Joan of Arc’s Trial Begins
The interrogations at the heresy trial began in Rouen on 9 January 1431.
Months Past
Discovery of a Living Fossil
The coelacanth, believed to have been extinct for 70 million years, was rediscovered by Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer on 22 December 1938.
Premiere of a Christmas Classic
It’s a Wonderful Life had its first screening on 20 December 1946.
The Finnish Club War
The Cudgel War broke out on 25 November 1596, in Kyrö, South Ostrobothnia.
Death of Thomas Tallis
One of the first – and greatest – composers of English Protestant church music died on 23 November 1585.
The Conquest of Lisbon
The city surrendered to Afonso I of Portugal and a group of crusaders on 25 October 1147.
Death of Sultan Razia
The ruler with ‘a talent for war’ was murdered by her captors on 13 October 1240.
Death of a Master Forger
John Payne Collier died on 17 September 1883, after a lifetime of creating deliberate fictions, falsehoods and forgeries.
The Face of Beatrice Cenci
The painting that inspired Shelley and Stendahl is thought to be of a young woman executed on 11 September 1599 for the murder of her father.
The Grunwick Dispute Begins
The sacking of a young worker on 20 August 1976 escalated into a defining industrial conflict of the late 1970s.