
November 24th in History
380 - Theodosius I makes his adventus, or formal entry, into Constantinople.
1429 - Joan of Arc unsuccessfully besieges La Charité.
1859 - Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species.
1940 - World War II: Slovakia becomes a signatory to the Tripartite Pact, officially joining the Axis Powers.
1963 - Lee Harvey Oswald is murdered by Jack Ruby in the basement of Dallas police department headquarters. The shooting happens to be broadcast live on television.
1963 - Vietnam War: Newly sworn-in US President Lyndon B. Johnson confirms that the United States intends to continue supporting South Vietnam both militarily and economically.
1969 - Apollo program: The Apollo 12 command module splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to the Moon.
Famous Birthdays:
1273 - Alphonso, Earl of Chester, son of Edward I of England
1615 - Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine
1745 - Maria Louisa of Spain, Empress consort of the Holy Roman Empire
1784 - Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States
1806 - William Webb Ellis, credited with the invention of Rugby
1869 - António Óscar Carmona, 97th Prime Minister of Portugal and 11th President of Portugal
1884 - Itzhak Ben-Zvi, President of Israel
1957 - Denise Crosby, actress
1977 - Colin Hanks, actor
1983 - Meredith Henderson, actress
Friday, November 23, 2012
November 23rd in History
1248 - Conquest of Seville by the Christian troops under King Ferdinand III of Castile.
1510 - First campaign of Ottoman Empire against Kingdom of Imereti (modern western Georgia). Ottoman armies sack its capital Kutaisi and burn Gelati Monastery.
1808 - French and Poles defeat the Spanish at battle of Tudela
1867 - The Manchester Martyrs are hanged in Manchester, England for killing a police officer while freeing two Irish nationalists from custody.
1890 - King William III of the Netherlands dies without a male heir and a special law is passed to allow his daughter Princess Wilhelmina becomes Queen of the Netherlands.
1910 - Johan Alfred Ander becomes the last person to be executed in Sweden.
1940 - World War II: Romania becomes a signatory of the Tripartite Pact, officially joining the Axis Powers.
1955 - The Cocos Islands are transferred from the control of the United Kingdom to Australia.
1979 - In Dublin, Ireland, Provisional Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten.
1981 – Iran-Contra Affair: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
2003 - Rose Revolution: the Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns following weeks of mass protests over flawed elections.
2011 - Arab Spring: After 11 months of protests in Yemen, The Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh signs a deal to transfer power to the vice president, in exchange for legal immunity.
Famous Birthdays:
912 - Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
1221 - King Alfonso X of Castile
1760 - François-Noël Babeuf, revolutionary figure
1804 - Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States
1859 -William H. Bonney (Billy the Kid), outlaw
1923 - Julien J. LeBourgeois, admiral
1941 - Franco Nero, actor
1946 - Diana Quick, actress
1979 - Kelly Brook, actress and model
1992 - Miley Cyrus, actress and singer
Thursday, November 22, 2012
November 22nd in History
498 - After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran Palace, while Laurentius is elected Pope in Santa Maria Maggiore.
1307 - Pope Clement V issues the papal bull Pastoralis Praeeminentiae which instructed all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Templars and seize their assets.
1718 - Off the coast of North Carolina, British pirate Edward Teach (best known as "Blackbeard") is killed in battle with a boarding party led by Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard.
1812 - War of 1812: 17 Indiana Rangers are killed at the Battle of Wild Cat Creek.
1940 - World War II: Following the initial Italian invasion, Greek troops counterattack into Italian-occupied Albania and capture Korytsa.
1942 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad – General Friedrich Paulus sends Adolf Hitler a telegram saying that the German 6th army is surrounded.
1943 - World War II: War in the Pacific – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-Shek meet in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan
1943 - Lebanon gains independence from France.
1973 - The Italian Fascist organization Ordine Nuovo is disbanded.
1975 - Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain following the death of Francisco Franco.
1990 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher withdraws from the Conservative Party leadership election, confirming the end of her premiership.
2005 - Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany.
