Events
Up to 1950
357 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory over Magnus Magnentius. 1192 - Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat, King of Jerusalem. 1220 – The foundation stone is laid for Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury, England. 1253 – Nichiren Buddhism is founded. 1503 – The Battle of Cerignola is fought. It is the first battle won by small arms using gunpowder. 1611 - Founding of the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, the largest Roman Catholic university in the world. 1788 – Maryland becomes the 7th US State. 1789 – Mutiny on the Bounty by Fletcher Christian: Lieutenant William Bligh and 18 sailors are cast adrift in a boat, reaching the island of Tofua on the same day, while Christian sails to Tonga. 1792 – The French Revolutionary Wars begin. 1796 - The Armistice of Cherasco is signed by Napoleon Bonaparte and Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia, expanding French territory along the Mediterranean Sea coast. 1869 – Chinese and Irish laborers for the Central Pacific Railroad working on the first transcontinental railroad lay 10 miles of track in one day. 1877 - The Stamford Bridge stadium in London, is opened, for use as an athletics stadium, though it later becomes the home ground of Chelsea FC. 1885 - Buddhism: Ceylon's first Vesakh celebration is held. The international Buddhist flag is hoisted for the first time. 1902 – Manchester United F.C. comes into being, through a name change to avoid the bankruptcy of Newton Heath F.C. 1903 – An earthquake in Turkey kills 2,200 people. 1908 - World Esperanto Association is founded. 1910 - Frenchman Louis Paulham wins the 1910 London to Manchester air race, the first long-distance aeroplane race in England. 1920 – Azerbaijan is taken over by Soviet Russia. 1923 – London's Wembley Stadium is opened. 1930 – The first night game in baseball is held in Independence, Kansas. 1932 – A vaccine for yellow fever is announced for use on humans. 1944 – World War II: Nine German bombers attack US and UK units while they rehearsed for the Normandy landings. 946 people are killed. 1945 – World War II: Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci are executed. 1945 - World War II: The city of Augsburg surrenders to US forces. 1947 – Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki expedition of the Pacific Ocean begins in Callao, Peru. This is to prove his theory of Polynesia being settled from South America. 1948 – Igor Stravinsky conducts the first performance of his American ballet, Orpheus, in New York City. 1949 – Former First Lady of the Philippines Aurora Quezon is assassinated. 1950 – Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej marries Queen Sirikit.