Spain cedes Louisiana to France (1800), and Palau becomes a sovereign nation (1994). Born on this day: Jimmy Carter, Theresa May and Paul. Died: Pierre Corneille, Boniface IX and Tom Clancy.
38 events, 61 births and 55 deaths on this date.
Spain handed Louisiana, its vast North American territory, over to France under Napoleon's pressure. Three years later Napoleon sold the land to the United States, a sale that changed the map of North America.
Jacques-Louis David · Public domainThe French RevolutionHear the story in ChunksAfter decades under Spanish, German, Japanese and American rule, the Pacific islands of Palau became fully independent on this day. The archipelago of around 340 islands, with its capital on Babeldaob, had been run as a US-administered trust territory since 1947.
Alexander's army met the Persian king Darius III near Gaugamela, in what is now northern Iraq, and won a decisive victory. The win broke the power of the Achaemenid Empire and opened the way for Alexander to take its capital cities.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
Swedish King Gustav III founded the town on the rapids between two lakes, at a time when Finland was still part of Sweden. The rapids had long powered mills and would later drive the city's growth into inland Finland's largest urban centre.
Opening its doors that day was a university set up by railroad tycoon Leland Stanford and his wife Jane in memory of their dead son. Coeducational and non-denominational from the start, it is now one of the best-known research universities in the world.
King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 3.0
Henry VIII's Catholic daughter took the throne after her Protestant half-brother Edward died, overcoming Lady Jane Grey's rival claim. She is remembered for trying to reverse the Reformation, and for the burning of more than 280 dissenters that earned her the nickname Bloody Mary.
Antonis Mor · Public domain
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Carter was born in Plains, Georgia, and went on to become the 39th president of the United States. He is remembered for the Camp David Accords and for living longer than any other American president.
Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. Naval Photographic Center · Public domain
Theresa May served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019, and was the second woman to hold the post after Margaret Thatcher. She is still living, and is a member of the House of Lords.
Roger Harris · CC BY 3.0
Emperor of Russia until his own officers killed him in 1801, Paul spent most of his life overshadowed by his mother, Catherine the Great. He is remembered for erratic rule, unpopular military reforms and succession laws that lasted to the end of the Empire.
Vladimir Borovikovsky · Public domain
Corneille was a French playwright who, alongside Molière and Racine, is counted among the great dramatists of the seventeenth century. He is best remembered for Le Cid, a tragedy whose controversy with the newly formed Académie française did not stop him writing for nearly forty more years.
After Charles Le Brun · Public domain
Boniface IX led the Catholic Church from Rome during the Western Schism, when rival popes in Avignon claimed the same office. He is also the last pope to take the name Boniface.
Sailko · Public domain
Tom Clancy was an American novelist known for techno-thrillers packed with military and espionage detail. His debut, The Hunt for Red October, launched the Jack Ryan series, which has sold more than 100 million copies.
Gary Wayne Gilbert · CC BY-SA 2.0
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