Rank of the States in Population, 1790-1940 State 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 | 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 | 1900 1910 1920 1930 (1940 Ala... 28 '25' 26 29 38 21 30 33 31 11 11 13 15 8 23 20 36 17 16 478 13 30 -22323CD CD — 16 17 46 25 26 26 24 41 25 32 35 35 34 36 33 12 44 4 17 22 19 16 44 47 35 46 46 45 43 43 24 5 33 47 37 27 14 3 12 20 29 16 21 35 28 18 23 23 10 39 40 32 32 MEMORABLE DATES Note-Consult also the various other collections of dates, such as Aviation Records, Wonders of the World, Polar Explorations, English Channel Swimmers, Fast Ocean Passages, Fast Train Records, Fast Trips Around the World, Coal Mine Disasters, Troops Engaged in U. S. Wars, Union Army Losses in the Civil War, Confederate Troops in the Civil War, World War Casualties, Chronology of the Year, Marine Disasters, Political Assassinations. Tables of Rulers, Authors, etc. THE YEAR 1 BEFORE CHRIST The year 1 B.C. is the first year before the beginning of the Christian Era, and the year 1 A.D. is the first year of the Christian Era; so that January 1, 1 B.C., is just one year before January 1, 1 A.D. The elapsed number of years between a date B.C. and the same A.D. is one less than the sum of the years. Because of this fact, astronomers use a different method of designating the years before the Christian Era, calling the year 1 B.C. the year 0, the year 2 B.C. the year 1; so that, in astronomical reckoning. the year 70 B.C. is the year -69, and the year 2000 years later will be A.D. 1931 69 + 2000. 4004 Date of the Creation of the World, according it did not complete, the work of destruction. City of Troy, in Asia Minor, so named after King Troas, said to have been founded before 1500 B.C.; renamed Ilium about 1314 B.C.; Helen seized by Paris about 1204 B.C.; Helen rescued by the Greeks and city burned 1183-4 B.C. The actual existence of Helen and Paris lacks proof; the story may be symbolic. 826 Carthage founded, in Africa, near Tunis by Dido, sister of Pygmalion, King of Tyre; city burned, 146 B. C., and rebuilt 19 B. C.; destroyed by the Saracenic governor of Egypt in 698 A. D. to Archbishop Usher's chronology, which 1374 3000-1800 (Breasted) Egyptian pyramids built, ex- 587 2059 (Approximate). Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, near the Dead Sea, destroyed by fire. 2000 Armageddon (modern Megiddo) already in 753 Rome founded by Romulus. The legend is that on April 21 he yoked a bullock and a heifer to a plowshare, marked out the boundary and proceeded to build a wall. Downfall of Samaria; captivity of the ten tribes. 721 660 Japanese empire founded by Jimmu Tenno, legendary descendant of the Sun Goddess. 585-72 Siege and capture of Tyre; city taken and demolished by Nebuchadnezzar, 572 B. C.: rebuilt on an opposite island; taken by Alexander the Great in 332 B. C.; by the Crusaders in 1124 A. D.; last changed hands in 1841. The sister city, Sidon, in Syria, was taken by Cyrus, 537 B. C., and by Alexander, 332 B. C. The British got it in 1840 A. D. 562-52 (?) Buddha born. 551 Confucius born, in China; died in 479. 500 Rise of Maya civilization in Mexico and Cen- This led King Xerxes of Persia to invade Greece. He was checked at Thermopyla by Leonidas and his 300 Spartans in 480 B. C. In May, 1939, A. D., archaeologists discovered spears, arrows and other arms in Thermopylae Pass, corroborating ancient history regarding the battle there in 480 B.C. 431 Peloponnesian War began (between Athens and the people on the peninsula of Peloponnesus, (also called Morea); ended in 404 B. C., when Lysander took Athens. 334 Alexandrian Library founded; burned 47 B.C. and 640 A. D. 323 Conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, of Greece, son of Philip of Macedon. 