This Day in History
01 Jan 1259
Michael VIII Palaiologos is proclaimed co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea with his ward John IV Laskaris
01 Jan 1430
Jews of Sicily are no longer required to attend conversionist services
01 Jan 1438
Albrecht II von Habsburg becomes King of Hungary
01 Jan 1504
King Louis XII loses last bulwark in Naples Caeta
More History
First modern Mummers’ Parade
In honor of the American centennial the first area-wide New Years Day Mummers Parade is held in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.Mummers cele...
New Year’s Day
In 45 B.C. New Years Day is celebrated on January 1 for the first time in history as the Julian calendar takes effect.Soon after becoming Roman dictato...
Haitian independence proclaimed
Two months after his defeat of Napoleon Bonapartes colonial forces Jean-Jacques Dessalines proclaims the independence of Saint-Domingue renaming it Ha...
Operation Sam Houston begins
Operation Sam Houston begins as a continuation of border surveillance operations in Pleiku and Kontum Provinces in the Central Highlands by units from the U.S. ...
1st Marine Division advance elements arrive
On this day advance elements of the 1st Regiment of the Marine 1st Division arrive in Vietnam. The entire division followed by the end of March.The division e...
Lincoln signs Emancipation Proclamation
On this day in 1863 Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation. Attempting to stitch together a nation mired in a bloody civil war Abraham Lincoln ma...
A Nebraska farmer files the first homestead claim
A farmer named Daniel Freeman submits the first claim under the new Homestead Act for a property near Beatrice Nebraska.Signed into law in 1862 by President Ab...
Inmate Merle Haggard hears Johnny Cash play San Quentin State Prison
Folsom Prison Blues gave Johnny Cash his first top-10 country hit in 1956 and his live concert performance at Folsomdramatized memorably ...
E.M. Forster is born
British writer E.M. Forster is born on this day in London. Forsters architect father died when he was two and Forster was raised by his mother and a gr...
Sneak preview of The Birth of a Nation
On this day in 1915 audiences file into the Loring Opera House at 3745 7th Street in Riverside California for a special sneak preview of D.W. Griffith...
Air India jet crashes just after takeoff
An Air India Boeing 747 jet crashes into the sea just after takeoff from a Bombay airport on this day in 1978 killing all 213 people on board. The crash was ap...
The real-life murder behind Looking For Mr. Goodbar
Roseann Quinn a 27-year-old New Yorker visits Tweeds Bar on the Upper West Side and is picked up by her soon-to-be killer. The incident inspires the c...
Cuban dictator Batista falls from power
In the face of a popular revolution spearheaded by Fidel Castros 26th of July Movement Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista flees the island nation. As ce...
The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect
On this day in 1863 President Abraham Lincoln signs the final Emancipation Proclamation which ends slavery in the rebelling states. A preliminary proclamation...
Edsel Ford succeeds father as president of Ford
On this day in 1919 Edsel Ford the son of Model T inventor and auto industry pioneer Henry Ford succeeds his father as president of the Ford Motor Company. T...
Load More