﻿ January 6 | This day in history
This Day In History
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
On This Day


in 1781

In the Battle of...
In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey. The Battle of Jersey was an attempt by France to invade Jersey and remove the threat the island posed to American shipping in the American War of Independence. Jersey was used as a base for privateering by the British, and France, engaged in the war as an ally of the United States, sent an expedition to gain control of the island. The expedition ultimately failed, and its commander, Baron Phillipe de Rullecourt, died of wounds sustained in the fighting. The battle is often remembered for the death of the British officer Major Pierson, and a painting based on his final moments by John Singleton Copley.
Jersey, battle

in 1839

The most damaging storm in 300 years sweeps across Ireland, damaging or destroying more than 20% of the houses in Dublin. The Night of the Big Wind was a severe European windstorm which swept without warning across Ireland on the night of January 6 - January 7, 1839, causing severe damage to property and several hundred deaths; 20% to 25% of houses in north Dublin were damaged or destroyed, and 42 ships were wrecked. The storm attained a very low barometric pressure of 918 hectopascals (27.1 inHg) and tracked eastwards to the north of Ireland, bringing winds gusts of over 100 knots (185 km/h, 115 mph) to the south of the island. At the time, it was the most damaging Irish storm for 300 years.
storm, Ireland, Dublin

in 1912

New Mexico is admitted...
New Mexico, United States


in 1822
Heinrich Schliemann

Heinrich Schliemann was a German businessman and amateur archaeologist, and an advocate of the historical reality of places mentioned in the works of Homer. Schliemann was an archaeological excavator of Troy, along with the Mycenaean sites Mycenae and Tiryns. His work lent weight to the idea that Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid reflect actual historical events.
in 1955
Rowan Atkinson

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show “Not The Nine O'Clock News”, and the sitcoms “Blackadder”, “Mr. Bean” and “The Thin Blue Line”.


in 1852
Louis Braille

Louis Braille was the inventor of braille,a a system of reading and writing used by people who are blind or visually impaired.
in 1919
Theodore Roosevelt

in 1949
Victor Fleming

Victor Lonzo Fleming was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were The Wizard of Oz (1939), and Gone with the Wind (1939), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director.