Queen Victoria dies at Osborne House (1901), and Israeli forces pull out of Sinai (1957). Born on this day: Lord Byron, Sergei Eisenstein and Francis Bacon. Died: Lyndon B. Johnson, Benedict XV and Heath Ledger.
32 events, 59 births and 65 deaths on this date.
Victoria, who had reigned over Britain since 1837, died on the Isle of Wight aged 81. Her 63-year reign gave its name to an era of industrial and imperial change, and she was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover.
Alexander Bassano · Public domainIsrael finished pulling its troops out of Sinai, returning desert territory it had seized from Egypt during the 1956 Suez campaign. The withdrawal ended a military occupation that had dominated relations between the two neighbours for months.
The Soviet director behind Battleship Potemkin, a 1925 film still widely admired, Eisenstein also developed montage, the art of joining shots to build meaning. His later epics Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible secured his reputation.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
The future Lord Chancellor under James I would go on to argue that scientific knowledge should rest on careful observation and inductive reasoning. Often called the father of empiricism, he helped shape the scientific method that researchers still debate today.
Paul van Somer I / Formerly attributed to Frans Pourbus the Younger · Public domain
Morales, a former coca grower and union leader, took office as Bolivia's first president of indigenous descent. His government pushed leftist policies and redistributed gas revenue toward poorer communities.
EneasMx · CC BY-SA 4.0
Strindberg grew into one of Sweden's most restless writers, producing dozens of plays and novels and experimenting with naturalism and forms that anticipated expressionism. He is often called the father of modern Swedish literature.
possibly by Herman Anderson (1856−?) · Public domain
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Byron was a leading Romantic poet whose long narratives Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage remain widely read. He later joined the Greek War of Independence, where Greeks still honour him as a folk hero.
Thomas Phillips · Public domain
Soviet director who pioneered montage, the art of cutting together shots to create meaning. He is best remembered for the silent film Battleship Potemkin, whose Odessa Steps sequence became one of cinema's most copied scenes.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
Francis Bacon became Lord Chancellor of England under James I, but he is remembered for insisting that knowledge come from careful observation. Often called the father of empiricism, he helped shape the Scientific Revolution.
Paul van Somer I / Formerly attributed to Frans Pourbus the Younger · Public domain
Johnson, the 36th US president, died in 1973 at his Texas ranch. He is remembered for the Great Society programmes and the Civil Rights Act, and for escalating the war in Vietnam.
Arnold Newman · Public domain
Benedict XV led the Catholic Church through the First World War, calling it the suicide of civilised Europe. Having failed to broker peace, he turned to humanitarian work, including aid for prisoners of war and food for hungry civilians.
Nicola Perscheid · Public domain
Heath Ledger was an Australian actor who moved to Hollywood in 1998 and earned an Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain. He is remembered for playing the Joker in The Dark Knight, a performance that won him a posthumous Academy Award.
Howie · CC BY-SA 2.0
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