TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15. ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:

588BC Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah’s reign. The siege lasts until July 23, 586BC. 69 Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor, only rules for three months before committing suicide 708 Sisinnius begins his reign as Pope (dies 20 days later) 946 Caliph al-Mustaqfi blinded and ousted

1346 Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria gives his wife Margaretha, Holland and Zealand

1535 Henry VIII declares himself head of the Church in England 1559 Elizabeth I crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey

1582 Russia cedes Livonia & Estonia to Poland, loses access to Baltic

1586 Battle at Boxum: Spanish troops under Tassis beat state army

1752 Tobias Smollett publishes pamphlet accusing Henry Fielding of plagiarism

1754 Riot at burial of Orangist leader Daniel Raap in Amsterdam

1759 British Museum opens in Montague House, London 1762 Fraunces Tavern opens in NYC

1797 1st top hat worn by John Etherington of London

1815 War of 1812: the USS President, an American frigate, is captured by four British frigates

1822 Greek War of Independence: Demetrius Ypsilanti is elected president of the legislative assembly. 1831 1st US-built locomotive to pull a passenger train makes 1st run

1831 1st US railroad honeymoon trip, Mr & Mrs Pierson, Charleston, South Carolina 1833 HMS Beagle anchors at Goeree Tierra del Fuego 1844 University of Notre Dame receives its charter in Indian 1846 Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s first novel “Poor Folk” is published in the St Petersburg Collection almanac 1847 1st Swedish magazine in US, Skandinavia, published in NYC

1851 General Mariano Arista replaces Mexican President José Joaquín de Herrera.