Valletta becomes the capital city of Malta (1571), and Andreas Joseph Hofmann proclaims the Republic of Mainz (1793). Born on this day: Grover Cleveland, Neville Chamberlain and Rudolf Diesel. Died: Ivan the Terrible, Chuck Berry and Robert Walpole, 1st earl of Orford.
33 events, 58 births and 58 deaths on this date.
Valletta, a small fortified city built by the Knights Hospitaller after their defence against the Ottoman siege, took over as Malta's seat of government. Named after Jean Parisot de Valette, the commander who held the island in 1565, it remains the country's capital today.
Bengt Nyman · CC BY 3.0Andreas Joseph Hofmann declared a republic in Mainz, which is counted as the first modern republic in Germany. It was short-lived, but it was an early German attempt at government by elected representatives.
Mongol troops beat the combined armies of Sandomierz and Kraków at Chmielnik, part of the first Mongol invasion of Poland. The defeat exposed how little resistance central Poland could muster against the steppe horsemen.
Born in Caldwell, New Jersey, he later became the first American president to serve two non-consecutive terms. He was known for fiscal conservatism and a crusade against political corruption, which won over many Republicans.
Unknown author Unknown author or not provided · Public domain
F.W. de Klerk was South Africa's last head of state under white-minority rule, and the man who ended apartheid and brought in universal suffrage. He freed Nelson Mandela, legalised banned parties and negotiated with him a transition to democracy.
Walter Rutishauser, Photographer · CC BY-SA 4.0
Radical National Guard soldiers took over Paris and set up their own government, the Commune, rejecting the authority of the new Third Republic. It ran the city for about two months before government troops crushed it in a week of bitter street fighting.
Anonyme, photographe · CC0
For the full day, download Chunks today. Every date, the stories behind them, and a new day each morning. Free to start.
Grover Cleveland was the only US president to serve two non-consecutive terms, the 22nd and 24th. Remembered for fiscal conservatism, anti-corruption campaigning and a fierce defence of honest government, he also signed the Interstate Commerce Act.
Unknown author Unknown author or not provided · Public domain
Neville Chamberlain was British Prime Minister from 1937 to 1940, best known for appeasement and the Munich Agreement that ceded the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany. He later led Britain into the Second World War before resigning in May 1940.
Lafayette Ltd · Public domain
Rudolf Diesel was a German engineer who developed an engine that ignites fuel through compression rather than a spark. The diesel engine, which bears his name, went on to power ships, trucks and generators around the world.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
Ivan IV, the first Tsar of all Russia, died in 1584 after a reign that turned Russia into a growing empire at great cost to its people. He is remembered for his conquests along the Volga and for the violent purges carried out by his secret police, the oprichniki.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
Remembered as one of the founders of rock music, he reshaped rhythm and blues into a sound built on sharp guitar solos and stage showmanship. Songs such as Johnny B. Goode made him a star, and he shaped later rock.
Pablo Vaz · CC BY 3.0
Robert Walpole led Britain's government for over twenty years, from 1721 to 1742, and is generally regarded as its first de facto prime minister. A Whig from the gentry, he favoured peace, lower taxes and steady trade, and avoided needless quarrels.
Jean-Baptiste van Loo · Public domain
Download on iOS
Download on Android