Today in History
May 31
Sir Francis Bacon
Franz Josef Haydn
(1732-1809)
Alvise Corvaro by Tintoretto
Palazzo Pitti - Florence
Francis E Younghusband
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May 31 |
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| 1287 The Genoese defeated the Venetian fleet off Acre and blockaded the coast of Outremer | |
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| 1417 Jacoba van Bavarian becomes countess of Holland/Zealand/Henegouwen | ||
| 1433 Pope Eugenius IV crowned Sigismund as Holy Roman Emperor. | ||
| 1469 Manuel I, King of Portugal (1495-1521) during era of exploration was born | ||
| 1495 Emperor Maximilian, Pope Alexander VI, Milan, King Ferdinand, Isabella & Venice sign anti-French Saint League | ||
| 1531 "Women's Revolt" in Amsterdam: wool house in churchyard aborted | ||
| 1557 Theodorus I (Fedor Ivanovitsj), czar of Russia (1584-98) was born | ||
| 1564 Battle on Gotland: Lubeck & Denmark beat Sweden | ||
| 1594 Tintoretto, born as Jacopo Robusti, a child prodigy and a renowned Italian artist, died. Among his most famous works are "The Last Judgment" and "The Last Supper." | ||
| 1621 Sir Francis Bacon thrown into Tower of London for 1 night | ||
| 1659 Netherlands, England & France sign Treaty of The Hague | ||
| 1664 Giulio Alberoni, Spanish/Italian minister/cardinal was born | Sir Francis Bacon |
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| 1665 Jerusalem's rabbi Sjabtai Tswi proclaims himself Messiah | ||
| 1669 Due to failing eyesight, the British admiralty official and diarist Samuel Pepys stopped writing his diary. | ||
| 1696 John Salomonsz elected chief of Saint-Eustatius | ||
| 1727 France, England & Netherlands sign accord of Paris | ||
| 1740 Frederick William I, king of Prussia, died after transforming his country into a prosperous and powerful one. He was succeeded by his son, Frederick II the Great. | ||
| 1744 French troops conquer Kortrijk | ||
| 1790 US copyright law enacted | ||
| 1809 Franz Josef Haydn, Austrian composer, died. During his 77 years he composed more than 100 symphonies, several masses, a series of string quartets and many stage works. | ||
| 1821 The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary In Baltimore became the first Catholic cathedral to be dedicated in the United States. | ||
| 1836 HMS Beagle anchors in Simons Bay, Cape of Good Hope |
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| 1837 Joseph Grimaldi, famed English dancer and actor whose white-faced act marked the birth of the English circus clown, died. | ||
| 1847 Rotterdam-Hague Railway opens | ||
| 1849 Last edition of Orange sheet "Journal de La Haye" | ||
| 1859 Big Ben, at the Houses of Parliament in London, began telling the time. | ||
| 1862 Battle of Seven Pines VA (Fair Oaks) | ||
| 1863 Francis E Younghusband, British journalist/explorer was born | ||
| 1870 Congress passes 1st Enforcement Act (rights of blacks) | ||
| 1879 1st electric railway opens at Berlin Trades Exposition | ||
| 1879 Madison Square Garden opens | ||
| 1883 French fleet under Pierre begins siege of Tamatave, Madagascar | ||
| 1884 Dr John Harvey Kellogg patents "flaked cereal" | Franz Josef Haydn |
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| 1889 Johnstown Flood; 2,209 die in Penn | ||
| 1891 Work on trans-Siberian railway begins | ||
| 1899 Bronx acquires Keltch Memorial Park | ||
| 1900 British troops under Lord Roberts occupy Johannesburg | ||
| 1900 US troops arrive in Beijing, help put down Boxer Rebellion | ||
| 1902 Boer War Ends; Treaty of Unity signed, Britain annexes Transvaal | ||
| 1902 The Treaty of Vereeniging was signed in Pretoria bringing an end to the Boer War. More than 5,000 British troops and at least 4,000 Boers were killed in action. | ||
| 1905 Emperor Wilhelm II lands in Tanger | ||
| 1906 Attack on King Alfonso XIII & Victoria von Battenberg in Madrid |
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| 1910 The former British self-governing colonies of Natal, the Transvaal and Cape of Good Hope joined together and formed the Union of South Africa | ||
| 1910 Union of South Africa declares independence from UK | ||
