Riot at premiere of Stravinsky`s Rite of Spring, 1913
In 1910 the painter Nicholas Roerich told the composer Igor Stravinsky [pictured] of a vision he had of a pagan ritual during which a young girl dances herself to death.…
Lincoln Memorial dedicated, 1922
In March 1867, the United States Congress incorporated the Lincoln Monument association, which had the task of building a memorial dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, who had been assassinated less than…
Samuel Pepys` last diary entry, 1669
From 1660 to 1669 the Naval administrator, Samuel Pepys, kept a diary that provides historians with an insight into Restoration London. Pepys was born on Fleet Street, London, in February…
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…
First Formula One Championship race, 1950
Following the conclusion of hostilities in Europe in 1946, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) standardised the rules of automobile racing. The FIA tasked their Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) with…
Sud-Aviation workers` strike and factory occupation, 1968
On 14th May 1968, young workers at the Sud-Aviation’s Bourguenais factory near Nantes decided to go on strike and lock the plant’s manager in his office along with other supervisors.…
First machine-gun patented, 1718
The son of a merchant of the same name, James Puckle was born sometime in or before 1667 in London. He inherited his father’s estate in 1690 to add to…
Frankfurt Parliament convened, 1848
1848 was a year of revolutions: the Sicilian Revolution of Independence from the Bourbon monarchy; elsewhere in Italy – the Roman and Venetian republics; the Hungarian Revolution against Hapsburg rule;…
England declared a republic, 1649
From the beginning of his reign, King Charles I’s relations with the Parliament of England were strained. In 1625, he married a Catholic, Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry IV of…