Columbus reaches the coast of present-day Venezuela (1498), and Dahomey gains independence from French rule (1960). Born on this day: Claudius, Herman Melville and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. Died: Corazon Aquino, Anne and Lesya Ukrainka.
34 events, 69 births and 65 deaths on this date.
On his third voyage, Columbus sighted the mainland of South America near the Paria peninsula, making him the first European known to set foot in what is now Venezuela. The encounter opened a new stretch of coast to Spanish exploration and settlement.
Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio · Public domainChristopher ColumbusHear the story in ChunksDahomey, a territory France had folded into its West African federation since 1894, gained full independence on this day. Later decades brought a mix of elected governments, military coups and a Marxist-Leninist state before multi-party rule returned in 1991.
On this day the twin-island nation cut its last formal ties to the British crown, ending its status as a Commonwealth realm with the Queen as head of state. Its head of state became a president chosen by parliament, and the country has since been governed under its own republican constitution.
After Antony and Cleopatra were defeated, Octavian's forces entered Alexandria, bringing Egypt under direct Roman control. The conquest gave Octavian, later Augustus, vast new wealth and ended the last major independent kingdom of the eastern Mediterranean.
С. И. Сосновский · CC BY-SA 4.0
President Ulysses S. Grant signed a proclamation admitting Colorado to the Union, completing a path from gold-rush territory to statehood. The move gave the Rocky Mountain region a full voice in national politics.
Pakistan chose the planned city of Islamabad, laid out along the Margalla Hills, to replace Karachi as its seat of government. Greek architect Constantinos Doxiadis drew up its master plan, dividing the city into eight zones.
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Claudius was a Roman emperor, born in Gaul, who was kept out of public life for years because of a limp and stammer. The Praetorian Guard made him emperor after Caligula's murder, and he went on to build roads and aqueducts and oversee the start of the conquest of Britain.
Coyau · CC BY-SA 3.0
Melville wrote Moby-Dick, the whaling epic that became one of the great American novels, though it sold poorly when first published. His earlier adventure books drew on time he spent at sea and among islanders in Polynesia.
Joseph Oriel Eaton · Public domain
Lamarck was a French naturalist who argued early on that species changed over time under natural laws. He is also remembered for coining the term invertebrates and for the idea that traits acquired in life are inherited, a notion later labelled Lamarckism.
Charles Thévenin · Public domain
Corazon Aquino was the Philippines' first female president, taking office after the 1986 People Power Revolution ousted Ferdinand Marcos. Remembered as the "Mother of Democracy", she led the country's return to democratic rule.
Airman Gerald B. Johnson · Public domain
Anne, the last Stuart monarch, died on this day in 1714, having reigned over England, Scotland and Ireland for twelve years. She oversaw the 1707 Acts of Union, which joined England and Scotland into Great Britain.
Michael Dahl · Public domain
Ukrainian poet, playwright and translator who wrote in Ukrainian at a time when the language was restricted in the Russian Empire. She is remembered for poems like On the Wings of Songs and plays such as Forest Song.
Johann Krzanowski · Public domain
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