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Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, after years of living well beyond his means, declared insolvency. Rembrandt was a brilliant artist but a stubborn, argumentative, and a hopeless spendthrift. He became embroiled in over 20 legal disputes, fighting with his neighbours over his house renovations and with clients over the late delivery of commissioned work. … Read more
Henry VIII watched from Southsea Castle as his favourite warship, the Mary Rose, sank in the Solent, off the south coast of England, with the loss of up to 700 lives. Launched in 1511, the Mary Rose saw service in wars against France and Scotland. In 1545, tensions with France came to a head, and King Francis I … Read more
The 29-year-old English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, an experienced sailor, drowned in a storm in the Gulf of La Spezia, off the west coast of Italy. Accompanying Shelley in his boat, the Don Juan, were his friends: Edward Williams, a retired army officer; naval officer Daniel Roberts; and their 18-year-old boat boy, Charles Vivian. All perished, … Read more
The Treaty of Versailles, officially ending WWI, was signed in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, Paris, France. After five years of war, the treaty was signed between the Allied Powers, which included the United States, Britain, France, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, India, Italy, Japan, and Germany. Germany’s allies within … Read more
The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France to the USA, arrives in New York. The statue represents Libertas, the Roman Goddess of Liberty, and is located on Liberty Island (formerly Bedloe’s Island) in New York Harbour, New York City. The metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel, and the sculptor was Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. … Read more
Roman Emperor Nero committed suicide at the age of 30. Nero was adopted at the age of three by his great-uncle, Emperor Claudius, who had married his mother, Agrippina. Nero ascended to the throne at the age of 17 in AD 54 following Claudius’s death (caused by a dish of mushrooms poisoned by Agrippina). Initially, … Read more
The Great Bell, known as ‘Big Ben’ in the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster, started ticking for the first time. The clock, designed by Edmund Beckett Denison and constructed by John Dent, chimed for the first time on July 11, 1859. A clock tower is thought to have been on the present site … Read more
Bank robbers Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut ‘Champion’ Barrow were gunned down on State Highway 154 south of Gibsland, Louisiana. Bonnie was 23 years old, and Clyde was 25. Six officers hiding in the bushes fired 130 rounds into the car that Bonnie and Clyde had slowed down to assist a decoy car parked … Read more
As reported in Lloyd’s Evening Post, ‘Yesterday a Gentlewoman going along Cheapside trod upon a bit of orange peel, by which accident she fell down and sprained her ankle. The like accident happened to a Gentleman in Fleet Street the same day. As many accidents of this kind daily happen, oranges being plenty, it is … Read more
The meltdown of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine occurred. The accident was caused by a system test that ultimately led to explosions, releasing radioactive contaminants that spread across Europe and the Soviet Union. Two plant workers died in the explosion, and 28 people died within weeks due to acute radiation syndrome. 350,000 people … Read more