In the Roman calendar, a day falling roughly in the middle of the month.
Ides
Fact of the Day
In 1576, the Bishop of London threatened to deal with puritans by sending them to 'Lancashire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, and such like barbarous places'.
Quote of the Day
"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.
"
~ Friedrich Engels
On This Day
98 Trajan became Roman Emperor.
814 Charlemagne, King of the Franks and first Holy Roman Emperor died seven days after being taken to his bed with pleurisy.
1457 Henry Tudor, the future Henry VII, was born. It was a difficult birth as his mother, Margaret Beaufort, was only 13 years old and small of stature.
1547 90 years after his father's birth, Henry VIII died. Doctors wouldn't say he was dying because the Treason Act forbade predicting the king's death.
1807 The first public street lighting with gas was demonstrated in Pall Mall, London.
1813 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was first published.
1829 Murderer and body snatcher William Burke was hanged. His corpse suffered the same fate as his victims, public dissection.
1896 Walter Arnold of Kent became the first British motorist to receive a speeding fine - he was doing 8mph in a 2mph area!
1986 The space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launch. None of the seven people (including a competition winner) onboard survived.