264-41 First Punic War; second, 218-201; third, 149. Hannibal crossed Alps in 218. All the Punic Wars were between Rome and Carthage; latter city burnt in 146; rebuilt by Julius Caesar, finally destroyed by Saracens (Arabs) in 689 A.D. existence as a city in Palestine. It was there, according to the Bible (Revelations), that the prophecied final battle between good and evil would be fought. Since the site was discovered, modern archaeologists have dug down to bed rock of the most ancient of the 20 settlements that successively occupied the site. 1913 Jerusalem (also called Salem) already in existence as a Jewish city. It was captured from the Jebusites by David in 1048 B.C. Solomon founded his first temple there in 1012 B.C.; the city was taken by the Persians, in 614 A.D., and later by Saracens, and by the Turks, 1217 A.D. 1750-1729 (year uncertain) Joseph sold into Egypt; followed there some years later by Jacob and his family. Moses born there about 1527 B.C. Semitic worship introduced in 1500 by the ruler, Amenhotep IV; Israelities made their Exodus from Egypt about 1440. led by Moses, who was then 80 years old; the Exodus was in the 13th Century, B.C., it was estimated by Prof. Nelson Glueck. According to the late Sir William Willcocks, Moses built an earth dam across the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, near Migdol, and thus led the Jews to the southeast bank. Then he cut the dam, and Pharaoh's army was overwhelmed, in pursuit, by the released waters. Those not drowned were mired in the Serbonian bog. 1400 City of Jericho burned and destroyed by Joshua, according to Biblical tradition. The latest theory is that an earthquake began, if THE CHRISTIAN ERA A. D. 29 The Crucifixion. The death of Jesus on the 60 First triumvirate in Rome; Pompey, Caesar 31 Battle of Actium; defeat of Anthony by Oc- cross took place on the equivalent of Fri day, April 7, according to astronomica. 29 calculations by Dr. Oswald Gerhart, emeri- 43 The Roman Emperor, Claudius, husband of their leaders was Peter the Hermit, a preacher. 1191 Teutonic Order, Military Knights, established in the Holy Land to take care of the sick and wounded in the Third Crusade. On their return to Germany they subdued and Christianized by Papal authority the people of Prussia. 1206 Genghis Khan, founder of Mogul (Tartar) 1215 King John of England granted Magna Carta 64 Burning of Rome; first persecution of Chris- 1233 70 Jerusalem destroyed by Titus. 79 Pompeii and Herculaneum destroyed by eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. 313 Constantine converted to Christianity; bap- 323 Council Nicaea; Nicene creed formulated. The Inquisition established in Spain by Pope Gregory IX: revived there in 1480, when 185,000 Jews fled, leaving in Spain 50,000 Jews who had become baptized as Roman Catholics; inquisition suppressed by Napoleon in Spain in 1808; restored in 1814: the Holy Office abolished in 1834. The Inquisition soon after its establishment. included sorcery (witchcraft) within its jurisdiction and classed it with heresy. 1259-92 Reign of Mongol Emperor, Kublai Khan, at Pekin China. 1282 "Sicilian Vespers," massacre of thousands of French Mch. 30, at Palermo, Italy. 1295 First regular English Parliament, composed of the clergy, barons, and knights, presided over by the King, Edward 1. Outbreak of the "Black Death" plague in Europe. 1348 Birth of Richard Whittington, who died in 1423; after having been thrice Lord Mayor of London. The story of "Whittington and his cat" persists to this day. 410 Sacking of Rome by Alaric, the Goth; by Genseric, in 455; city taken by Odoacer, in 476; by the Goths, in 546; by Narses, in 553. 476 End of the Western Roman Empire. The City of Rome was destroyed, not by the Goths but by an earthquake, according to antiquarians who base their conclusions 1431 Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans, was burned on an examination of the remains of the 570 Mohammed born, at Mecca; fled to Medina 624-32 Saracen conquest of Arabia; of Persia, 632-651; of Syria, 634-637; of Egypt, 640- 930 Vikings established first Parliament in Ice- 1381 Wat Tyler's rebellion, England. in 1430. at the stake, May 30, at Rouen, in France. at the age of nineteen. She had been found guilty of sorcery and heresy. The prosecutor was the Bishop of Beauvais backed by the University of Paris. At the head of royal French soldiery she had driven the English troops, in 1429, from the City of Orleans, but they captured her 1453 Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, taken by the Turks May 29, and made capital of the Ottoman Empire. 