On June 3, 1492, Martin Behaim, a German textile merchant and cartographer, presented to an audience in Nuremberg something that few had never seen before: a globe. Calling it The Erdapfel, which translates to “earth apple,” Behaim carefully managed the construction of the globe…
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On June 2, 1953, the world watched intently as Queen Elizabeth II officially received her crown. Elizabeth’s coronation occurred while her country still had scars from World War II. NPR writes that “the start of the 25-year-old’s reign was widely seen as the dawn…
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On June 2, 1774, the British Parliament passed a series of stringent measures known as the Intolerable Acts, also called the Coercive Acts, aimed at quelling growing unrest in the American colonies, particularly Massachusetts. This decisive action followed the infamous Boston Tea Party of…
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On June 1, 1812, President James Madison asked Congress to grant him the authority to go to war with England, a risky move against a global power that nearly cost the young United States its independence, saw the White House burned, and propelled General…
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On June 1, 1495, John Cor changed the drinking world forever. That’s when the monk first recorded that he had begun whisky production in Scotland in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. The entry indicates that “eight bolls of malt” were allocated to “Friar John…
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On May 31, 1879, a modest but consequential shift in New York City’s cultural topography took place: Gilmore’s Garden, a frequently repurposed arena at 26th Street and Madison Avenue, was renamed Madison Square Garden by railroad heir William Henry Vanderbilt. The name change was…
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On May 31, 1859, the iconic clock tower now known as Big Ben began to keep time for the first time. Located at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, the tower has since become one of the most recognizable symbols…
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It began not with a battle cry, but with a refusal. On May 30, 1381, villagers in Brentwood, Essex, stood their ground against royal tax collectors—and in so doing, ignited one of the most explosive popular uprisings in English history. The Peasants’ Revolt, also…
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The dedication of the Lincoln Memorial on May 30, 1922, marked the commemoration of one of the nation’s most revered presidents, Abraham Lincoln. Located on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the massive marble monument stands as a tribute to…
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After more than two millennia, the Roman Empire—transfigured, fragmented, renamed, and reimagined—finally collapsed on May 29, 1453, as Ottoman forces under Sultan Mehmed II breached the gates of Constantinople following a 53-day siege. With the city’s fall came the extinguishing of the last imperial…
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