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June 27

June 27

June 27 is the 178th day of the year (179th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 187 days remaining.

Events

- 678 - Saint Agatho begins his reign as a Catholic Pope.
- 1542 - Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo claims California for Spain.
- 1709 - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava.
- 1759 - General James Wolfe starts siege of Quebec.
- 1806 - The British capture Buenos Aires.
- 1844 - Joseph Smith, Jr. is murdered along with his brother Hyrum in the jail in Carthage, Illinois.
- 1864 - Battle of Kennesaw Mountain in the American Civil War.
- 1867 - The Bank of California opens its doors
- 1893 - Crash of the New York Stock Exchange.
- 1898 - First solo circumnavigation of the globe completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island Nova Scotia.
- 1905 - Mutiny on the battleship Potemkin.
- 1950 - The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War.
- 1953 - Joseph Laniel becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 1954 - World's first nuclear power station opens in Obninsk, near Moscow.
- 1957 - Hurricane Audrey kills 500 people in Louisiana and Texas.
- 1966 - The first broadcast of Dark Shadows aired on ABC-TV.
- 1967 - World's first ATM installed in Enfield, London.
- 1972 - ATARI is established by Nolan Bushnell.
- 1974 - U.S president Richard Nixon visits the U.S.S.R.
- 1977 - France grants independence to Djibouti.
- 1979 - Muhammad Ali announces his retirement from boxing.
- 1980 - A commercial DC-9 (Itavia Flight 870) was apparently shot down.
- 1984 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau wins Albert Einstein Peace Prize.
- 1985 - Route 66 ceases to be an official highway.
- 1986 - International Court of Justice finds against the United States in its judgement in the Nicaragua v. United States.
- 1991 - Slovenia, after declaring independence two days previous, is invaded by Yugoslavia troops, tanks, and aircraft.
- 1995 - Jodi Huisentruit, an anchorwoman in Mason City, Iowa disappears, presumably abducted.
- 2001 - International Court of Justice finds against the United States in its judgement in the LaGrand Case.
- 2005 - AMD files broad antitrust complaint against Intel Corporation in US Federal District Court, alleging abuse of monopoly powers and antitrust violations.

Births

1040 to 1899

- 1040 - King Ladislaus I of Hungary (d. 1095)
- 1462 - King Louis XII of France (d. 1515)
- 1550 - King Charles IX of France (d. 1574)
- 1696 - William Pepperrell, British colonial soldier (d. 1759)
- 1717 - Louis Guillaume Lemonnier, French botanist (d. 1799)
- 1838 - Paul von Mauser, German weapon designer (d. 1914)
- 1846 - Charles Stewart Parnell, Irish independence fighter (d. 1891)
- 1850 - Lafcadio Hearn, Greek-born author (d. 1904)
- 1869 - Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-born anarchist and feminist (d. 1940)
- 1869 - Hans Spemann, German embryologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1941)
- 1870 - Frank Rattray Lillie, American zoologist and embryologist (d. 1947)
- 1880 - Helen Keller, American spokeswoman for the deaf and blind (d. 1968)
- 1882 - Eduard Spranger, German philosopher, psychologist, and educator (d. 1963)
- 1884 - Gaston Bachelard, French philosopher and poet (d. 1962)

1900 to 1999

- 1913 - Willie Mosconi, American billiards player (d. 1993)
- 1924 - Rosalie Allen, American singer and disc jockey (d. 2003)
- 1924 - Bob Appleyard, English cricketer
- 1925 - Doc Pomus, American musician and composer (d. 1991)
- 1928 - Rudy Perpich, American politician (d. 1995)
- 1930 - Ross Perot, American billionaire and politician
- 1931 - Charles Bronfman, Canadian industrialist
- 1931 - Martinus J. G. Veltman, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1932 - Anna Moffo, American soprano
- 1941 - Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish film director (d. 1996)
- 1949 - Vera Wang, American fashion designer
- 1951 - Mary McAleese, President of Ireland
- 1955 - Isabelle Adjani, French actress
- 1956 - Heiner Dopp, German field hockey player
- 1958 - Magnus Lindberg, Finnish composer
- 1959 - Clint Boon, English musician (Inspiral Carpets)
- 1962 - Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Hong Kong actor
- 1963 - Meera Syal, English comedian, writer, singer, journalist, and actress
- 1964 - Chuck Person, basketball player
- 1966 - J.J. Abrams, American television writer and producer
- 1970 - Jim Edmonds, baseball player
- 1970 - Vitamin C, American singer
- 1975 - Tobey Maguire, American actor
- 1975 - Daryle Ward, baseball player
- 1977 - Raúl, Spanish footballer
- 1978 - Stefan Arason, Icelandic composer
- 1980 - Kevin Pietersen, English cricketer
- 1983 - Alsou, Russian singer
- 1985 - Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russian tennis player
- 1986 - Drake Bell, American actor and musician
- 1988 - Kate Ziegler, American swimmer
- 1991 - Madylin Sweeten, American actress

