Columbus sets sail from the Canary Islands on his first Atlantic voyage (1492), and Swaziland becomes independent from Britain (1968). Born on this day: Jane Addams, Sir Edward Victor Appleton and Idris Elba. Died: Kurosawa Akira, Robert Mugabe and Luciano Pavarotti.
28 events, 75 births and 50 deaths on this date.
Columbus left the Canary Islands with three ships, steering west into unknown waters in search of a sea route to Asia. The voyage ended in the Caribbean, opening the way for European colonisation of the Americas.
Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio · Public domainChristopher ColumbusHear the story in ChunksAfter decades as a British high commission territory, Swaziland regained full sovereignty on this day in 1968. The kingdom, today known as Eswatini, had been unified under King Mswati II in the 19th century.
The Ottoman sultan died on campaign near Szigetvár in Hungary, aged 71, after ruling for nearly half a century. He had turned the empire into a major power across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and oversaw its artistic golden age.
Circle of Titian · Public domain
Liz Truss took over from Boris Johnson after a government crisis in July, inheriting a party and a country in upheaval. Her time in Downing Street was the shortest of any British prime minister, and she is remembered mostly for that.
Prime Minister's Office · OGL 3
Dalton gave each element its own shorthand sign, a way of writing down how atoms combined on paper. The notation supported his atomic model, set out in his 1808 book, and helped turn chemistry into a quantitative science.
CC BY 4.0
After weeks of siege, Confederate troops quietly left Battery Wagner and Morris Island, near Charleston, South Carolina. The withdrawal gave Union forces control of the approaches to the city's harbour.
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Jane Addams was an American social reformer who co-founded Hull House in Chicago, helping poor, largely immigrant families. In 1931 she became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Harris Ewing, publisher · Public domain
Edward Appleton won the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physics for mapping the ionosphere, a charged layer of the upper atmosphere that bounces radio signals back to Earth. That work laid groundwork for radar and short-wave broadcasting.
Nobel foundation · Public domain
Idris Elba is an English actor, producer and DJ best known for playing Stringer Bell in The Wire and DCI John Luther in the BBC series Luther. He won a Golden Globe for the latter role.
Harald Krichel · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kurosawa was a Japanese director whose bold, dynamic style drew on Western cinema while remaining distinctly his own. Films such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai and Yojimbo made him one of the most influential filmmakers in history.
映画の友 (Eiga no tomo) · Public domain
Robert Mugabe led Zimbabwe from independence in 1980 until 2017, first as prime minister and then as president. He began as a schoolteacher, spent ten years in prison for sedition, and fought the white minority government in the Rhodesian Bush War.
Press Service of the President of Russia · CC BY 4.0
Italian tenor known as the King of the High Cs, who crossed into popular music and became one of the Three Tenors. He sold over 100 million records and was celebrated for his charity work with refugees.
Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
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