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Today in History

TUESDAY, Feb. 3, 2026

1451-Sultan Mehmed II, the Conqueror inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire 1509-Battle of Diu: Portuguese Armada defeats a Mamluk Egyptian fleet in a naval battle at the port of Diu, India, establishing Portuguese trading control in the Indian Ocean 1863-Samuel Clemens first uses the pen name Mark Twain in a Virginia City newspaper, the "Territorial Enterprise" 1870-Iowa ratifies the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing suffrage for all races and colors 1928-Paleoanthropologist Davidson Black reports his findings on the ancient human fossils found at Zhoukoudian, China, in the journal Nature and declares them to be a new species he names "Sinanthropus pekinensis" (now known as "Homo erectus") 1931-New Zealand's worst natural disaster, the Hawke's Bay earthquake, kills 256 and injures thousands, devastating Napier and the Hawke's Bay region 1966-First soft landing on the Moon, by the Soviet spacecraft Luna 9

Feb 2, 2026

MONDAY, Feb. 2, 2026

1653-New Amsterdam becomes a city, later renamed New York City 1848-Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican–American War. Mexico loses 55 percent of its territory to the U.S., including California, Nevada and Utah in exchange for $15 million. 1901-Queen Victoria's funeral takes place in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, England 1922-James Joyce's novel "Ulysses" is first published by Sylvia Beach in Paris (1,000 copies) 1943-German 6th Army surrenders after the Battle of Stalingrad in a major turning point in Europe during World War II 1971-General Idi Amin ousts Milton Obote and appoints himself President and Dictator of Uganda 1990 — South African President F. W. de Klerk promises to free Nelson Mandela and legalizes ANC and 60 other political organizations 1993-Vaclav Havel becomes the first president of an independent Czech Republic, after the split with Slovakia

Feb 1, 2026

FRIDAY, Jan. 30, 2026

1661-Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is ritually executed after having been dead for two years 1889-Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in Mayerling in an apparent suicide pact 1902-Britain and Japan sign a treaty after months of negotiating which commits each country to supporting an independent China and Korea, although it acknowledges Japan's 'special interest' in Korea 1933-President Paul von Hindenburg appoints Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor of Germany who forms a government with Franz von Papen 1939-Adolf Hitler threatens Jews during his speech to the German Reichstag (Parliament) 1948-Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated in the garden of the New Delhi home he is visiting by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse 1965-State funeral for Winston Churchill at St. Paul's Cathedral in London; at the time, the world's largest-ever state funeral 1972-Bloody Sunday: 27 unarmed civilians are shot (14 are killed) by the British Army during a civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ire

Jan 29, 2026

THURSDAY, Jan. 29, 2026

474-Zeno is crowned co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire with his son Leo II (age 6 or 7) 661-Rashidun Caliphate, then the largest empire in history, ends with the death of its leader, Ali. Succeeded by the Umayyad Caliphate. 1595-William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet" is thought to have been first performed; officially published early 1597 1850-Senator Henry Clay drafts the Compromise of 1850 to defuse tensions between slave states and free states over territories won during the Mexican–American War 1886-Karl Benz patents the "Benz Patent-Motorwagen" in Karlsruhe, Germany, the world's first automobile with an internal combustion engine [1] 1892-The Coca-Cola Company is incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia 1896-American Emile Grubbe is the first doctor to use radiation treatment for breast cancer 2002-U.S. President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address describes "regimes that sponsor terror" as an "Axis of Evil," which includes Iraq, Iran, and North Korea

Jan 28, 2026

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 28, 2026

1521-Holy Roman Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms in Worms, Germany, which lasts until May 25 and produces the "Edict of Worms" denouncing Martin Luther 1807-London's Pall Mall becomes the first street lit by gaslight 1813-Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" is published by Thomas Egerton in the United Kingdom 1819-British colonial officer Stamford Raffles lands in Singapore 1933-The name "Pakistan" is coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali and gradually accepted by Muslims in the Indian subcontinent, who use it to push for a separate Muslim homeland in South Asia 1961-Republic of Rwanda proclaimed 1985-Charity single "We Are the World" recorded by supergroup USA for Africa (Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and other pop stars) 1986-Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crew members, including Christa McAuliffe, who was to be the first teacher in space