Deaths

1149 to 1899

- 1149 - Raymond of Antioch
- 1162 - Eudes II, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1118)
- 1458 - King Alfonso V of Aragon (b. 1396)
- 1574 - Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter and architect (b. 1511)
- 1603 - Jan Dymitr Solikowski, Polish archbishop, writer, and diplomat (b. 1539)
- 1627 - John Hayward, English historian
- 1655 - Eleonore Gonzaga, wife of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1598)
- 1672 - Roger Twysden, English antiquarian and royalist (b. 1597)
- 1720 - Guillaume Amfrye de Chaulieu, French poet (b. 1639)
- 1794 - Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz, Austrian statesman (b. 1711)
- 1794 - Philippe de Noailles, duc de Mouchy, French soldier (b. 1715)
- 1829 - James Smithson, English founder of the Smithsonian Institute (b. 1765)
- 1831 - Sophie Germain, French mathematician (b. 1776)
- 1844 - Hyrum Smith, American religious leader (murdered) (b. 1800)
- 1844 - Joseph Smith, Jr. American founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (murdered) (b. 1805)

1900 to 1999

- 1957 - Malcolm Lowry, English novelist (b. 1909)
- 1960 - Lottie Dod, English athlete (b. 1871)
- 1970 - Daniel Kinsey, American hurdler (b. 1902)
- 1991 - Klaas Bruinsma, Dutch drug lord (murdered) (b. 1953)
- 1999 - George Papadopoulos, Greek dictator (b. 1919)

2000 onwards

- 2001 - Tove Jansson, Finnish author (b. 1914)
- 2001 - Jack Lemmon, American actor and film director (b. 1925)
- 2002 - John Entwistle, English bassist (The Who) (b. 1944)
- 2004 - George Patton IV, American general (b. 1923)
- 2004 - Darrell Russell, American race car driver (b. 1968)
- 2005 - Marten Toonder, Dutch cartoonist (b. 1912)

Holidays and observances

- Feast of St Cyril of Alexandria
- National HIV Testing Day in United States
- Stonewall Day (date of many gay pride celebrations, including those in New York City, San Francisco, Toronto, and Madrid)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/27 BBC: On This Day] ----- June 26 - June 28 - May 27 - July 27 -- listing of all days ko:6월 27일 ms:27 Jun ja:6月27日 simple:June 27 th:27 มิถุนายน

June 27

June 27 is the 178th day of the year (179th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 187 days remaining.

Events

Births

1040 to 1899

1900 to 1999

Deaths

1149 to 1899

1900 to 1999

2000 onwards

Holidays and observances

External links

Saint Agatho

right Agatho (born 577?, died 10 January 681) was pope from 678 to 681. A Greek born in Sicily of wealthy and devout parents, he gave away his inheritance after their death and retired to a monastery in Palermo. Although the year of his birth is unknown, he was said to have been over 100 years old at the time of his election. He is noteworthy as the pope who ordered St Wilfrid to be restored to his bishopric at York in 679, and as the first to cease payment of the tribute hitherto paid on election to the emperor at Constantinople. It was during his pontificate that the Sixth Ecumenical Council was held at Constantinople, to which he sent his legates and those from a Roman council held in 679. He was the first pope to take the papal oath as part of his inauguration. During his reign the Byzantine Empire abandoned monothelitism, and friendly relations with Rome were restored. Feast day: 10 January. Agatho Agatho Agatho Agatho Agatho Agatho ko:교황 아가토

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo

João Rodrigues Cabrilho (Portuguese) (ca. 1499 – January 3, 1543) was a Portuguese explorer noted for his exploration of the west coast of North America while sailing for Spain. Cabrillo was the first European explorer to navigate the coast of present day California in the United States. He also helped found the city of Oaxaca, Oaxaca, in Mexico.

Origins

Little is known about Cabrillo’s early years. Even his nationality is uncertain; most biographies describe him as Portuguese, but in his exhaustive 1986 biography Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, historian Harry Kelsey writes that Cabrillo appears to have been born in Spain, "probably in Seville, but perhaps in Cuellar." His date of birth and parentage are also unknown, but events in Cabrillo’s life lead Kelsey to believe he was born of poor parents "around 1498 or 1500," and then worked for his keep in the home of a prominent Seville merchant.

Voyages

Rodríguez Cabrillo shipped for Havana as a lad and joined the forces of Hernán Cortés in Mexico. Later, his entrepreneurial skills, enslaving the natives of his landholdings to mine gold in Guatemala, made him one of the richest of the conquistadors in Mexico. Following the 1539 voyage of Francisco de Ulloa, who had been commissioned by Hernán Cortés and had discovered the Gulf of California, reaching as far the 28th parallel, Cabrillo was commissioned by the viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza, to lead an expedition up the Pacific coast in search of trade opportunities, perhaps to find a way to China, for the full extent of the northern Pacific was still unrealized, or the mythical Strait of Anián that supposedly connected the Pacific Ocean to Hudson Bay, providing a route for the Northwest Passage. Cabrillo, who had started life as a shipbuilder's boy, had built and owned the flagship of his venture (two or three ships), and stood to profit from any trade or treasure. Northwest Passage On June 27, 1542, Cabrillo set out from Navidad (now Acapulco) in New Spain. On September 28, 1542, he landed in what is now San Diego Bay and named it "San Miguel". Going up the coast, he sailed through the Santa Barbara Channel and around Point Conception, eventually sailing as far north as the Russian River before autumn storms forced them to turn back. On November 23, 1542, the little fleet limped back to "San Salvador" (Santa Catalina Island) to overwinter and make repairs. There Cabrillo stepped out of his boat and splintered his shin when he stepped on a jagged rock. The injury developed gangrene and he died on January 3, 1543 and was buried. His second-in-command brought the remainder of the party back to Navidad, where they arrived April 14, 1543. A notary's official report of Cabrillo's inconclusive expedition was lost; all that survives is a summary of it made by another investigator, Andrés de Urdaneta, who also had access to ships' logs and charts. No printed account of Cabrillo's voyage appeared in print before historian Antonio de Herrera's account early in the 17th century. The final mystery about Cabrillo is his place of burial. He died on January 3, 1543 off the coast of southern California, but his burial site is unknown; Santa Catalina Island, San Miguel Island and Santa Rosa Island have all been suggested.

