Today in history 8/17/2017

8/17/2017:

Today in history, By the Treaty of Abo, Sweden cedes southeast Finland to Russia, ending Sweden’s failed war with Russia in 1743.

Today in history, Napoleon Bonaparte‘s army defeats the Russians at the Battle of Smolensk during the Russian retreat to Moscow in 1812.

Today in history, The first steam ship to cross the Atlantic entirely on its own power, the Canadian ship Royal William (see picture below), begins her journey from Nova Scotia to The Isle of Wight in 1833.

Today in history, Union gunboats attack Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, for the first time in 1863.

Today in history, Upon hearing confirmation that Japan has surrendered, Sukarno proclaims Indonesia’s independence in 1945.

Today in history, Three Americans complete the first crossing of the Atlantic in a balloon in 1978.

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Today in history 7/25/2017

7/25/2017:

Today in history, Emperor Constantine refuses to carry out traditional pagan sacrifices in 326.

Today in history, Maximilian II becomes emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 1564.

Today in history, Hideyoshi (see picture below) bans Christianity in Japan and orders all Christians to leave in 1587.

Today in history, On his way back from Syria, Napoleon Bonaparte defeats the Ottomans at Aboukir, Egypt in 1799.

Today in history, China grants Belgium equal trading rights with Britain, France and the United States in 1845.

Today in history, President Andrew Johnson signs an act creating the territory of Wyoming in 1867.

Today in history, The Crittenden Resolution, calling for the American Civil War to be fought to preserve the Union and not for slavery, is passed by Congress in 1861.

Today in history, French aviator Louis Bleriot (see picture below) becomes the first man to fly across the English Channel in an airplane in 1909.

Today in history, Svetlana Savitskaya (see picture below) becomes first woman to perform a space walk in 1984.

Today in history 7/17/2017

7/17/2017:

Today in history, France defeats England at Castillon, France, ending the Hundred Years’ War in 1453.

Today in history, Ottoman forces, supported by the British, capture Aboukir, Egypt from the French in 1799.

Today in history, The U.S. fleet arrives in Tripoli in 1801.

Today in history, Napoleon Bonaparte (see picture below) surrenders to the British at Rochefort, France in 1815.

Today in history, U.S. troops under General William R. Shafter (see picture below) take Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War in 1898.

Today in history, Chinese communists attack the Nationalist army on the Yangtze River in 1946.

Today in history 7/15/2017

7/15/2017:

Today in history, Jerusalem falls to the Crusaders in 1099.

Today in history, Poles and Lithuanians defeat the Teutonic knights at Tannenberg, Prussia in 1410.

Today in history, Lieutenant Zebulon Pike begins his western expedition from Fort Belle Fontaine in 1806.

Today in history, Napoleon Bonaparte‘s representatives meet with the Allies in Prague to discuss peace terms in 1813.

Today in history, Confederate raider Bill Anderson and his Bushwhackers (see picture below) attack Huntsville, Missouri, stealing $45,000 from the local bank in 1863.

Today in history, President Dwight Eisenhower (see picture below) sends 5,000 Marines to Lebanon to keep the peace in 1958.

Today in history, John F. Kennedy (see picture below) accepts the Democratic nomination for president.

Today in history 7/1/2017

7/1/2017:

Today in history, Vespasian, a Roman army leader, is hailed as a Roman emperor by the Egyptian legions in 69.

Today in history, England and Scotland sign the Peace of Greenwich in 1543.

Today in history, Napoleon Bonaparte takes Alexandria, Egypt in 1798.

Today in history, Charles Darwin (see picture below) presents a paper on his theory of evolution to the Linnean Society in London in 1838.

Today in history, The Battle of the Somme (see picture below) begins. Approximately 30,000 men are killed on the first day, two-thirds of them British in 1916.

Today in history, The New York State Commission Against Discrimination is established–the first such agency in the United States in 1945.

Today in history, The U.S. postmaster introduces the ZIP code in 1963.