Famous Birthdays:
1515 - Mary of Guise, Queen consort of James V of Scotland and mother of Mary, Queen of Scots
1602 - Elisabeth of Bourbon, Queen of Philip IV of Spain
1744 - Abigail Adams, First Lady of the United States
1878 - Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, younger brother of Tsar Nicholas II
1919 - Máire Drumm, civil rights activist
1941 - Tom Conti, actor
1962 - Rezauddin Stalin, poet
1967 - Mark Ruffalo, actor
1982 - Isild Le Besco, actress
1985 - Mandy Minella, tennis player
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
November 21st in History
235 - Pope Anterus succeeds Pontian as the nineteenth pope. During the persecutions of emperor Maximinus Thrax he is martyred
1783 - In Paris, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent, Marquis d'Arlandes, make the first untethered hot air balloon flight.
1789 - North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and is admitted as the 12th US state.
1877 - Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound.
1905 - Albert Einstein's paper, Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?, is published in the journal "Annalen der Physik". This paper reveals the relationship between energy and mass. This leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc².
1920 - Irish War of Independence: In Dublin, 31 people are killed in what became known as "Bloody Sunday". This included fourteen British informants, fourteen Irish civilians and three Irish Republican Army prisoners.
1922 - Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator.
1964 Second Vatican Council: The third session of the Roman Catholic Church's ecumenical council closes.
1974 - The Birmingham Pub Bombings kill 21 people. The Birmingham Six are sentenced to life in prison for the crime but subsequently acquitted.
1986 - Iran-Contra Affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
2002 - NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become member
Famous Birthdays:
1643 - René-Robert Cavelier de LaSalle, explorer
1694 - François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire), philosopher
1840 - Victoria, Princess Royal of Great Britain and German Empress, eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert and consort of Emperor Frederick III of Germany.
1854 - Pope Benedict XV
1908 - Elizabeth Speare, author
1948 - President Michel Suleiman of Lebanon
1952 -Lorna Luft, actress and singer, daughter of Judy Garland
1978 - Lucía Jiménez, actress
1992 – Conor Maynard, musician
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
November 20th in History
284 - Diocletian is chosen as Roman Emperor.
1194 - Palermo is conquered by Emperor Henry VI.
1789 - New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
1910 - Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero issues the Plan de San Luis Potosi, denouncing President Porfirio Díaz, calling for a revolution to overthrow the government of Mexico, effectively starting the Mexican Revolution.
1917 - Ukraine is declared a republic.
1940 - World War II: Hungary becomes a signatory of the Tripartite Pact, officially joining the Axis Powers.
1945 - Nuremberg Trials: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg.
1947 - The Princess Elizabeth (now Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom) marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who becomes the Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in London.
1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.
1977 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement.
1985 - Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released.
1989 - Velvet Revolution: The number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.
1992 - In the UK, a fire breaks out in Windsor Castle, badly damaging the castle and causing over £50 million worth of damage.
Famous Birthdays:
270 - Maximinus II, Roman Emperor
1761 - Pope Pius VIII
1851 - Queen Margherita of Italy
1892 - James Collip, biochemist, co-discoverer of insulin
1912 - Archduke Otto von Habsburg, last Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary from 1916 until the dissolution of the Empire in 1918 and MEP
1927 - Estelle Parsons, actress
1942 - Joe Biden, the Vice President of the United States
1954 - Steve Dahl, radio personality
1971 - Joel McHale, actor and comedian
1981 - Kimberley Walsh, singer
1985 - Carly Rae Jepsen, singer
Monday, November 19, 2012
November 19th in History
461 - Libius Severus is declared emperor of the Western Roman Empire. The real power is in the hands of the magister militum Ricimer.
1095 - The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land, begins.
1493 - Christopher Columbus goes ashore on an island he first saw the day before. He names it San Juan Bautista (later renamed Puerto Rico).
1794 - The United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign Jay's Treaty, which attempts to resolve some of the lingering problems left over from the American Revolutionary War.
1912 - First Balkan War: The Serbian Army captures Bitola, ending the five-century-long Ottoman rule of Macedonia.
1942 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad – Soviet Union forces under General Georgy Zhukov launch the Operation Uranus counterattacks at Stalingrad, turning the tide of the battle in the USSR's favour.
1942 - Mutesa II is crowned the 35th and last Kabaka (King) of Buganda.
1946 - Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations.
1969 - Association football player Pelé scores his 1,000th goal.