Legacy

Although his discoveries went largely unnoticed at the time, none of his place names were permanently adopted, and he founded no settlements on the well-populated coast, Cabrillo is now remembered as the first European to travel the California coast, and many streets and buildings in California bear his name. One such example is Cabrillo College in Aptos, California. In San Diego, the National Park Service operates a monument, Cabrillo National Monument, overlooking the bay at Point Loma commemorating his first landing in California and offering views of both San Diego and the Pacific Ocean.

External links

- [http://www.socalhistory.org/Biographies/cabrillo.htm Albert Greenstein's brief biography of Cabrillo]
- [http://www.nps.gov/cabr/ Cabrillo National Monument]
- [http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Rodr%C3%ADguez_Cabrillo Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (en español)] Cabrillo, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, Juan Rodríguez

Peter I of Russia

] Peter I () (10 June 1672–8 February 1725 [30 May]] [[1672– 28 January 1725 O.S.] ) ruled Russia from 7 May (27 April O.S.) 1682 until his death. Known as Peter the Great (), he was at first a joint ruler with his weak and sickly half-brother, Ivan V, who died in 1696. Peter then ruled alone until 1724, whenceforth he ruled jointly with his wife, Catherine I. Peter carried out a policy of "Westernization" and expansion that transformed Russia into a major European power. Senate Chancellor Golovkin added "the Great, Father of His Country, Emperor of All the Russias" to Peter's traditional title Tsar following a speech by the archbishop of Pskov in 1721. Peter the Great was a striking figure, with an extremely tall build of over 2 meters (6 feet 7 inches), and large, green eyes.

Early life

Peter, the son of Aleksei Mikhailovich of Russia and his second wife, Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina, was born in Moscow. Aleksei I had previously married Maria Miloslavskaya, having five sons and eight daughters by her, although only two of the sons—Fyodor and Ivan—were alive when Peter was born. Aleksei I went on to have two further daughters by Nataliya Naryshkina: Anna, who died in her twenties, and Elizabeth, who took the throne of Russia 1641-1661, before dying in 1676, to be succeeded by his eldest surviving son, who became Fyodor III. 1676Fyodor III's uneventful reign ended within six years; as Fyodor did not leave any children, a dispute over the succession between the Naryshkin and Miloslavskyi families broke out. Properly, Ivan was next in the line of succession, but he was an invalid and of infirm mind. Consequently, the Boyar Duma (a council of Russian nobles) chose the ten-year old Peter to become Czar, his mother becoming regent. But one of Aleksei's daughters by his first marriage, Sophia Alekseyevna, led a rebellion of the Streltsy (Russia's élite military corps). In the subsequent conflict, many of Peter's relatives and friends were murdered—Peter even witnessed the butchery of one of his uncles by a mob. The memory of this violence may have caused trauma during Peter's later years. Sophia insisted that Peter and Ivan be proclaimed joint Czars, with Ivan being acclaimed as the senior of the two. Sophia acted as Regent during the minority of the two Sovereigns and exercised all power. In addition, a hole was cut in the back of the dual-seated throne used by Ivan and Peter. Sophia would sit behind the throne and listen as Peter conversed with nobles, also feeding him information and giving him responses to questions and problems. This throne can be seen in the Kremlin museum in Moscow. For seven years, she ruled as an autocrat. Peter, meanwhile, was not particularly concerned that others ruled in his own name. He engaged in such pastimes as ship-building and sailing. The ships he built were used during mock battles. Peter's mother sought to force him to adopt a less unconventional approach and arranged his marriage to Eudoxia Lopukhina in 1689. The marriage was an utter failure, and ten years later Peter forced her to become a nun and thus freed himself from the marriage. By the summer of 1689, Peter had planned to take power from his half-sister Sophia, whose position had been weakened by the unsuccessful campaigns in The Crimea. When she learnt of his designs, Sophia began to conspire with the leaders of the streltsy. Unfortunately for Sophia, a rival faction of the streltsy had already been plotting against her. She was therefore overthrown, with Peter I and Ivan V continuing to act as co-Czars. Peter forced Sophia to enter a convent, where she gave up her name and position as a member of the royal family. Still, Peter could not acquire actual control over Russian affairs. Power was instead exercised by his mother, Nataliya Naryshkina. It was only when Nataliya died in 1694 that Peter became truly independent. Formally, Ivan V remained a co-ruler with Peter, although he was still ineffective. Peter became the sole ruler when Ivan died in 1696. 1696

