Sir Walter Raleigh beheaded, 1618
Born in Devon in 1552 into a Protestant, Walter Raleigh served in Ireland during the suppression of the Desmond Rebellions between 1580 and 1581. He received forty-thousand acres of land…
Coronation of George I, King of the Hellenes, 1863
In October 1862, following a power struggle that had lasted nearly two decades, King Otto of Greece lost his throne following a constitutionalist coup while he visited the Peloponnese. Ambassadors…
Work finished on Mount Rushmore sculpture, 1941
During the early 1920s, the state historian of South Dakota, Doane Robinson, promoted his idea of commissioning giant sculptures of key figures in the history of the West, such as…
First aerial bombing, 1911
On 29th September 1911, the Italian government declared war on the Ottoman Empire having failed to achieve their demand for control of those Ottoman territories that make up modern day…
BBC Television Service started broadcasting, 1936
The first television broadcast in Britain was made on 30th September 1929 using an electromechanical system pioneered by the Scottish inventor John Logie Baird. His Baird Television Development Company Ltd…
Last hanging at Tyburn gallows, 1783
The gallows at Tyburn in London were the site of the demise of many infamous characters. The first record of an execution there dates from 1196 when the leader of…
Nixon won presidential election, 1968
On 5th November 1968, Richard Millhous Nixon won the U.S. presidential election following a turbulent campaign that saw the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, as well violent…
First Sex Pistols gig, 1975
On 6th November 1975, one of the most infamous rock bands of all time played their first concert at St. Martin’s College of Art in London. The Sex Pistols emerged…
Jesús García saves the town of Nacozari, 1907
In 1898, Jesús García moved with his family to the town of Nacozari in the Mexican province of Sonora. His father worked as a blacksmith in the town, which was…
The Louvre opened as a museum, 1793
On 8th November 1793, as the Reign of Terror began in Revolutionary France the Palais du Louvre (Louvre Palace) first opened in its new role housing a national museum. The palace started…