1985 - Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.
1988 - Serbian communist representative and future Serbian and Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic publicly declares that Serbia is under attack from Albanian separatists in Kosovo as well as internal treachery within Yugoslavia and a foreign conspiracy to destroy Serbia and Yugoslavia.
Famous Birthdays:
1464 - Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan
1600 - King Charles I of England
1805 - Ferdinand de Lesseps, diplomat and Suez Canal engineer
1831 - James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States
1894 - Américo Tomás, admiral and 14th President of Portugal
1906 - Franz Schädle, commander of Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard
1917 - Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India
1933 - Larry King, TV personality
1939 - Emil Constantinescu, 3rd President of Romania
1947 - Anfinn Kallsberg, 10th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
1969 - Erika Alexander, actress
1976 - Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter
1978 - Věra Pospíšilová-Cechlová, athlete in the discus throw and the shot put.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
November 18th in History
326 - The old St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated.
1180 - Phillip II becomes King of France.
1210 - Pope Innocent III excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV
1494 - King Charles VIII of France occupies Florence, Italy.
1626 - St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated.
1730 - Frederick II (known as Frederick the Great), King of Prussia, is granted a royal pardon and released from confinement.
1803 - The Battle of Vertières, the last major battle of the Haitian Revolution, is fought, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Haiti, the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere.
1863 - King Christian IX of Denmark decides to sign the November constitution that declares Schleswig to be part of Denmark. This is seen by the German Confederation as a violation of the London Protocol and leads to the German–Danish war of 1864.
1905 - Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.
1916 - World War I: First Battle of the Somme – in France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on July 1, 1916.
1918 - Latvia declares its independence from Russia.
1940 - World War II: Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous invasion of Greece.
1987 - Iran-Contra Affair: the U.S. Congress issues its final report on the Iran-Contra Affair.
Famous Birthdays:
1630 - Empress Eleanor Gonzaga of the Holy Roman Empire, the consort of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor.
1772 - Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia
1774 - Wilhelmine of Prussia, Queen of the Netherlands
1856 - Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia
1919 - Jocelyn Brando, actress
1920 - Mustafa Khalil, 77th Prime Minister of Egypt
1922 - Luis Somoza Debayle, 70th President of Nicaragua
1940 - Qaboos bin Said al Said, Sultan of Oman
1957 - Seán MacFalls, poet
1975 - Anthony McPartlin, television presenter
1976 - Mona Zaki, actress
1981 - Christina Vidal, actress
Saturday, November 17, 2012
November 17th in History
474 - Emperor Leo II dies after a reign of 10 months. He is succeeded by his father Zeno, who becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.
1292 - John Balliol becomes King of Scotland.
1511 - Spain and England ally against France.
1558 - Queen Mary I of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I of England.
1800 - The United States Congress holds its first session in Washington, D.C.
1810 - Sweden declares war on its ally the United Kingdom to begin the Anglo-Swedish War, although no fighting ever takes place.
1811 - José Miguel Carrera, Chilean founding father, is sworn in as President of the executive Junta of the government of Chile.
1831 - Ecuador and Venezuela are separated from Gran Colombia.
1878 - First assassination attempt against Umberto I of Italy by anarchist Giovanni Passannante. armed with a dagger. The King survived with a slight wound in an arm. Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli blocked the aggressor, receiving an injury in a leg.
1919 - King George V of the United Kingdom proclaims Armistice Day (later Remembrance Day). The idea is first suggested by Edward George Honey.
1922 - Former Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI goes into exile in Italy.
1933 - United States recognizes Soviet Union.
1939 - Nine Czech students are executed as a response to anti-Nazi demonstrations prompted by the death of Jan Opletal. In addition, all Czech universities are shut down and over 1200 Czech students sent to concentration camps. Since this event, International Students' Day is celebrated in many countries, especially in the Czech Republic.
1950 - Lhamo Dondrub is officially named the 14th Dalai Lama.
1970 - Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai Massacre.
1973 - Watergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook."
2000 - Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru.
Famous Birthdays:
9 - Emperor Vespasian, Roman Emperor
1612 - Dorgon, a Manchu Prince and regent of the early Qing Dynasty.