Early reign

Peter implemented sweeping reforms aimed at modernizing Russia. Heavily influenced by his western advisors, Peter reorganized the Russian army along European lines and dreamt of making Russia a maritime power. He faced much opposition to these policies at home, but brutally suppressed any and all rebellions against his authority, including the greatest civil uprising of his reign, the Bulavin Rebellion. To improve his nation's position on the seas, Peter sought to gain more maritime outlets. His only outlet at the time was the White Sea. The Baltic Sea was at the time controlled by Sweden. Peter instead attempted to acquire control of the Caspian Sea, but to do so he would have to expel the Tatars from the surrounding areas. He was forced to wage war against the Crimean Khan and against the Khan's overlord, the Ottoman Sultan. Peter's primary objective became the capture of the Ottoman fortress of Azov, near the Don River. In the summer of 1695, Peter organized the Azov campaigns in order to take the fortress, but his attempts ended in failure. Peter returned to Moscow in November of that year, and promptly began building a large navy. He launched about thirty ships against the Ottomans in 1696, capturing Azov in July of that year. On September 12, 1698 Peter The Great officially founded the first Russian Navy base, Taganrog. Taganrog]] Peter knew that Russia could not face the mighty Ottoman Empire alone. In 1697, he traveled to Europe incognito with a large Russian delegation - the so-called "Grand Embassy"—to seek the aid of the European monarchs. Peter's hopes were dashed; France was a traditional ally of the Ottoman Sultan, and Austria was eager to maintain peace in the east whilst conducting its own wars in the west. Peter, furthermore, had chosen the most inopportune moment; the Europeans at the time were more concerned about who would succeed the childless Spanish King Charles II than about fighting the Ottoman Sultan. The "Grand Embassy", although failing to complete the mission of creating an anti-Ottoman alliance, still continued to travel across Europe. In visiting England, the Holy Roman Empire and France, Peter learnt much about Western culture. He studied shipbuilding in Deptford, Amsterdam and Zaandam, and artillery in Königsberg. Thanks to the mediation of Nicolaas Witsen, mayor of Amsterdam and expert on Russia par excellence, the Tsar was given the opportunity to gain practical experience in the largest private shipyard in the world, belonging to the Dutch East India Company in Amsterdam, for a period of four months. The Tsar helped with the construction of an Eastindiaman especially laid down for him: Peter and Paul. During his stay in the Netherlands the tsar engaged, with the help of Russian and Dutch assistants, many skilled workers such as builders of locks, fortresses, shipwrights and seamen. The best-known sailor who made the journey from the Netherlands to Russia was Cornelis Cruys (1655/57-1727). Cornelis Cruys accepted the Tsar's generous offer to enter into his service as vice-admiral. He emigrated to Russia in 1698 and became the Tsar's most important advisor in maritime affairs and the first mayor of Taganrog. The visit of Peter was cut short in 1698, when he was forced to rush home by a rebellion of the streltsy. The rebellion was, however, easily crushed before Peter returned; of the Tsar's troops, only one was killed. Peter nevertheless acted ruthlessly towards the mutineers. Over 1200 of them were tortured and executed, with Peter acting as one of the executioners. The streltsy were disbanded, and the individual they sought to put on the Throne—Peter's half-sister Sophia—was forced to become a nun. nun]] Also, upon his return from his European tour, Peter sought to end his unhappy marriage. He divorced the Tsaritsa, Eudoxia Lopukhina, whom he had deserted long earlier. The Tsaritsa had borne Peter three children, although only one—the Tsarevich Aleksei—had survived past his childhood. In 1698, Peter sent a delegation to Malta under boyar Boris Petrovich Sheremetyev, to observe the training and abilities of the Knights of Malta and their fleet. Sheremetyev also investigated the possibility of future joint ventures with the Knights, including action against the Turks and the possibility of a future Russian naval base. [http://www2.prestel.co.uk/church/oosj/timeline.htm] Peter's visits to the West impressed upon him the notion that European customs were in several respects superior to Russian traditions. He commanded all of his courtiers and officials to cut off their long beards and wear European clothing. Boyars who sought to retain their beards were required to pay an annual tax of one hundred rubles. In 1699, Peter also abolished the traditional Russian calendar, in which the year began on 1 September, in favor of the Julian calendar, in which the year began on 1 January. Traditionally, the years were reckoned from the purported creation of the World, but after Peter's reforms, they were to be counted from the birth of Christ. Russia moved to Julian calendar just as the rest of the world was moving to the Gregorian calendar. Russia would stay on the Julian calendar until the October Revolution in 1918.

