Louis XIV installs grandson Philip as King of Spain (1700), and Colombia and FARC-EP sign revised peace deal (2016). Born on this day: Zachary Taylor, Benedict de Spinoza and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Died: Freddie Mercury, Georges Clemenceau and Lee Harvey Oswald.
29 events, 78 births and 56 deaths on this date.
Philip of Anjou, Louis's grandson, took the Spanish throne under the will of Charles II. It was a move that put a Bourbon on Spain's crown and extended the reach of the French royal family.
Hyacinthe Rigaud · Public domainThe agreement formally ended a conflict that had lasted more than fifty years between the state and the FARC-EP guerrillas. It was a reworked version of an earlier deal, signed by both sides to close the fighting.
Players from two Ohio football teams faced accusations of conspiring to lose on purpose after the second of their two games. The accusations raised doubts about the integrity of early American football, a sport still finding its footing.
Theodosius I entered Constantinople in a formal ceremony, taking up rule of the eastern empire a year after Gratian named him to deal with the Gothic crisis. He is remembered as the last emperor to rule the whole Roman Empire.
Classical Numismatic Group · CC BY-SA 2.5
Charles Darwin's book argued that species change over generations through natural selection, and that all life branches from common ancestors. Written for general readers rather than specialists, it sparked fierce debate in science, philosophy and religion.
John Murray, Publisher · Public domain
Assassins struck a gathering of Piast dukes at Gąsawa while they were bathing, targeting Prince Leszek the White and Duke Henry the Bearded. The attack is remembered as the Gąsawa massacre, a bloody episode in the rivalries among the Piast princes.
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Zachary Taylor was a career army officer whose victories in the Mexican-American War made him a national hero. He won the presidency with little political experience, but died after only sixteen months in office.
Zachary_Taylor_half_plate_daguerreotype_c1843-45.png : unknown, possibly Maguire of New Orleans derivative work: Bea o · Public domain
Dutch philosopher who was expelled from his Jewish community in 1656 and then earned his living grinding lenses. His Theological-Political Treatise doubted that the Hebrew Bible was divinely inspired and argued that churches should have no say in a democratic state.
anonymous · Public domain
Born into French aristocracy, he became the painter who recorded Paris's cabarets, dancers and nightlife in posters and lithographs. Broken legs in adolescence left him small in stature, and he turned that outsider's view into his art.
Paul Sescau · Public domain
Freddie Mercury, lead singer and pianist of Queen, died at his London home at 45, a day after publicly confirming he had AIDS. He is remembered for his commanding stage presence and a voice that could reach four octaves.
Carl Lender · CC BY-SA 3.0
Clemenceau was a French prime minister who led France through the final stages of the First World War and pushed hard for a harsh peace with Germany. He began as a physician, later became a fierce journalist, and was nicknamed Le Tigre.
Paul Nadar · Public domain
Charged with killing President John F. Kennedy, he was shot dead in the basement of Dallas police headquarters by nightclub owner Jack Ruby, in front of live television cameras. Ruby's killing of Oswald meant the accused assassin never faced a trial.
Dallas Police; Warren Commission · Public domain
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