Emiliano Zapata assassinated, 1919
Born in August 1879, Emiliano Zapata Salazar became a mediero (sharecropper) and horse trainer in his home village of Anenecuilco in the small central Mexican state of Morelos. He campaigned for the…
Launch of Apollo 13, 1970
On 11th April 1970, a Saturn V rocket launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying the crew of the Apollo 13, James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert and…
First official Poet Laureate to British Crown, 1668
Whilst there had been various unofficial royal poets previously, the first person to be officially recognised as Poet Laureate by letters patent was John Dryden who received the honour from…
Galileo interrogated by the Inquisition, 1633
Following the publication of Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, the Inquisition summoned Galileo Galilei to Rome for interrogation. Galileo had managed to alienate Pope Urban VIII by ridiculing Urban’s geocentric…
First Volvo car produced, 1927
Eighty years ago today the Swedish vehicle manufacturer Volvo produced their first car. On 14th April, 1927, the first ÖV4 – nicknamed the ‘Jakob’ left the company’s Hisingen factory in…
Samuel Johnson`s Dictionary published, 1755
“Dictionary, s. a book explaining the words of any language alphabetically; a lexicon” The above definition is taken from Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language, first published on 15th…
Battle of Culloden, 1746
Following the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688, some Britons, known as Jacobites, wanted James II restored to the throne. After James’ death in 1701, the Jacobite cause shifted to his son,…
Bay of Pigs, 1961
On the morning of 17th April, 1961, a force of Cuban counter-revolutionary exiles, known as Brigade 2506, landed at the Bay of Pigs in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro’s…
Thomas Bodley knighted, 1604
The Bodleian Library at Oxford University is one of the most famous in the world. It was named after an ex-diplomat and fellow of Merton College, Thomas Bodley. Bodley used…
Independence of Belgium and Luxembourg recognized, 1839
In the years following the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, his vanquishers redrewthe map of Europe, resulting in the creation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. It incorporated modern day…