Death of an Intrepid Traveller
Elizabeth Justice, writer of the first female-authored book of travel writing to be published in English, died on 15 March 1752.
Months Past
A Test Case for Tolerance
Jean Calas was sentenced to be broken on the wheel in front of the cathedral in Toulouse, on 10 March 1762.
A Dynasty is Founded
On 8 February 1644, Li Zicheng, a rebel warlord, proclaimed the foundation of his own Shun dynasty.
Ringing the Changes
The first-known secular bell-ringing society was founded on 2 February 1604.
Battle of Nsamankow
The British faced a 10,000-strong army on 21 January 1824.
Joan of Arc’s Trial Begins
The interrogations at the heresy trial began in Rouen on 9 January 1431.
Discovery of a Living Fossil
The coelacanth, believed to have been extinct for 70 million years, was rediscovered by Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer on 22 December 1938.
Premiere of a Christmas Classic
It’s a Wonderful Life had its first screening on 20 December 1946.
The Finnish Club War
The Cudgel War broke out on 25 November 1596, in Kyrö, South Ostrobothnia.
Death of Thomas Tallis
One of the first – and greatest – composers of English Protestant church music died on 23 November 1585.