Jan 27, 2026

TUESDAY, Jan. 27, 2026

1820 -Russian Antarctic expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev discover the continent of Antarctica 1825-U.S. President James Monroe urges Congress to approve creation of Indian Territory, west of the Mississippi River, for the relocation of Eastern Indian tribes to 'promote their welfare and happiness" 1924 -Vladimir Lenin is placed in a Mausoleum in Red Square, Moscow 1944-Siege of Leningrad lifted by the Soviets after 880 days and more than 2 million Russians killed 1945-Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz and Birkenau Concentration Camps in Poland - now commemorated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day [1] 1973-Paris Peace Accords signed by U.S. Secretary of State William P. Rogers, (North) Vietnam Minister for Foreign Affairs Nguyen Duy Trinh, Republic of South Vietnam Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Thị Bình, and Republic of Vietnam Minister for Foreign Affairs Trần Văn Lắm, ending America's then longest war and it's military draft.

Jan 26, 2026

MONDAY, Jan. 26, 2026

1482-"Pentateuch" the Jewish Bible is first printed as a book in Bologna, Italy 1531-Lisbon hit by Earthquake; about 30,000 die 1564-The Council of Trent issued its conclusions in the Tridentinum, establishing a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism 1788-Captain Arthur Phillip and British colonists hoist the Union Flag at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, now celebrated as Australia Day; referred to as Invasion Day by First Nations people 1905-World's largest diamond, the 3,106-carat Cullinan, is found in South Africa 1924-American skater Charles Jewtraw claims the first ever Winter Olympic gold medal; wins 500m speed skating event in 44.0s at the Chamonix Games in France 1998-President Bill Clinton says "I want to say one thing to the American people; I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky"

Jan 25, 2026

FRIDAY, Jan. 23, 2026

971-War elephant corps of the Southern Han defeated at Shao by crossbow fire from Song Dynasty troops forcing the Southern Han state to submit to the Song Dynasty. First regular war elephant corps in the Chinese army. 1368-In a coronation ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang, aged 40, ascends to the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming Dynasty rule over China that lasts for three centuries 1556-Shaanxi Earthquake, the deadliest ever recorded, kills 830,000 in Shaanxi Province, China 1950-Israeli Knesset declares Jerusalem the capital of Israel 1973-U.S. President Richard Nixon announces an accord has been reached to end the Vietnam War 1978-Sweden becomes the first nation in the world to ban aerosol sprays, due to their harmful effect on the earth's ozone layer 2020-China locks down the city of Wuhan and its 9 million people in a belated but ultimately successful effort to control the city's COVID-19 outbreak

Jan 21, 2026

THURSDAY, Jan. 22, 2026

1689-Prince William of Orange (future King William III of Britain) summons the Convention Parliament to discuss ruling jointly with his wife Mary, the daughter of exiled King James II 1879-Battle of Rorke's Drift: British garrison of 150 holds off 3,000-4,000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses and several other decorations are awarded to the defenders 1905-In St. Petersburg, Russia, a large demonstration of workers led by Father Gapon, march to the Winter Palace with a petition to the Tsar; troops fire on protesters in what becomes known as 'Bloody Sunday' 1908-Katie Mulcahey is arrested for lighting a cigarette, violating the one-day-old "Sullivan Ordinance" banning women from smoking in public, and is fined $5. Appearing before the judge, she states, “I’ve got as much right to smoke as you have. I never heard of this new law, and I don’t want to hear about it. No man shall dictate to me.” 1973-In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court legalizes most abortions (Roe v. Wade). Authoring the majority opinion, Harry Blackmun states that the criminalization of abortion does

Jan 21, 2026

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 21, 2026

1525-Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union 1789-The first American novel, William Hill Brown's "The Power of Sympathy" is published by Isaiah Thomas 1793-Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine in Paris, following his conviction for "high treason" by the newly created French Parliament (Convention nationale), during the French Revolution 1952-Jawaharlal Nehru's Congress Party wins India's first general election 1968-Battle of Khe Sanh begins at the Khe Sanh Air Base, one of the most publicized and controversial battles of the Vietnam War 1982-"Shaolin Temple" martial arts film released, first Hong Kong feature filmed in China, directed by Chang Hsin Yen and starring Jet Li in his debut role 2008-Fears of a possible U.S. recession cause a Black Monday for global stock markets, European stocks suffer their worst result since 9/11, and Asian stocks drop as much as 15 percent

Jan 20, 2026
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