Richard I crowned king of England at Westminster (1189), and US and China formally ratify Paris climate agreement (2016). Born on this day: Carl David Anderson, Mario Draghi and Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Died: Oliver Cromwell, Ivan Turgenev and Frank Capra.
27 events, 64 births and 62 deaths on this date.
Richard, later known as the Lionheart, was crowned at Westminster Abbey and began a reign that would see him spend little time in England. He is remembered mainly for his campaigns during the Third Crusade.
Matthew Paris · Public domainTogether they produce about two-fifths of the planet's carbon emissions, and both have now signed off on the Paris climate agreement. Their approval moves the deal, which aims to curb global warming, closer to coming into force.
According to tradition, the stonemason Saint Marinus, fleeing persecution under Diocletian, settled on Monte Titano and founded a community there. The microstate that grew from it, entirely surrounded by Italy, claims to be the world's oldest surviving republic.
Some 700 troops led by General William Harney struck back at a Sioux camp in what is now Nebraska, retaliating for the Grattan massacre. The assault killed around a hundred Sioux, a number that included women and children.
Byzantine troops crushed the Arab emirate of Melitene in a battle at Lalakaon, a win that marked the start of a long period of Byzantine strength on the eastern frontier.
Protestant loyalists started a protest outside Holy Cross, a Catholic girls' primary school in north Belfast, during a tense stand-off over children's access to the school. The picket became one of the most prominent flashpoints of the period's sectarian conflict.
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Anderson was an American experimental physicist who found the positron, a particle like an electron but with positive charge. The discovery confirmed antimatter existed, and it won him a share of the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Smithsonian Institution · No restrictions
Italian economist and banker who led the European Central Bank through the Eurozone crisis, then served as prime minister of Italy from 2021 to 2022. He became widely known across Europe for pledging to defend the euro by any means necessary.
European Parliament · CC BY 2.0
Ruled Tunisia as president from 1987 until 2011, when a popular uprising forced him out. He fled to Saudi Arabia, where he died in 2019, having never served the prison sentences handed down in absentia.
No mention · CC BY 2.0
Oliver Cromwell, the Parliamentarian commander who became Lord Protector and effectively ruled England after the execution of Charles I, died in 1658. He is remembered as the central figure of the Commonwealth, though the monarchy returned two years after his death.
After Samuel Cooper · Public domain
Russian novelist and short story writer whose Sportsman's Sketches helped shape Russian realism. His novel Fathers and Sons is still counted among the great works of nineteenth-century fiction, and he also championed Russian literature in the West.
Ilya Repin · Public domain
Italian-born director who became one of Hollywood's most celebrated storytellers, winning three Best Director Oscars for films such as It Happened One Night and Mr Smith Goes to Washington. His later classic It's a Wonderful Life was a commercial disappointment before critics reappraised it decades on.
Columbia Pictures · Public domain
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