Italy

ON THIS DAY: 8 July 1822

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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

ON THIS DAY: 28 December 1908

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Ruins of a church in Messina

At 5:20 am local time an earthquake lasting 30 seconds, with a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale, devastated parts of Sicily and southern Italy. The epicentre was in the Strait of Messina, between Sicily and Calabria on the ‘toe’ of Italy’s mainland. Due to seismic activity in the area, Sicily and Calabria are … Read more