1729 - Maria Antonietta of Spain, Queen of Sardinia
1755 - King Louis XVIII of France
1897 - Frank Fay, actor
1905 - Queen Astrid of the Belgians
1935 - Bobby Joe Conrad, football player
1949 - Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, Prime Minister of Vietnam
1966 - Sophie Marceau, actress
1981 - Sarah Harding, singer
1986 - Nani, footballer
Friday, November 16, 2012
November 16th in History
1272 - While travelling during the Ninth Crusade, Prince Edward becomes King of England (King Edward I) upon Henry III of England's death, but he will not return to England for nearly two years to assume the throne.
1532 - Francisco Pizarro and his men capture Inca Emperor Atahualpa.
1776 - American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian units capture Fort Washington from the Patriots.
1805 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Schöngrabern – Russian forces under Pyotr Bagration delay the pursuit by French troops under Murat.
1907 - Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory join to form Oklahoma, that is admitted as the 46th U.S. state.
1944 - Dueren, Germany is destroyed by Allied bombers.
1945 - UNESCO is founded.
Famous Birthdays:
42 BC - Tiberius, Roman Emperor
1836 - King Kalākaua, of Hawaiʻi
1890 - Elpidio Quirino, 6th President of the Philippines
1895 - Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia
1904 - Nnamdi Azikiwe, 1st President of Nigeria
1925 - Gianfranco Dell'Innocenti, footballer
1961 - Frank Bruno, boxer
1974 - Paul Scholes, footballer
1988 - Siva Kaneswaran, singer
Thursday, November 15, 2012
November 15th in History
1688 - The Glorious Revolution begins: William of Orange lands at Brixham.
1859 - The first modern revival of the Olympic Games takes place in Athens, Greece.
1889 - Brazil is declared a republic by Marechal Deodoro da Fonseca and Emperor Pedro II is deposed in a military coup.
1920 - First assembly of the League of Nations is held in Geneva.
1923 - The German Rentenmark is introduced in Germany to counter Inflation in the Weimar Republic.
1935 - Manuel L. Quezon is inaugurated as the second president of the Philippines.
1939 - In Washington, D.C., US President Franklin D. Roosevelt lays the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial.
1943 - Holocaust: German SS leader Heinrich Himmler orders that Gypsies are to be put "on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps".
1945 - Venezuela joins the United Nations.
1969 - Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 250,000-500,000 protesters staged a peaceful demonstration against the war, including a symbolic "March Against Death".
1983 - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is founded. Recognised only by Turkey.
1985 - The Anglo-Irish Agreement is signed at Hillsborough Castle by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald.
1987 - In Braşov, Romania, workers rebel against the communist regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu.
1988 - Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An independent State of Palestine is proclaimed by the Palestinian National Council.
1990 - The People's Republic of Bulgaria is disestablished and a new republican government is instituted.
Famous Birthdays:
459 - B'utz Aj Sak Chiik, King of Palenque (in Modern Maya)
1316 - King John I of France
1397 - Pope Nicholas V
1498 - Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal and France
1708 - William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1784 - Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia or Westfalia
1852 - Tewfik Pasha, Khedive of Egypt
1859 - Christopher Hornsrud, Prime Minister of Norway
1891 - Erwin Rommel, field marshal, "The Desert Fox"
1895 - Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia
1931 - President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya
1945 - Anni-Frid Lyngstad, singer (ABBA)
1954 - Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former President of Poland
1977 - Peter Phillips, son of Princess Anne, The Princess Royal of the United Kingdom and 11th in line to the throne
1988 - Zena Grey, actress
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
November 14th in History
1862 - American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln approves General Ambrose Burnside's plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, leading to the Battle of Fredericksburg.
1916 - World War I: The Battle of the Somme ends.
1918 - Czechoslovakia becomes a republic.
1940 - World War II: In England, the city of Coventry is heavily bombed by German Luftwaffe bombers. Coventry Cathedral is almost completely destroyed.
1941 - World War II: In Slonim, German forces engaged in Operation Barbarossa murdered 9000 Jews in a single day.
1971 - Enthronment of Pope Shenouda III as Pope of Alexandria
1973 - In the United Kingdom, Princess Anne marries Captain Mark Phillips, in Westminster Abbey.
