In 1793, King Louis XVI of France was executed by guillotine. In 1908, New York City officials passed an ordinance making it illegal for women to smoke in public; it was soon overturned. In 1954,...

In 1649, King Charles I of England went on trial for treason and other "high crimes." In 1783, officials from the United Kingdom signed a treaty ending hostilities with the United States. In...

In 1861, Georgia seceded from the Union. In 1883, the first electric lighting system employing overhead wires began service in Roselle, N.J. In 1915, Georges Claude patented the neon discharge...

In 1158, the city of Munich was founded. In 1777, the Stars and Stripes was adopted by Congress as the official flag of the United States. In 1872, trade unions were legalized in Canada. In...

In 1550, the city of Helsinki, Finland (then a part of Sweden) was founded. In 1775, the British offered a pardon to all colonists in rebellion if they were to lay down their arms, with the notable...

In 1783, the Icelandic volcano Laki began an eruption that lasted eight months and sparked a seven-year famine. In 1861, Tennessee seceded from the Union. In 1912, Carl Laemmle incorporated Universal...

In 1808, Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte, was crowned King of Spain. In 1844, the YMCA was founded in London. In 1882, more than 100,000 were killed in Bombay when a cyclone flooded the...