Author: History and Headlines contributors

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 18th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On August 18, 1587, Virginia Dare was born in the Roanoke Colony in what is now North Carolina. On August 18, 1612, the trials of the “Pendle Witches” began in England. On August 18, 1920, the United States ratified the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. On August 18, 1940, an air battle was fought between the British RAF and the German Luftwaffe,…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 17th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On August 17, 1498, Cesare Borgia, the son of reigning Pope Alexander VI, resigned his office as Cardinal of the Catholic Church, becoming the first cardinal to do so. On August 17, 1943, the U.S. 8th Air Force, the main American unit of heavy bombers stationed in England, launched 376 B-17 bombers against Schweinfurt and Regensburg in Germany, a raid that came…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 16th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On August 16, 1812, General William Hull of the U.S. Army surrendered Fort Detroit to an inferior English force. On August 16, 1858, a date earlier than you may have thought, the advent of instant electronic communications between Europe and North America was inaugurated by President James Buchanan and Queen Victoria of the UK via the “Transatlantic Cable.” On August 17, 1914,…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 15th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On August 15, 1281, the army and navy forces of the Mongol/Chinese Emperor Kublai Khan were destroyed at the Battle of Kōan, an attempt to invade and conquer Japan. On August 15, 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte was born. On August 15, 1769, little Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica, to ethnic Italian parents, although living on what was then a…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 14th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On August 14, 1480, during the protracted Battle of Otranto in Southern Italy, a siege of the city between the Ottoman Turks and the Italian defenders of their homeland, the Ottomans, who of course were of the Islamic faith, took 800 Christian Italians hostage and gave them a choice, convert to Islam or be executed. On August 14, 1851, John Henry Holliday…