1476 William Caxton inaugurated English printing in England, near Westminster Abbey, London. In 1474, in Bruges, Belgium, with Colard Mansion, he had issued his Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, the first book printed in English. His Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, published in 1477. is said to have been the first book actually printed in England. 940 Library of Alexandria, Egypt (700,000 volumes 982 Erik (The Red) Thorvaldson, father of Lief 1014 Brian Boru (Boroimhe), Irish King and his 1484 The African slave trade was begun, by Portu- Clontarf. He and his son and grandson 1492 Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo) were slain in battle. 1020 Jews banished from England by Canute; they 1066 Battle of Hastings, conquest of England by discovered America Oct. 12 when he sighted an island (Guanahani) in the Bahamas supposed to have been (Watlings Island) San Salvador. But according to Prof. Luis Ulloa, Director of the Peruvian National Library, at Lima, Columbus first visited America on a voyage with Danish corsairs, who sailed from Iceland to Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland, and the American continent. Who was Columbus? It is now said that he was the son of a wool weaver of Genoa, Italy, belonged to a family of converted Jews which had settled about 1391 in Genoa, having come from Catalonia, Spain, where the name was Colom. The family also had dwelt in Castile, under the name of Colon, and Cristoforo became Cristobal. Columbus was a Catholic. On his first West 1492 of Indian voyage, he left 40 of his men to 1568 Ivan IV, the Terrible, Czar of Russia, orfound the colony of Navidad, maybe on the north coast of Haiti. When he returned there in Dec., 1493, there was no sign of the colony and all the Spaniards were gone. Jews expelled from Spain. Banishment of Mohammedans began in 1499, that Moors (900,000) in 1508. The Jews previously had been expelled in the 7th Century. 1497 John Cabot discovered or explored east coast 1572 of Canada. June 24. His son Sebastian accompanied him on the second voyage, in 1498. ganized a band of secret police (Oprichniki) and "purged" his country of those who had plotted to kill his son. Hundreds were tried and executed as traitors. Finally the Oprichniki were "purged," and their chiefs, Basmaner and Skurator, were killed. as traitors. Ivan proposed to Queen Elizabeth of England, but she declined his offer. St. Bartholomew Day massacre of Huguenots (Protestants) at Paris, France, Aug. 24, following the marriage of Henry of Navarre and Margaret of Valois. Armed conflicts between the Huguenots under Bourbon nobles, and the Catholics, under the Guise family, ended for a time with the signing. April 13, 1598, at Nantes, of a royal edict, giving religious toleration to the Huguenots. But hostilities were renewed in 1624, and in 1685 the edict of Nantes was revoked by Louis XIV. The Code Napoleon restored Protestant rights. religious and civil. 1579 Sir Francis Drake went ashore in Marin County, California, and nailed a metal plate to a post, claiming that region for Queen Elizabeth of England. He named it Nova Albion. The plate was found in June, 1936. Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, Feb. 8. Her secretary, Rizzio, had been assassinated in March, 1566. Battle of Flodden Field, in Northumber- Balboa discovered Pacific Ocean, Sept. 25. 1530 Reading of the Augsburg Confession, embodying Martin Luther's views, to the Diet there, June 25. 1531-35 Marquis Francisco Pizarro conquered Peru. 1534 Act of Supremacy makes the King head of the Church of England; ends Papal power there. 