Great Northern War

Peter made peace with the Ottoman Empire and turned his attention to Russian maritime supremacy. He sought to acquire control of the Baltic Sea, which had been taken by Sweden a half-century earlier. Peter declared war on Sweden, which was at the time led by King Charles XII. Sweden was also opposed by Denmark, Norway, Saxony and Poland. [http://www.sppiter.narod.ru/index1.html Bronze Horseman poem] Poland Russia turned out to be ill-prepared to fight the Swedes, and their first attempt at seizing the Baltic coast ended in disaster at the Battle of Narva in 1700. In the conflict, the forces of Charles XII used a blinding snowstorm to their advantage. After the battle, Charles XII, decided to concentrate his forces against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, giving Peter I time to reorganize the Russian army. As the Poles and Swedes fought each other, Peter founded the great city of Saint Petersburg (named for Saint Peter the Apostle) in Izhora (which he had re-captured from Sweden) in 1703. He forbade the building of stone edifices outside Saint Petersburg — which he intended to become Russia's capital — so that all the stonemasons could participate in the construction of the new city. He also took Martha Skavronskaya as a mistress. Martha converted to Orthodox Christianity and took the name Catherine, allegedly marrying Peter in secret in 1707. Following several defeats, the Polish King August II abdicated in 1706. Charles XII turned his attention to Russia, invading it in 1708. After crossing into Russia, Charles defeated Peter at Golovchin in July. In the Battle of Lesnaya, however, Charles suffered his first ever loss after Peter crushed a group of Swedish reinforcements marching from Riga. Deprived of this aid, Charles was forced to abandon his proposed march on Moscow. Moscow by Mikhail Lomonosov)]] Charles XII refused to retreat to Poland or back to Sweden, instead invading Ukraine. Peter withdrew his army southward, destroying any property that could assist the Swedes along the way. Deprived of local supplies, the Swedish army was forced to halt its advance in the winter of 1708–1709. In the summer of 1709, they nevertheless resumed their efforts to capture Ukraine, culminating in the Battle of Poltava on 27 June. The battle was a decisive defeat for Swedish forces, ending Charles' campaign in Ukraine and forcing him into exile in the Ottoman Empire. In Poland, August II was restored as King. Peter foolishly attacked the Ottomans in 1711. Normally, the Boyar Duma would have exercised power during his absence. Peter, however, mistrusted the Boyars; he abolished the Duma and created a Senate of ten members. Peter's campaign in the Ottoman Empire was disastrous; in the ensuing peace treaty, Peter was forced to return the Black Sea ports he had seized in 1697. In return, the Sultan expelled Charles XII from his territory. Peter's northern armies took the Swedish province of Livonia (the northern half of modern Latvia, and the southern half of modern Estonia), driving the Swedes back into Finland. Most of Finland was occupied by the Russians in 1714. The Tsar's navy was so powerful that the Russians could penetrate Sweden. Peter also obtained the assistance of Hanover and the Kingdom of Prussia. Still, Charles refused to yield, and not until his death in battle in 1718 did peace become feasible. Sweden made peace with all powers but Russia by 1720. In 1721, the Treaty of Nystad ended what became known as the Great Northern War. Russia acquired Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and a substantial portion of Karelia. In turn, Russia paid two million Riksdaler and surrendered most of Finland. The Tsar was, however, permitted to retain some Finnish lands close to Saint Petersburg, which he had made his capital in 1712.

Later years

1712 Peter's last years were marked by further reforms in Russia. In 1721, soon after peace was made with Sweden, he was acclaimed Emperor of All Russia. (Some proposed that he take the title Emperor of the East, but he refused.) His imperial title was recognized by Augustus II of Poland, Frederick William I of Prussia and Frederick I of Sweden, but not by the other European monarchs. In the minds of many, the word emperor connoted superiority or pre-eminence over "mere" kings. Several rulers feared that Peter would claim authority over them, just as the Holy Roman Emperor had once claimed suzerainty over all Christian nations. Peter also reformed the government of the Orthodox Church. The traditional leader of the Church was the Patriarch of Moscow. In 1700, when the office fell vacant, Peter had refused to name a replacement, allowing the Patriarch's Coadjutor (or deputy) to discharge the duties of the office. Twenty-one years later, in 1721, Peter followed the advice of Feofan Prokopovich and erected the Holy Synod, a council of ten clergymen, to take the place of the Patriarch and Coadjutor. In 1722, Peter created a new order of precedence, known as the Table of Ranks. Formerly, precedence had been determined by birth. In order to deprive the Boyars of their high positions, Peter directed that precedence should be determined by merit and service to the Emperor. The Table of Ranks continued to remain in effect until the Russian monarchy was overthrown in 1917. Peter also introduced new taxes to fund improvements in Saint Petersburg. He abolished the land tax and household tax, and replaced them with a capitation. The taxes on land on households were payable only by individuals who owned property or maintained families; the new head taxes, however, were payable by serfs and paupers. In 1724, Peter had his second wife, Catherine, crowned as Empress, although he continued to remain Russia's actual ruler. All of Peter's male children had died—the eldest son, Aleksei, had been tortured and killed on Peter's orders in 1718 because he had disobeyed his father and opposed official policies. Aleksei's mother Eudoxia had also been punished; she was dragged from her home and tried on false charges of adultery. A similar fate befell Peter's beautiful mistress, Anna Mons, in 1704. In 1725, construction of Peterhof, a palace near St Petersburg, was completed. Peterhof (Dutch for "Peter's Court") was a grand residence, becoming known as the "Russian Versailles" (after the great French Palace of Versailles).
Death
Versailles.]] Versailles A law of 1722 had allowed Peter to choose his own successor, but he failed to take advantage of it before he died from an illness in 1725. The lack of clear succession rules led to many succession conflicts in the subsequent "era of palace revolutions." Peter was succeeded by his wife Catherine, who had the aid of the imperial guards. Upon her death in 1727, the Empress Catherine was succeeded by Aleksei's son, Peter II, bringing the direct male line of Romanov monarchs to an end. Thereafter, inheritance of the Throne was generally chaotic—the next two monarchs were descendants of Peter I's half brother Ivan V, but the Throne was restored to Peter's own descendants through a coup d'état in 1741. No child would simply and directly succeed his or her parent until Paul followed Catherine the Great in 1796, over seventy years after Peter had died.

