TODAY IN HISTORY

In 804, the English medieval scholar Alcuin of York died. As an educator, he made beauty, goodness and truth the hallmarks of Charlemagne’s Frankish empire. His great hunger for learning revived the Augustinian tradition of Christian classical education and helped to lay the foundations of Europe’s Christian civilization.

In 1535, French explorer Jacques Cartier left St-Malo on his second voyage to Canada.

In 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, was beheaded for adultery. Henry had married Anne three years before, after divorcing Catherine of Aragon. The divorce led to Henry’s excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church. Anne gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I, but did not produce the male heir Henry wanted. Anne was born in 1507 at Blicking Hall, Norfolk, daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, later Earl of Wiltshire, and Lady Elizabeth Howard.

In 1649, following a civil war and the execution of King Charles I, England was declared a Commonwealth under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell.

In 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte created the French Legion of Honour, an order of distinction for civil or military service.

In 1889, doing 12 miles (19.3 kilometres) an hour, Jacob German of New York City became the first person arrested for speeding in an automobile.