1588 Virginia Dare, first child of English parents 1598 First attempt at colonization, in Acadia; Mar- 1602 1603 1605 1607 Society of Jesus (Jesuits) formed, Aug. 15. It 1535 First English Bible translated and issued by Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, of Falmouth, 15. Crowns of England and Scotland joined, Mch. Jamestown, Va., settled. May 13 (the first per- Henry Hudson, in "Half Moon," went up Hudson River, Sept. 11; discovered Manhattan Island, Sept. 4. Samuel Champlain of France, advancing from the north. discovered Lake Champlain, July 4. 1610 Thomas West (Baron Delawarr) Governor of Virginia, sailed into Delaware Bay, but did not colonize in what is now Delaware. 1614 Captain Hunt, who accompanied Capt. John Smith on a tour of the New England coast, kidnapped 27 Indians and carried them to Malaga for sale as slaves. 1536-39 Monasteries closed in England. 1540 Francisco Coronado of Salamanca, Spain, who had gone to Mexico in 1535, organized there an expedition and, 1540-42, explored what is now Arizona and New Mexico in search of the "Seven Cities of Cibola" (Zuni Pueblos?) and rumored stores of gold 1618 Thirty Years War began in Germany (Boand silver. 1541 Executions of so-called witches began in England; the victims numbered 130 up to 1682. Some were burned at the stake, others lost their heads by the axe. 1545 Council of Trent in the Austrian Tyrol, con- 1546 Persecutions and executions of Protestants 1619 1620 hemia) between Catholics and Protestants: Sir Walter Raleigh beheaded at London. Oct. 1620 1676 Governor Berkeley, he raised a force of farmers who, like him, had been oppressed by taxes. He burned Jamestown, but died suddenly: 23 of his followers were executed. Indian Chief, King Philip (Metasomet), a son of Massasoit, hunted down and killed, Aug. 12, at Mt. Hope, R. I., by whites under Capt. Benj. Church. That ended one of the flercest wars in New England colonial times. It was Massasoit who had welcomed the Pilgrims of the Mayflower. 1688 William of Orange Stadholder of Holland, invaded England with 13,000 men on 600 transports escorted by 50 warships. He was the husband of the eldest daughter of James II. since 1608 in Holland. The latter party went from Holland to Southampton on the "Speedwell," where that vessel was abandoned, and most of them came to America on the "Mayflower." The compact signed in Provincetown Harbor before landing bore 41 names; the entire company aboard numbered 101 persons. The captain was Christopher Jones, of Harwich, England. The Pilgrims on the "Mayflower" bound for New York when they left Holland, but landed at Plymouth by mistake. Priscilla Molines, a French woman, daughter of Guillaume Molines, was one of those on the Mayflower. By her marriage to John Alden, she became an ancestor of John Adams, second President, and John Quincy 1691 Adams. were 1624 The ship "New Netherland" arrived at what is now N. Y. City in May, let 8 men off 1692 to take possession, and went up the Hudson to Albany. In 1626 (May 4) Peter Minuit arrived at N. Y. City from Holland, and on May 6 he bought the island from the Indians. As early as 1613, Dutch traders had built a few huts at the Battery, to trade with the Indians; Fort Nassau was built in 1615. 1635 April 23-The first naval battle by white men in America was fought on the Little Pocomoke River, Eastern Shore of Maryland. between Claiborne's pinnace Long Tail and Governor Calvert's two pinnaces, the St. Margaret and the St. Helen. In 1643 Calvert was driven from the province by William Ingle. 1638 In March, an expedition on two ships, Kalmar Myckel (Key of Kalmar) and Vogel Grip (Bird Griffin) which had left Gothenburg, Sweden, in Nov. 1637, under command of Peter Minuit, arrived in Minquas Kill (Christiana River) within the limits of the present city of Wilmington, Delaware. There they built a fort, and left there a colony of 13 soldiers. That was the origin of the State of Delaware. Many Finns were among the early settlers. 1644 Manchus established their dynasty in China, at Pekin. It lasted without interruption until Feb. 12, 1912, when Pu Yi, son of Prince Ch'un and nephew of the late Emperor Kuang Hsu, abdicated. He became Emperor of Manchukuo on Mch. 1, 1934. 