Legitimate issue

See also

- Peterhof - Peter the Great's summer palace
- Peter the Great and the Russian Empire
- Caesaropapism
Notes
#Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. #There is some general confusion over transliterations into the Latin alphabet from the Russian Cyrillic. Although the variant "Feodor" often appears as in the title of the referenced article, "Fyodor", as the name is rendered here, is a more accurate representation. The Russian Cyrillic equivalent is Фёдор, the second letter of which [ё] takes the sound "yo". It should be noted passim that one very rarely sees the form ё in print. The dieresis is almost always omitted leaving a bare e, unless the text is a primer with a target audience of young children who have not yet learned to read.
Reference
Peter I of Russia Peter I of Russia Category:Muscovites Category:Russian tsars Category:Russian emperors Category:Romanov Category:City founders ko:러시아의 표트르 1세 ja:ピョートル1世 (ロシア皇帝)

Battle of Poltava
The Battle of Poltava (or Pultowa) was a battle between the armies of Peter I of Russia and Charles XII of Sweden on 28 June (new style 8 July) 1709, the most famous of the battles of the Great Northern War. The decisive victory of the Russians is said to have ended Sweden's role as a major power in Europe.
Prelude
After early victories in 1700 knocked both Denmark and Russia out of the war, Charles was unable to bring the war to a conclusion, and it would be eight years before he dealt with the remaining combatant, Saxony-Poland. During this time Peter rebuilt his army in modern form, basing it primarily on infantry trained to properly use their firearms. He then achieved a stunning victory in Livonia, where he established the city of Saint Petersburg. Incensed, Charles ordered a fatal attack on the Russian heartland with an assault on Moscow. Charles marched into Russia in 1708 at the head of a large army, but the Russian forces refused to participate in direct combat, and instead, they adopted their standard form of warfare against invasion: the scorched earth strategy. The summer was cold and wet, and with supplies difficult to encounter on the ground, Charles relied on a relief column that transported enough food to maintain the army for lengthy periods. The relief column, under General Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt, consisted of 11,000 men, 16 cannon, a herd of cattle and thousands of wagons, normally slow-moving in the best of conditions and now slowed to a crawl by the condition of the roads. With no direct communications between the two forces, Charles waited as long as he could for Lewenhaupt to arrive. At one point they were only 130 kilometres apart, but this being unknown to him, Charles gave up, struck camp, and turned south to Ukraine in search of grain and better weather. Ukraine, under the command of Mazepa, had been in discussions with Charles for some time, and at this point officially allied herself to the Swedes in order to gain independence from Russia. Lewenhaupt followed south and was attacked while crossing a river near a small village that gave name to the Battle of Lesnaya. His forces met the Russian attack, but they were amazed to find that the new Russian army gave them a serious fight. Lewenhaupt decided to rejoin Charles with all speed, so he abandoned the cannon, the cattle and most of the food, driving the soldiers to mutiny. Stealing all of the alcohol, the soldiers became drunk, and Lewenhaupt was forced to leave about 1,000 men drunk in the woods. By the time they finally reached Charles and the main force in the winter, no supplies and only 6,000 men remained. mutiny.]] In the spring Charles resumed his advance, but his army had been reduced by about one-third due to starvation, frostbite and other effects of the weather. The wet weather had also seriously depleted the army's supplies of gunpowder; the cannon were essentially out of action, due to a lack of usable ammunition. Charles's first action was to lay siege to the fort of Poltava on the Vorskla River in Ukraine. Peter had already organized a huge force to protect it, and he quickly arrived and set up a counter-siege line, trapping the Swedish forces between the fort and the Russian lines.
Battle
When the battle opened, Charles had about 20,000 men, while Peter commanded about 45,000. To make matters worse for the Swedish, Charles was wounded during the siege and had to turn over command to Field Marshal Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld. Nevertheless he planned to break the Russian lines and escape to the north. The battle began before dawn at 3:45 am, with the Swedes advancing against the Russian fortified lines. At first, the battle started off in a traditional fashion, with the better trained Swedes pressing in on the Russians' left flank and center, overunning a few Russian defensive redoubts. The Swedish seemed to possess an advantage, but this was quickly nullified. By dawn, the weather was already very hot and humid with the rising sun obscured by smoke from cannon and musket fire. Peter had a considerably greater number of infantry, and while holding off the Swedish forces with cannon fire, he was able to organize a huge group of about 25,000 reinforcements in the center, which he deployed outside of his fortified camp at around 9:00 am. Soon the Swedish advance faltered, and poor communications between the lines led to a retreat by 11:00 am. The Swedes made for the Dnieper River but were doggedly pursued by the Russians and forced to surrender three days later at Perevolochna, on July 1.
Aftermath
Several thousand prisoners were taken, many of whom were put to work building the new city of St. Petersburg. Charles managed to escape with about 1,500 men to Bendery, Moldova, then controlled by the Ottoman Empire, and spent five years in exile there before he was able to return to Sweden. Why Charles chose to continue with the hopeless offensive after the disastrous winter is a mystery. Nevertheless the battle was not the end of the Great Northern War, which continued for another twelve years. In the end it was the buildup of naval power at St. Petersburg that finally knocked Sweden out of the war.
Bibliography

