American director, choreographer
Irish/French author, playwright, director, Nobel Prize laureate
Russian chess player
American politician, 3rd President of the United States
English/American journalist, author
German historian, philosopher
American sportscaster
Emperor of Ethiopia
Canadian politician
English/Canadian environmentalist, author
In 1919, Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to open fire on a crowd of unarmed Indian civilians who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar to peacefully protest against the arrest and deportation of two national leaders. The massacre resulted in the death of around 400 people and left many others injured. The incident became a turning point in India's struggle for independence from British rule.
The Seventh Crusade, led by King Louis IX of France, aimed to capture Jerusalem from the Muslims. However, it was ultimately defeated in Egypt by the Muslim forces under the command of the Ayyubid Sultanate. Louis IX was captured and later released after paying a ransom. The defeat weakened the Christian presence in the Middle East and strengthened the position of the Muslims.
The Edict of Nantes, signed by King Henry IV of France, granted religious freedom and political rights to the French Huguenots, who were Protestant Christians. The edict ended decades of religious conflict between the Catholics and the Huguenots in France and established a degree of religious tolerance. However, the edict was later revoked in 1685, leading to renewed persecution of the Huguenots and their emigration from France.
The Pony Express was a mail delivery service in the United States that operated from 1860 to 1861. The first Pony Express rider arrived in Sacramento, California, after a journey of nearly 2,000 miles from St. Joseph, Missouri, in just under 10 days. The Pony Express was a symbol of American ingenuity and helped to connect the eastern and western regions of the country, although it was short-lived due to the advent of the telegraph.
The Abyssinian War, also known as the Ethiopian War, was fought between the Ethiopian Empire and the British Empire. The war ended when British and Indian troops captured Magdala, the capital of Ethiopia, and the Ethiopian Emperor Tewodros II committed suicide. The conflict was sparked by Tewodros's imprisonment of several British diplomats and missionaries and was a significant victory for the British Empire in Africa.
The Transit 1B was the world's first satellite navigation system, launched primarily for use by the U.S. Navy to update the navigation systems on their Polaris submarines. The system used a constellation of satellites to provide accurate positioning data and was a precursor to modern GPS technology.
The Greek composer and politician Mikis Theodorakis was imprisoned in the concentration camp of Oropos by the right-wing military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. Theodorakis's release was secured through the efforts of a solidarity movement that included prominent figures such as Dmitri Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein, and Harry Belafonte.</p