HistoryPod Podcast
1) 18th January 1778: Captain James Cook becomes the first known European to encounter the Hawaiian Islands
Cook anchored off Kauaʻi and later Niʻihau, making contact with the islanders over the following days and exchanged food, water, and other ...
2) 15th January 1867: 40 people die when ice on the boating lake in Regent’s Park breaks while they are skating
Approximately 200 skaters plunged into the freezing water, all wearing heavy winter clothes that dragged them down. Many were also unable to ...
3) 12th January 1913: The name “Stalin” meaning “man of steel” first used in print by Joseph Dzhugashvili
Like many underground revolutionaries, Joseph Dzhugashvili made frequent use of pseudonyms to evade police surveillance, and first used the alias “K. Stalin” as the signature to a letter in the Social...Show More
4) 9th January 1806: State funeral of Admiral Horatio Nelson takes place in London, following his death at the Battle of Trafalgar
Nelson’s coffin was placed on a grand funeral car designed to resemble HMS Victory for its final journey to St Paul’s Cathedral and subsequently interred in the crypt, joining a small number of nation...Show More
5) 6th January 1941: President Franklin D. Roosevelt sets out the “Four Freedoms” in his State of the Union address
Roosevelt identified freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear that, together, provided a moral framework for US engagement in the ...
6) 3rd January 1868: Meiji Restoration begins in Japan when loyalists seize control of the Kyoto Imperial Palace
Supporters of imperial restoration occupied key positions in Kyoto on 3 January 1868 and announced the abolition of the Tokugawa ...
7) 31st December 1853: New Year’s Eve dinner takes place inside a model of an Iguanodon at the Crystal Palace Park in south London
The dinner was widely reported and helped generate public interest in the Crystal Palace Park's life-sized models of extinct animals, which opened to visitors the following ...
8) 28th December 1537: Francis I of France establishes the first legal deposit for books under the Ordonnance de Montpellier
The Ordonnance de Montpellier required printers and booksellers to deposit a copy of every book published in the kingdom with the royal ...
9) 25th December 800: Charlemagne crowned emperor by Pope Leo III during Christmas Mass at St Peter’s Basilica
The coronation of Charlemagne established the precedent for what later became known as the Holy Roman Empire and reinforced the idea of a Christian emperor as protector of the ...
10) 22nd December 1964: Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird strategic reconnaissance aircraft makes its first flight
The SR-71 was used to conduct reconnaissance missions over hostile territory, providing high-quality photographic and electronic intelligence until its retirement in ...