ON THIS DAY: 22 February 1915 – Sarah Bernhardt, the ‘Divine Sarah,’ had her right leg amputated at the age of 71 in the Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière in Paris, France. Sarah, born Henriette-Rosine Bernard, was a French stage actress and one of the most famous and influential performers of the 19th and early 20th … Read more
ON THIS DAY: 13 February 1806 – Frederic Tudor’s Ship, Favorite, Departs Boston Harbour for Saint Pierre, Martinique — to sell ice! Frederic Tudor was only 23 years old, the son of a Boston State Senator. He had come up with the bold idea of transporting ice 1,550 miles to the tropical island of Martinique, … Read more
Empress Anna of Russia forced Prince Mikhail Alekseevich Golitsyn to marry a Kalmyk servant and spend his wedding night in the infamous ice palace she had commissioned on the frozen Neva River in St. Petersburg. Anna was the daughter of Czar Ivan V, known as ‘Ivan the Ignorant’ due to severe health issues, including partial … Read more
Napoleon Bonaparte, who had been exiled to the Mediterranean island of Elba, escaped. In April 1814, Napoleon had signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau, which allowed him to choose an island to rule. Elba, with its 86 square miles and a population of only 12,000 residents, was his chosen destination. It was not a prison, as … Read more
Sir Alexander Fleming, a Scottish physician and microbiologist, discovered benzylpenicillin (penicillin G), an antibiotic originating from the mould Penicillium rubens, a species of fungus. Penicillium rubens was first discovered in 1923 by French microbiologist Philibert Melchior Joseph Ehi Biourge. However, in 1928, Fleming stumbled upon that one of his bacterial cultures, which he was experimenting with, was contaminated … Read more
Mary, Queen of Scots, cousin of Queen Elizabeth I, was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire. Mary was implicated in the Babington Plot, which involved the attempted assassination of Elizabeth. She was convicted of treason by a court of 36 noblemen, including The Lord Burghley, William Cecil; George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury; and Francis … Read more