- G. Adlerfelt, The Military History of Charles XII, King of Sweden, Written by the Express Order of His Majesty. London, 3 vols, 1740.
- Peter Englund, The Battle of Poltava: The Birth of the Russian Empire. London, 1992.
External links

- [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages/P/O/PoltavaBattleof.htm Battle of Poltava]
- [http://www.utb.boras.se/uk/se/projekt/history/articles/decline/decline5.htm The Decline of the Great Power: The Battle of Poltava] (also used as a reference)
- [http://www.euronet.nl/users/sota/haggman.html Sequel to Poltava] Poltava

1759

1759 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar).

Events

- January 11 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first American life insurance company is incorporated.
- January 13 - The Távora family is executed following the accusation of attempted regicide on Joseph I of Portugal
- January 15 - The British Museum opens
- April 13 - a French army defeats Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick at Brunswick
- June 27 - British Troops under Jeffrey Amherst take Fort Ticonderoga
- July 25 - Seven Years' War (French and Indian War): In Canada, British forces capture Fort Niagara from French, who subsequently abandon Fort Rouillé.
- August 1 - Battle of Minden - Anglo-Hanoverian forces under Ferdinand of Brunswick defeat the French army of the Duc de Broglie, but due to the disobedience of the English cavalry commander Lord George Sackville, the French are able to withdraw unmolested.
- August 10 - Ferdinand VI of Spain dies and is succeeded by his half-brother Charles III. Charles resigns the thrones of Naples and Sicily to his third son, Ferdinand IV.
- August 12 - Battle of Kunersdorf - Frederick the Great is rebuffed in bloody assaults on the combined Austro-Russian army of Peter Soltikov and Gideon von Loudon. This is one of Frederick's greatest defeats.
- August 18 - Battle of Lagos - The British fleet of Edward Boscawen defeats a French force under Commodore de la Clue off the Portuguese coast.
- September 10 - Naval Battle of Pondicherry - An inconclusive naval battle is fought off the coast of India between the French Admiral d'Aché and the British under George Pocock. The French forces are badly damaged and returned home, never to return.
- September 13 - Seven Years' War (French and Indian War): Quebec falls to British forces following General Wolfe's victory in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham just outside the city. Both the French Commander (the Marquis de Montcalm) and the British General James Wolfe are fatally wounded.
- November 20 - Battle of Quiberon Bay - The English fleet of Sir Edward Hawke defeats a French fleet under Hubert de Conflans near the coast of Brittany. This is the decisive naval engagement of the Seven Years' War - after this, the French are no longer able to field a significant fleet.
- November 21 - Battle of Maxen - the Austrian army of Marshal von Daun cuts off and foces the surrender of a Prussian force under Friedrich von Finck.
- December 6 - The Germantown Union School (now called "Germantown Academy"), America's oldest nonsectarian day school, is founded.
- George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Custis
- Adam Smith publishes Theory of Moral Sentiments, embodying some of his Glasgow lectures
- Publication of Voltaire's Candide
- The town of Egedesminde (modern Aasiaat) is founded in Greenland.

Ongoing events

- French and Indian War (1754-1763)
- Seven Years' War (1756-1763)

Births

- January 25 - Robert Burns, Scottish poet (d. 1796)
- February 15 - Friedrich August Wolf, German philologist and archaeologist (d. 1824)
- May 20 - William Thornton, American architect (d. 1828)
- May 28 - William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1806)
- June 21 - Alexander J. Dallas, American statesman and financier (d. 1817)
- September 19 - William Kirby, English entomologist (d. 1850)
- October 25 - Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg, empress of Paul I of Russia (d. November 5, 1828)
- October 26 - Georges Danton, French Revolutionary leader (d. 1794)
- November 10 - Friedrich Schiller, German writer (d. 1805)

Deaths

- March 11 - John Forbes, British general (b. 1710)
- April 14 - George Friderich Handel, German composer (b. 1685)
- May 12 - Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, French sculptor (b. 1700)
- July 27 - Pierre Louis Maupertuis, French mathematician (b. 1698)
- August 6 - Eugene Aram, English philologist (b. 1704)
- August 8 - Carl Heinrich Graun, German composer
- August 10 - King Ferdinand VI of Spain (b. 1713)
- August 24 - Ewald Christian von Kleist, German poet (b. 1715)
- September 10 - Ferdinand Konščak, Croatian explorer (b. 1703)
- September 13 - James Wolfe, British general (b. 1727)
- September 14 - Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French general (b. 1712)
- October 10 - Granville Elliott, British military officer (b. 1713)
- October 13 - John Henley, English minister (b. 1692)
- November 29 - Nicolaus I Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1687) Category:1759 ko:1759년

Quebec

:This article describes the Canadian province. For other usages, see Quebec (disambiguation). Quebec (pronounced or ) (French: Québec, pronounced ) is the largest province in Canada and the second most populous, after Ontario, with a population of 7,598,100 (Statistics Canada, July 2005). This represents about 24% of the Canadian population. Quebec's official language is French. Quebec is the only Canadian province where English is a minority language (at the provincial level), and it is one of only two provinces – in addition to the federal government – where French is an official language (the other, per the Constitution Act, 1982, is New Brunswick; Manitoba enjoys limited official bilingualism). The capital is Quebec City (simply referred to as "Québec" in French) and the largest city is Montréal. A resident of Quebec is called a Quebecer (also spelled "Quebecker"), and in French, un(e) Québécois(e), the latter being used in English as well sometimes.

