Hudson`s Bay Company incorporated, 1670
In 1668 two English ships sailed for Hudson Bay to evaluate trade opportunities in the area. The expedition was instigated by two French fur traders called Médard des Groseilliers and…
Student Revolt in Paris, 1968
In March 1968, a group of radical students at the Nanterre campus of the University of Paris demonstrated against what they saw as the oppressively paternalistic rules under which the…
Haymarket Affair, 1886
In the late nineteenth-century workers’ groups around the world agitated for an eight hour working day. To this end, in October 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions…
Meeting of the French Estates-General, 1789
The deepening financial crisis in France at the end of the eighteenth century led the king to appoint a series of finance ministers. Two of these Charles Alexandre de Calonne…
India elected its first Muslim President, 1967
On 6th May 1967, the electoral college of the Republic of India voted for their new President. Votes were cast by the Members of the Indian Parliament and the Members…
Stockholm Castle fire, 1697
In the afternoon of 7th May 1697, fire broke out in the Tre Kronor (three crowns) castle in Stockholm, seat of the royal family of Sweden. The fire spread quickly;…
First Italian football championship, 1898
The first official Italian association football competition was played in entirety on 8th May 1898. The newly formed Italian Football Federation (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio, or FIGC) endorsed the event.…
Kray Twins arrested, 1968
During the 1960s, Ronnie and Reggie Kray, dominated organised crime in the East End of London, but following an extensive investigation Inspector Leonard “Nipper” Read of Scotland Yard arrested the…
HMS Beagle launched, 1820
On 11th May 1820, at Woolwich dockyard in London, one of the most famous ships in history was launched. Costing £7,803, the ten-gun Cherokee-class brig-sloop carried the name HMS Beagle…
Oldest university founded in Americas, 1551
On 12th May 1551 King Charles I of Spain (also Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor) signed a Royal Decree at Valladolid establishing the first university in the Americas at Lima…