Tag Archives: Vocabulary

Today in History (November 15th): 1708: Birthdays: British statesman William Pitt (The Elder). 1738: Birthdays: British astronomer William Herschel, discoverer of the planet Uranus. 1791: Georgetown University, in what is now Washington, D.C., opened as the first Roman Catholic college … Continue reading →

Today in History (November 8th): 1656: Birthdays: Edmond Halley (1656–1742), English Astronomer and Mathematician. 1793: The Louvre in Paris, containing one of the world’s richest art collections, became a public museum after two centuries as a royal palace. 1836: Birthdays: … Continue reading →

Today in History (October 31st): Scorpio (October 23rd to November 21st) Halloween 1517: Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation by nailing a proclamation to the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany. 1632: Birthdays: Dutch painter Jan Vermeer. 1795: Birthdays: … Continue reading →

Today in History (October 30th): Scorpio (October 23rd to November 21st) 1735: Birthdays: John Adams, second president of the United States. 1817: Simon Bolivar established the independent government of Venezuela. 1821: Birthdays: Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. 1839: Birthdays: French Impressionist … Continue reading →

Today in History (October 29th): Scorpio (October 23rd to November 21st) 1618: Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded in London. He had been accused of plotting against King James 1. 1740: Birthdays: Scottish biographer James Boswell. 1787: Don Giovanni by Wolfgang … Continue reading →

Today in History (October 28th): Scorpio (October 23rd to November 21st) Plush Animal Lover’s Day 312: In a battle that marked the beginning of the Christian era in Europe, Constantine’s army, wearing the cross, defeated the forces of Maxentius at … Continue reading →

Today in History (October 25th): 1800: Birthdays: British historian Thomas Macaulay. 1825: The Erie Canal, America’s first man-made waterway, was opened, linking the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River. Birthdays: Austrian composer Johann Strauss. 1838: Birthdays: … Continue reading →

Today in History (October 24th): 1632: Birthdays: Pioneering Dutch microscope maker Anton Van Leeuwenhoek. 1648: The Treaty of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years’ War in Europe. 1788: Birthdays: Journalist Sarah Josepha Hale, author of Mary Had a Little Lamb. 1830: … Continue reading →

Today in History (October 23rd): 1707: The British Parliament met for the first time. 1835: Birthdays: Adlai E. Stevenson, U.S. vice president under Grover Cleveland from 1893-97. 1869: Birthdays: Pioneering college football coach John Heisman, for whom the Heisman Trophy … Continue reading →

Today in History (October 22nd): 1734: Birthdays: American pioneer Daniel Boone. 1797: The first parachute jump was made by Andre-Jacques Garnerin, who dropped from a height of about 3,300 feet over a Paris park. 1811: Birthdays: Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. … Continue reading →