Kate Middleton celebrated her 41st birthday with a low-key family gathering at Windsor
The Princess of Wales chose to mark the occasion privately with Prince William and their three children rather than with public events. Royal watchers...
Historical Events
2023
2007
Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone at Macworld in San Francisco
MajorJobs famously described it as 'an iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator' all in one device. The announcement revolutionized mobile technology an...
2001
Apple introduced iTunes at the Macworld expo, initially as Mac-only software
Steve Jobs presented iTunes as a simple way to 'rip, mix, and burn' music CDs with the slogan 'Rip. Mix. Burn.' The software was originally designed t...
1972
The ocean liner RMS Queen Elizabeth caught fire and capsized in Hong Kong harbor
Once the world's largest passenger ship, the Queen Elizabeth was being converted into a floating university when fires broke out simultaneously in mul...
1957
British Prime Minister Anthony Eden resigned after the disastrous Suez Crisis
Eden's failed attempt to seize the Suez Canal from Egypt exposed Britain's declining global power and damaged relations with the United States. The st...
1916
British and Ottoman forces concluded the Battle of Gallipoli with a successful Allied evacuation
After eight months of disastrous fighting, the Allies withdrew their last troops from the Gallipoli Peninsula. While the campaign was a crushing defea...
1913
Richard Nixon, the only U.S. president to resign from office, was born in Yorba Linda, California
MajorNixon served as the 37th president and achieved diplomatic breakthroughs with China and the Soviet Union before the Watergate scandal forced his resig...
1861
Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union before the Civil War
MajorFollowing South Carolina's lead by less than a month, Mississippi's secession convention voted 84-15 to leave. The delegates explicitly cited the pres...
1839
The French Academy of Sciences announced the invention of photography to the public
MajorLouis Daguerre's daguerreotype process was revealed, creating the first practical method of capturing permanent images. The French government bought t...
1799
British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduced income tax to fund the war against Napoleon
Originally pitched as a 'temporary' measure, the tax was set at 2 pence per pound on incomes over £60. Despite being abolished in 1816, it was reintro...
1793
French inventor Jean-Pierre Blanchard completed the first hot air balloon flight in North America
Blanchard launched from Philadelphia with George Washington watching from the crowd below. He landed in New Jersey about 46 minutes later, carrying a...
1788
Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution
The vote was unanimous, 128-0, making Connecticut's ratification one of the smoothest. Known as the 'Constitution State,' Connecticut played a crucial...
1493
Christopher Columbus first encountered indigenous people wearing gold jewelry during his first voyage
MajorWhile exploring the Caribbean islands on this date, Columbus noted in his journal that locals wore small gold ornaments, fueling European obsession wi...