| 1911 In Belfast, the White Star liner Titanic was launched as one of the largest vessels afloat. It sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912 | ||
| 1912 US marines land on Cuba | ||
| 1916 Battle of Skagerrak: Brit-German sea battle at Jutland (10,000 dead) | ||
| 1919 NC-4 aircraft commanded by AC Read completes 1st crossing of Atlantic | ||
| 1923 China & USSR exchange diplomats | ||
| 1923 Prince Rainier III of Monaco was born. He transformed Monaco from a gambling paradise into a booming international business centre. | ||
| 1926 Portuguese president Bernardino Machedo resigns after coup | ||
| 1930 Clint Eastwood, U.S. film star and director, born. He came to fame in the television series "Rawhide" and then with spaghetti westerns. He also starred as "Dirty Harry," among various other roles. | ||
| 1930 Building begins on Albert Canal in Belgium | Alvise Corvaro by Tintoretto |
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| 1935 Quake kills 50,000 in Quetta Pakistan | Palazzo Pitti - Florence |
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| 1937 German battleships bomb Almeria Spain | ||
| 1938 In the United States, the film "The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel" became the first to be seen on television. It was broadcast by NBC. | ||
| 1941 British troops vacate Kreta | ||
| 1941 German occupiers forbids Jews access to beach & swimming pools | ||
| 1942 Luftwaffe bombs Canterbury | ||
| 1942 Czech patriots assassinated Gestapo leader Heydrich. | ||
| 1944 Allied breakthrough in Italy | ||
| 1945 In China, Gen. Chiang Kai-shek resigned as premier and was succeeded by Dr T.V. Soong. Chiang Kai-shek remained as president. | ||
| 1947 Communists grab power in Hungary | ||
| 1947 Eastern DC-4 crashes between Ft Deposit & Perryville Md, kills 53 | ||
| 1947 Italian govt of Gasperi forms | ||
| 1951 Neth & South Africa sign cultural accord | ||
| 1952 In the USSR, the Volga Don Canal was opened. | ||
| 1953 Lebanese president Camille Shamun disbands government |
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| 1955 Great Britain proclaims emergency crisis due to railroad strike | ||
| 1957 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Christmas Island (atmospheric) | ||
| 1958 US performs nuclear test at Bikini Island (atmospheric tests) | ||
| 1961 JFK visits Charles de Gaulle in Paris | ||
| 1961 South Africa became an independent republic outside the Commonwealth, with C R Swart as president | ||
| 1962 Adolph Eichmann, who helped to organize Nazi Germany's murder of millions of Jews, was hanged in Jerusalem. | ||
| 1970 In Peru, a magnitude-7.9 earthquake struck the towns of Yungay, Huaraz and Chimbote, destroying all three as well as surrounding villages. This resulted in more than 70,000 people killed and 600,000 left homeless. | ||
| 1974 Henry Kissinger secured an agreement between Syria and Israel to disengage forces on Golan Heights. | ||
| 1977 Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani becomes heir apparent to throne of Qatar | Francis E Younghusband |
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| 1977 Trans Alaska oil pipeline completed | ||
| 1979 Zimbabwe proclaims independence | ||
| 1980 Police & youthful rebels battle in Zurich | ||
| 1985 Guatemala adopts constitution | ||
| 1985 41 tornadoes hit Northeast US, killing 88 | ||
| 1989 Speaker of House Jim Wright resigns | ||
| 1991 Sides in Angola sign a treaty ending 16 year civil war | ||
| 1994 Bosnia's parliament elected Croat war veteran Kresimir Zubak as the first interim president of a new power-sharing Muslim-Croat federation. | ||
| 1996 Right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu narrowly beat Shimon Peres in the election for Israeli prime minister. Netanyahu won 50.4 percent of votes and Peres 49.5 percent. | ||
| 1996 Timothy Leary, the counterculture guru of the 1960s who urged a generation of Americans to use the drug LSD so they could "turn on, tune in and drop out," died of cancer. | ||
| 1997 Ghana dispatched troops to join a Nigerian-led force already in Sierra Leone, urging the coup leaders to respond to diplomatic efforts and warning that if they do not, West African countries might have to use force to restore civilian rule. | ||
C.H. OSTFELD INC.