On this day in 1581, after completing a circumnavigation of the world on the orders of Queen Elizabeth I, Francis Drake was knighted to become Sir Francis Drake.

The Declaration of Breda was issued on this day in 1660 by King Charles II while still in exile and not officially the king. It called for crimes committed during the English Civil War to be pardoned, only for those that recognized him as the lawful king.

Sir Robert Walpole became the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1721, he was the longest serving prime minister in British history, he remained in office until his resignation in 1742.

William Henry Harrison, the ninth US President died in office on this day in 1841 of pneumonia. He was the first US President to die in office and his 32 days in that position makes him the one to have served for the shortest time.

The Great Fire of Cottenham occurred on this day in 1850. The village in Cambridgeshire, England was largely destroyed and a casual labourer was suspected of being the arsonist. He had left the village at about the time the fire started and no charges were brought against him, although many buildings were destroyed and livestock killed, there were no human fatalities. On the same day Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipal city.

Dimitry Karakozov became the first Russian revolutionary to make an assassination attempt on a Russian Tzar. He did so in St. Petersburg in 1866, firing a shot at Alexander II, only the intervention of a bystander prevented him from hitting his intended target. Karakozov was later hanged for his crime.

In 1905, the Kangra earthquake in northern India killed an estimated 20,000 people. About 100,000 buildings were also destroyed in Kangra and other towns in the area.

Emmanouil Argyropoulos made history as the first Greek aviator, on this day in 1913 he also became the first victim of his country’s ‘air force’ when he crashed. Being as he was his country’s only pilot at that time it also ended Greece’s air involvement in the Balkan Wars.

The People’s Party of Panama, the communist party of that country was formed on this day in 1930 after breaking away from the Labour Party.

King Faisal II of Iraq became his country’s ruler on this day in 1939 at the age of 3, upon the mysterious death of his father in a car accident. He ruled until a coup d’etat in 1958 and known as the July 14th Revolution when he, his family and many of his closest allies were all murdered.