Simón Bolívar enters Mérida during the Venezuelan invasion (1813), and Ashmolean Museum opens at Oxford University (1683). Born on this day: Victoria, Queen Victoria and Bob Dylan. Died: Nicolaus Copernicus, Tina Turner and Harold Wilson.
30 events, 76 births and 47 deaths on this date.
Bolívar rode into Mérida at the head of his campaign into Venezuela and was hailed as El Libertador, the Liberator. The title stuck to him as he went on to win independence for several Spanish American territories.
Ricardo Acevedo Bernal · Public domainOxford's Ashmolean opened its doors, and it has remained the oldest museum of its kind in the world ever since. Today the university also runs Oxford University Press, the largest university press anywhere.
Morse tapped out a biblical phrase in the Capitol in Washington, and his assistant Alfred Vail received it in Baltimore. The message opened a commercial telegraph line linking the two cities by wire.
Mathew Benjamin Brady · Public domain
New York's Brooklyn Bridge opened to the public, becoming the first fixed crossing of the East River and, at the time, the longest bridge of its kind anywhere. Its construction took over thirteen years, delayed by controversies and the novelty of its design.
Taken by Jeffrey Bary, uploaded by CPacker · CC BY 2.0
Work started on the Kola Superdeep Borehole, near the Arctic Circle in north-west Russia, a project that eventually reached 12,262 metres. It was the deepest hole ever drilled, and the furthest anyone had dug down into the planet.
Kennedy, then US attorney general, sat down with the author James Baldwin in an effort to improve relations between Black and white Americans. The meeting did not achieve its goal.
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Victoria ruled the United Kingdom for 63 years, longer than any predecessor, and her reign gave its name to an era of industrial change and imperial growth. She was called the grandmother of Europe, as her children married into royal families across the continent.
Alexander Bassano · Public domain
Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom for 63 years, longer than any predecessor, and her reign gave its name to the Victorian era. She was also the grandmother of much of Europe's royalty through her nine children's marriages.
Alexander Bassano · Public domain
An American singer-songwriter who brings the weight of literature into folk music, and who startled fans by going electric. His protest songs such as Blowin' in the Wind came to symbolise campaigns for racial equality and against war.
Raph_PH · CC BY 2.0
Copernicus was a Polish astronomer who proposed that the Sun, not the Earth, sits at the centre of the universe. His book On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres appeared just before his death, and it helped launch the Copernican Revolution.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
Tina Turner, the singer known as the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll, died in Switzerland. She made her name fronting Ike & Tina Turner before reviving her career as a solo star with Private Dancer.
HBO · Public domain
Harold Wilson led Labour to power twice as prime minister, first from 1964 to 1970 and again from 1974 to 1976. He is remembered for a government that abolished capital punishment and theatre censorship, and for devaluing the pound in 1967.
Eric Koch for Anefo · CC0
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