Columbus's expedition reaches San Salvador Island in the Caribbean (1492), and European Union awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (2012). Born on this day: Luciano Pavarotti, Hugh Jackman and Edward VI. Died: Anatole France, Robert E. Lee and Honorius I.
29 events, 64 births and 58 deaths on this date.
Sailing for Spain's Catholic Monarchs, Columbus came ashore on an island in the Bahamas that its Indigenous inhabitants called Guanahani. The landing started European exploration and colonisation of the Americas.
Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio · Public domainChristopher ColumbusHear the story in ChunksThe Nobel Committee gave the prize to the European Union, a political and economic union of 27 member states mostly in Europe. It was a notable choice, as the bloc is better known for trade rules and the euro than for peacemaking.
Washington said it would leave the UN agency for education, science and culture, which helps protect World Heritage Sites. Israel followed almost at once, so two of its member states were on their way out.
Cyrus the Great's Persian forces took Babylon, ending the Neo-Babylonian Empire and giving his new realm the Fertile Crescent. It was followed by Cyrus's Edict of Restoration, which freed Jews held captive in Babylon.
Charles Francis Horne Clarence Cook · Public domain
The co-emperors paraded through Rome to mark the end of their campaign against the Parthian Empire in the east. The triumph was a show of Roman power, though the war had also brought plague back to the city.
A huge explosion tore through Delft, reducing much of the Dutch city to ruin. More than a hundred people lost their lives in the disaster.
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Italian operatic tenor known as the King of the High Cs, who later in his career crossed into popular music. Part of the Three Tenors, he became a household name through televised concerts, and his albums sold over 100 million copies.
Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
Hugh Jackman is an Australian actor and singer, best known for playing Wolverine across the X-Men films and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He has also won Tony and Grammy awards, and was nominated for an Oscar for Les Misérables.
Bryan Berlin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Edward VI became king of England at nine, the first monarch raised as a Protestant. He died at fifteen, and his attempt to bar his Catholic half-sister Mary from the throne was overturned.
Attributed to William Scrots (active 1537-1553) [1] · Public domain
French writer whose ironic, sceptical novels were bestsellers in his day. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1921, and Proust is widely thought to have modelled a character on him.
Nobel Foundation · Public domain
Robert E. Lee led the Confederacy's strongest field force, the Army of Northern Virginia, through most of the Civil War. A former US Army engineer, he chose to follow his home state of Virginia out of the Union.
Julian Vannerson · Public domain
Pope from 625 until his death, Honorius I sent Saint Birinus to bring Christianity to the West Saxons. He is remembered for letters on Monothelitism; a council condemned him as a heretic in 681, a verdict later cited in debates over papal infallibility.
José Luiz · CC BY-SA 4.0
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