49 BC: Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon. Caesar, who was fighting in Gaul and was deposed as consul by Pompey, crosses the Rubicon in north-east Italy from the north with around 5,000 legionaries. The small river forms the border between the province of Gallia Cisalpina and the Italian heartland. Caesar's aim was to overthrow Pompey in Rome, who was setting himself up as sole ruler. Crossing the river, Caesar knew that there was no turning back now. He is said to have said: ‘Alea iacta est’ (history painting based on an unnamed painting)
1778: Death of Carl von Linné (Carl Nilsson Linnæus), Swedish natural scientist, founder of modern botanical and zoological taxonomy.
1794: Death of Johann Georg Adam Forster, German naturalist, ethnologist, co-founder of travel literature. He accompanied James Cook on his circumnavigation of the globe (‘Voyage around the World’ 1778).
1810: Napoleon and Joséphine get divorced
It is the first officially proclaimed divorce in France. Joséphine breaks down when the emperor announces the divorce. According to the Code civil issued by Napoleon in 1804, the couple should not have been allowed to divorce. But the Senate, which was well-disposed towards Napoleon, authorised the split. The French Church played a miserable game. The cardinal who had married the couple was not authorised to do so, it was now said. The marriage was therefore not valid...
It is the first officially proclaimed divorce in France. Joséphine breaks down when the emperor announces the divorce. According to the Code civil issued by Napoleon in 1804, the couple should not have been allowed to divorce. But the Senate, which was well-disposed towards Napoleon, authorised the split. The French Church played a miserable game. The cardinal who had married the couple was not authorised to do so, it was now said. The marriage was therefore not valid. Nevertheless, Pope Pius VII opposed the divorce and excommunicated Napoleon. The emperor then took the pope prisoner and married Marie-Louise, the eldest daughter of Emperor Francis I. (Image: Charles Abraham Chasselat)
1863: The first section of the underground railway is opened in London. The ‘Tube’ is the oldest underground railway in the world.
1917: Death of Buffalo Bill (William Frederick Cody), successful bison hunter and equally successful entertainer. As a spy, he fought against the Indians; he scalped an Indian chief at Warbonnet Creek. He later dedicated himself to show business and founded ‘Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show’, which presented scenes from the Wild West in a nostalgic and distorted way. He also recruited Native American chiefs for the performances, including Sitting Bull. Buffalo Bill also made several successful appearances in Europe with his artists and animals.
1920: The victorious powers of the First World War found the ‘League of Nations’
The ‘League of Nations’ is founded. The aim is to promote international co-operation, resolve smouldering conflicts through mediation and monitor compliance with peace treaties. The League of Nations was initially based at the Palais Wilson in Geneva. Between 1933 and 1936, the ‘Palais des Nations’ was built, where the organisation moved into its headquarters. The picture shows the League of Nations Palace (today's Palais des Nations) in 1938. 32 states were among the founding members of the League of Nations, including Great Britain, France, China and Italy. In 1920, Switzerland, the German Reich, the Soviet Union and Austria also joined the organisation. The League of Nations anticipates the UN in general terms. After the Second World War, on 18 April 1946, the League of Nations is dissolved due to its powerlessness. The United Nations, the UN, is founded as its successor organisation. (Photo: Keystone/Photopress Archive)
1929 - The first adventure in the comic series ‘Tintin’, called ‘Les aventures de Tintin’ in French, appears in a Belgian newspaper. The story was created by the illustrator Hergé.
1945: Sir Rod Stewart is born in London!
1946 - The first General Assembly of the United Nations opens in London. Delegates from 51 countries take part. The main aim is to secure world peace.
1949: Birth of George Foreman, American heavyweight boxing world champion (1973-1974)
In the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ (1974), Foreman, who was considered invincible, is defeated by Muhammad Ali. The fight takes place in Kinshasa (Zaire). Dictator Mobutu finances the spectacle as publicity for himself and his country. Boxing promoter Don King organises the show. Miriam Makeba, James Brown, B. B. King, The Spinners and The Crusaders perform in a musical supporting programme. Muhammad Ali wins the fight in the 8th round. The picture shows Foreman on the ground. (Photo: Keystone/AP/Jim Boudier)
1957 - Harold Macmillan becomes British Prime Minister, succeeding Anthony Eden, who has resigned.
1966 - India and Pakistan agree to end the Kashmir conflict and restore peaceful relations (Tashkent Declaration).
1971: Coco Chanel (Gabrielle Chasnel), a French fashion designer and entrepreneur born in 1883, dies in Paris. She founded her fashion empire in the early 1910s. In 1999, ‘Time Magazine’ included her on its list of the hundred most influential people of the 20th century. In addition to her haute couture and the ‘little black dress’, her Chanel Nº 5, the best-selling perfume in the world, is particularly famous. The company she founded today has a turnover of over 6 billion dollars. (Photo: Keystone)
2022 - A transplant team in the USA inserts a genetically modified pig heart into a 57-year-old man with heart disease for the first time. The procedure at the University Hospital in Baltimore is considered a milestone in the field of organ transplantation. The patient dies two months later.
2024 - Sir Rod Stewart starts the family celebrations for his 80th birthday.
2023 - The eagerly awaited memoirs of royal son Prince Harry will be published on 10 January 2023. The autobiography is entitled ‘Spare’, the publisher Penguin Random House announced in London on Thursday. The word can be translated as ‘superfluous’ or ‘spare part’, among other things. However, it probably alludes above all to the phrase ‘the heir and the spare’. The term refers to the heir to the throne - in this case Harry's brother Prince William - and his younger siblings, who could take over when the eldest dies. The German title of the book is ‘Reserve’, according to the publisher.
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