Louis XIV is crowned King of France (1654), and Britain and the US sign treaty against slave trafficking (1862). Born on this day: Orhan Pamuk, Paul Gauguin and Prince. Died: Alan Turing, Christopher Lee and Robert the Bruce.
29 events, 60 births and 63 deaths on this date.
Crowned at fifteen, Louis would go on to hold the throne for seventy-two years, the longest reign of any monarch in history. He built the Palace of Versailles, required the nobility to live there under his eye, and ruled as an absolute monarch.
Hyacinthe Rigaud · Public domainBritain and the United States signed the Lyons–Seward Treaty, agreeing to work together to halt the trade in enslaved Africans. It bound the two governments to a joint effort against the trade.
Israeli troops pushed into Jerusalem during the Six-Day War, a conflict fought against Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Control of the city became one of the most disputed questions in the region, and remains so today.
After the wartime suspension, the BBC switched its television service back on in June 1946. Sets had been dark since the outbreak of war, so viewers returned to a schedule that had been silent for most of a decade.
Venetian forces took the city of Udine, bringing an end to the Patria del Friuli as an independent state. The conquest pushed Venice's mainland territories further into north-eastern Italy.
Pope John VIII granted Croatia recognition as a sovereign realm and confirmed Branimir as its ruler. For the Croatian lands, this was an endorsement from the papacy, placing their duchy firmly within Western Christendom.
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Turkish novelist and screenwriter, and the first Turkish winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 2006. His books, including My Name Is Red and Snow, have sold over 13 million copies.
David Shankbone · CC BY 3.0
Paul Gauguin was a French painter who gave up stockbroking to paint full-time, and is remembered for his bold colours and flat, Synthetist style. His work moved well away from Impressionism, and he is now widely admired, though he sold little in his lifetime.
Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel · Public domain
Prince was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist from Minneapolis, known for Purple Rain and the 1987 double album Sign o' the Times. Many critics count him among the finest musicians of his generation.
Yves Lorson · CC BY 2.0
Alan Turing was an English mathematician whose Turing machine gave computing its theoretical foundation. At Bletchley Park he helped break German Enigma codes, and in 1952 he was prosecuted over a relationship with a man, losing his security clearance.
Elliott & Fry · Public domain
Christopher Lee was an English actor with a deep, commanding voice, best known for playing Count Dracula in a run of Hammer horror films. Later he won a new generation of fans as Saruman in The Lord of the Rings and Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequels.
Manfred Werner - Tsui · CC BY-SA 3.0
Robert the Bruce took the Scottish crown in 1306 and spent years fighting England to win back an independent kingdom. Scots still regard him as a national hero, and he ruled until his death in 1329.
S.A.Farabi · CC BY-SA 4.0
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