This Many Years Ago

751 years ago, on the 27th of October 1275, Amsterdam was first mentioned (as Amestelledamme) in a document exempting the inhabitants of the settlement from paying a bridge toll to Count Floris V of Holland. The name refers to the dam in the Amstel river. #otd #history 🗃️

Ik zou voorstellen om allemaal gezellig in een kring te gaan zitten op de Dam om deze verjaardag te vieren, maar ik ga er zelf niet raken.

110 years ago, on the 26th of October 1916, birth control activist Margaret Sanger was arrested after handing a pamphlet to an undercover policewoman. After bailing out of jail, she went back to assisting women at the birth control clinic she had opened earlier that month. #otd #history 🗃️

611 years ago, on the 25th of October 1415, the English, under Henry V, defeat the French at the Battle of Agincourt. The victory had come unexpected as the French outnumbered the English. The Battle still lives in English public memory, even though the war was won by the French. #otd #history 🗃️

378 years ago, on the 24th of October 1648, the Peace of Westphalia was signed, ending the Thirty Years' War. 109 different parties were involved. There were actually two separate treaties: one between the Holy Roman Empire and France, and one between the HRE and Sweden. #otd #history 🗃️

4162 years ago, on the 22nd of October 2137 BCE, the earliest ever recorded solar eclipse took place. Witnessed in China, two astronomers were allegedly executed for failing to predict it because they had been drinking. #otd #history 🗃️

221 years ago, on the 21st of October 1805, a British fleet let by Lord Nelson defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. The victory confirmed the start of an era of British naval supremacy. Nelson himself was shot and died before the battle ended. #otd #history 🗃️

71 years ago, on the 20th of October 1955, the final volume of the Lord Of the Rings was published. It was titled ‘The Return of the King’ by publisher Rayner Unwin. Author J.R.R. Tolkien felt the title revealed too much of the story and preferred the title ‘The War of the Ring’. #otd #history 🗃️

2227 years ago, on the 19th of October 202 BCE, the Carthaginian general Hannibal was defeated by Roman legions under Scipio Africanus at the Battle of Zama, signalling the end of the second Punic War. #otd #history

128 years ago, on the 18th of October 1898, the United States took control of Puerto Rico after a military campaign that had started in May. The invasion was part of the Spanish-American war of 1898 in which Spain also ceded Cuba, Guam and the Philippines. #otd #history 🗃️

95 years ago, on the 17th of October 1931, Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion when he was 33 years old, ending seven years of mob boss activity. He was released from prison in 1939 as he suffered from neurosyphilis. #otd #history 🗃️

1336 years ago, on the 16th of October 690, Wu Zetian became empress of the Zhou dynasty. She had held de facto power previously during the reigns of her late husband and two of her sons. She is the only female sovereign in the history of China who is widely regarded as legitimate. #otd #history 🗃️

444 years ago, on the 15th of October 1582, the Gregorian calendar was first adopted causing many Catholic European countries to jump from the 4th to the 15th. The calendar was decreed by Pope Gregory XIII to regain a correct calculation of the date of Easter. #otd #history 🗃️

32 years ago, on the 14th of October 1994, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres "for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East" ofter their roles in the Oslo Accords. #otd #history 🗃️

719 years ago, on the 13th of October 1307, King Philip IV of France had hundreds of Knights Templar arrested on charges of heresy, to which most later confessed under torture. Philips IV was deeply in debt to the Templars after his war against England. #otd #history 🗃️

227 years ago, on the 12th of October 1799, Jeanne Geneviève Garnerin (née Labrosse) was the first woman to parachute. She was an apprentice (and later wife) of pioneer balloonist Jacques Garnerin. She first ascended to an altidude of 900 metres in a gondala attached to a balloon. #otd #history🗃️

READ MORE: www.madamegilflurt.c... by Catherine Curzon

227 years ago, on the 12th of October 1799, Jeanne Geneviève Garnerin (née Labrosse) was the first woman to parachute. She was an apprentice (and later wife) of pioneer balloonist Jacques Garnerin. She first ascended to an altidude of 900 metres in a gondala attached to a balloon. #otd #history🗃️