1649 King Charles I beheaded at London. Jan. 30, after a trial for treason, and condemnation by the House of Commons sitting as a High Court, at which but 67 of the 135 members were present. He had ruled 11 years without a Parliament. The Maryland General Assembly passed "an Act Concerning Religion," which has been called the pioneer toleration law in America. It authorized public places of worship for the Anglican Church. A law punished all mutinous and seditious speeches and acts by imprisonment during pleasure, fine, banishment, boring of the tongue, slitting the nose, cutting off one ear or both ears, whipping, branding with a red-hot iron on the hand or forehead, according as the court should think suitable. Other punishments were losing the right hand and being nailed by the ears to the pillory. 1656 Anne Hibbins hanged as a witch at Salem, Mass. 1660 John Bunyan, a tinker, imprisoned at Bedford, England, in November, for unlawful preaching. He was released in 1672, after having written part of Pilgrim's Progress. 1664 New Amsterdam surrendered by Dutch to English, Sept 8; became New York. 1666 Fire in London, England, covered 436 acres, The first post office in the United States was organized under a royal patent granted to Thomas Neale. "Witchcraft delusion" at Danvers (Salem Village), Mass.; 16 women and 5 men were tried, convicted and hanged between June and Sept. Port Royal, Jamaica, W. I., destroyed by earthquake, in June. 1693 Earthquake and eruption of Mt. Etna, in Sicily, 60,000 killed, Sept. 1694 Thence to 1744 Massachusetts passed statutes offering bounties for the scalps of Indian rebels and enemies. The price for male scalps ran as high as £100, females were less, children 10 years of age £10. In Virginia and Carolina and in the Colony of New Plymouth, Indians could be sold for debt and for stealing. 1701 1703 1704 1707 1712 Capt. William Kidd, American ship-master. Earthquake in Japan, 200,000 killed, Feb. 2. In Maryland an Act was passed "to prevent Union of England and Scotland. Slave insurrection in N. Y. City, April 6; quickly suppressed; 6 negroes killed themselves; 21 others were executed. 1713 Peace of Utrecht, April 11, among Great Britain, France and the allies. It ended the wars of Queen Anne, secured the Protestant succession in England, and separated France from Spain. In England 1717 1720 destroyed 13,200 houses and 89 churches. 1727 1668 Yellow fever made its first recorded appear- 1735 1741 the Company of Merchants got exclusive trading rights in South America, for which it agreed to wipe out the war debt. The capital was increased to £10,000,000. Not much trading was done. Meantime thousands of investors had paid ten times the par value of shares. Then the crash came. This was the South Sea Bubble. Triple Alliance of England, Holland and France against Spain, Jan. Mississippi Scheme bursts. John Law, a Scot who had fled from England after he killed a man in a duel, and who had formed in France a colonial trading company, got the government to give the company control of currency and finance. Shares were sold at 15 times par value. Then there was a run on the bank, and the whole scheme blew up, ruining the investors. Law fled to Italy. (Some say 1722) Last legal trial in Scotland for witchcraft. The victim, an old woman of Dornoch, was tried, convicted and was stuffed into a pitch barrel in June and burned to death. Her daughter also was convicted, but escaped from prison. Freedom of the press in the United States established by the acquittal, by a jury, at N. Y. City, of John Peter Zenger, of a charge of libel for having criticized the administration of Gov. Cosby. The trial be. gan on Aug. 4. He died in 1746. His Weekly Journal was continued for 3 years by his wife and son. Negro (slave) plot in May to burn N. Y. City: 13 were burned at the stake. 18 hanged, 71 transported; among whites hanged were John Ury, an Episcopal dominie; 2 negroes burned at stake, Hackensack, N. J. |