1990 - After German reunification, the Federal Republic of Germany and Poland sign a treaty confirming the Oder–Neisse line as the border between Germany and Poland.
1991 - Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh after thirteen years of exile.
2001 - War in Afghanistan: Afghan Northern Alliance fighters take over the capital Kabul.
Famous Birthdays:
1650 - King William III of England
1812 - Maria Christina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies
1840 - Claude Monet, painter
1889 - Jawaharlal Nehru, First Prime Minister of India
1896 - Mamie Eisenhower, First Lady of the United States
1922 - Boutros Boutros-Ghali, UN Secretary-General
1935 - King Hussein of Jordan
1948 - HRH Charles, Prince of Wales - heir to the throne of the United Kingdom
1953 - Dominique de Villepin, former Prime Minister of France
1954 - Condoleezza Rice, diplomat and 66th United States Secretary of State
1971 - Marco Leonardi, actor
1972 - Josh Duhamel, actor
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
November 13th in History
1002 - English King Æthelred II orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St. Brice's Day massacre.
1642 - First English Civil War: Battle of Turnham Green – the Royalist forces withdraw in the face of the Parliamentarian army and fail to take London.
1775 - American Revolutionary War: Patriot revolutionary forces under Gen. Richard Montgomery occupy Montreal, Quebec.
1887 - Bloody Sunday clashes in central London.
1947 - The Soviet Union completes development of the AK-47, one of the first proper assault rifles.
1950 - General Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, President of Venezuela, is assassinated in Caracas.
1969 - Vietnam War: Anti-war protesters in Washington, D.C. stage a symbolic March Against Death
1994 - In a referendum voters in Sweden decide to join the European Union.
2001 - War on Terrorism: In the first such act since World War II, US President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against foreigners suspected of connections to terrorist acts or planned acts on the United States.
2007 - The Russian Federation officially withdraws from the Soviet-era Batumi military base, Georgia.
Famous Birthdays:
354 - St Augustine of Hippo, catholic saint
1312 - King Edward III of England
1504 - Philipp I of Hesse
1780 - Ranjit Singh, Maharaja of The Punjab(Sikh Empire)
1801 - Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria, Queen of Prussia
1899 - Iskander Mirza, First President of Pakistan
1949 - Terry Reid, singer
1955 - Whoopi Goldberg, actress, singer and comedienne
Monday, November 12, 2012
November 12th in History
607 - Pope Boniface III dies
1035 - King Cnut the Great, King of Denmark, England and Norway dies
1555 - The English Parliament re-establishes Catholicism.
1793 - Jean Sylvain Bailly, the first Mayor of Paris, is guillotined.
1905 - Norway holds a referendum in favour of monarchy over republic.
1918 - Austria becomes a republic.
1933 - Hugh Gray takes the first known photos of the Loch Ness Monster.
1941 - World War II: temperatures around Moscow drop to -12° C as the Soviet Union launches ski troops for the first time against the freezing German forces near the city.
1948 - In Tokyo, an international war crimes tribunal sentences seven Japanese military and government officials, including General Hideki Tojo, to death for their roles in World War II.
1956 - Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia join the United Nations.
1968 - Equatorial Guinea joins the United Nations.
1971 - Vietnam War: as part of Vietnamization, US President Richard M. Nixon sets February 1, 1972 as the deadline for the removal of another 45,000 American troops from Vietnam.
1975 - The Comoros joins the United Nations.
1978 - Pope John Paul II takes possession of his Cathedral Church, the Basilica of St. John Lateran, as the Bishop of Rome.
1990 - Crown Prince Akihito is formally installed as Emperor Akihito of Japan, becoming the 125th Japanese monarch.
2011 - Silvio Berlusconi resigns as Prime Minister of Italy due, in large part, to the European sovereign debt crisis.
Famous Birthdays:
1547 - Claude of Valois, Princess - the second daughter of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.
1790 - Letitia Christian Tyler, US First Lady
1881 - Maximilian von Weichs, field marshal
1911 - Buck Clayton, jazz trumpet player
1929 - Grace Kelly, actress and Princess consort of Monaco
1945 - Neil Young, singer and guitarist
1968 - Sharon Shannon, musician
1980 - Ryan Gosling, actor
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