Geography

The most populated region is the St. Lawrence River Valley in the south, where the capital, Quebec City, and the largest city, Montreal, are situated. North of Montréal are the Laurentians, a range of ancient mountains, and to the east are the Appalachian Mountains which extends into the Eastern Townships and Gaspésie regions. The Gaspé Peninsula juts into the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the east. The extreme north of the province, now called Nunavik, is subarctic or arctic and is home to part of the Inuit nation. The main hydro-electric projects are found on the La Grande Rivière, in the James Bay region. 10 Largest Municipalities by population

History

Discovery and exploration

The name Quebec, which comes from an Algonquin word meaning "strait" or "narrowing", originally meant the narrowing of the St. Lawrence River off what is currently Quebec City. hydro-electric The first European explorer of what is now Quebec was Jacques Cartier, who planted a cross either in the Gaspé in 1534 or at Old Fort Bay on the Lower North Shore and sailed into the St. Lawrence River in 1535.

New France

Quebec City was founded near the site of Stadacona, a village populated by Iroquoians when Jacques Cartier explored Canada. However, the village had disappeared by the time Samuel de Champlain established the Habitation de Quebec in 1608. After 1627, King Louis XIII of France introduced the seigneurial system and forbade settlement in New France by anyone other than Roman Catholics. New France became a royal province in 1663 under King Louis XIV of France and the intendant Jean Talon. The fur trade lasted about 200 years before other trades took over. The Natives traded their furs for many French goods such as metal objects, guns, alcohol, and clothing.

Change of colonial powers

Great Britain acquired Canada by the Treaty of Paris (1763) when King Louis XV of France and his advisers chose to keep the territory of Guadeloupe for its valuable sugar crops instead of New France, which was viewed as a vast, frozen wasteland of little importance to the French colonial empire. By the British Royal Proclamation of 1763, Canada (part of New France) was renamed the Province of Quebec. Fearful that the French-speaking population of Quebec would side with the rebels of the 13 other colonies to the south, in 1774, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act that paved the way to official recognition of the French language and French culture. The Act allowed Quebecers, or Canadiens as they were then known, to maintain the French civil law and sanctioned the freedom of religious choice, allowing the Roman Catholic Church to remain. Quebec retained its seigneurial system and civil law code after France's giving of the territory to England. Owing to an influx of Loyalist refugees from the Amercian Revolutionary War, the Constitutional Act of 1791 saw the colony divided in two at the Ottawa River; the western part became Upper Canada and changed to the British legal system. The eastern part became Lower Canada.

The Patriotes Rebellion in Lower Canada

Like their counterparts in Upper Canada, in 1837, English and French speaking residents of Lower Canada, led by Louis-Joseph Papineau and Robert Nelson, formed an armed resistance group to seek an end to British colonial rule. Their actions resulted in the Lower Canada Rebellion. An unprepared British Army had to raise a local militia force and the rebel forces were soon defeated after having scored a victory in Saint-Denis, Quebec, south of Montreal.

Act of Union

After the rebellions, Lord Durham was asked to undertake a study and prepare a report on the matter and to offer a solution for the British Parliament to assess. Following Durham's Report, the British government merged the two colonial provinces into one Province of Canada in 1841. However, the union proved contentious.

Canadian Confederation

In the 1860s, the delegates from the colonies of British North America (Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland) met in a series of conferences in Charlottetown, Quebec City and London to discuss a broader union. As a result of those deliberations, in 1867 the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the British North America Act, providing for the Confederation of most of these provinces. The former Province of Canada was again divided into its two previous parts as the provinces of Ontario (Upper Canada) and Quebec (Lower Canada). New Brunswick and Nova Scotia joined Ontario and Quebec in the new Dominion of Canada (Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland entered Confederation later, in 1873 and 1949, respectively).

The "Quiet Revolution"

Main article: Quiet Revolution The conservative government of Maurice Duplessis and his Union Nationale dominated Quebec politics from 1944 to 1960 with the support of the Catholic church. Pierre Trudeau and other intellectuals and liberals formed an intellectual opposition to Duplessis' repressive regime setting the groundwork for the Quiet Revolution under Jean Lesage's Liberals. The Quiet Revolution was a period of dramatic social and political change that saw the decline of the Roman Catholic Church's influence, the nationalization of Hydro-Québec and the emergence of a separatist movement under former Liberal minister René Lévesque. René Lévesque, is "Je me souviens", French for "I remember".]] Beginning in 1963, a terrorist group that became known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices and at least two murders by FLQ gunfire and three violent deaths by bombings. Their activities culminated in events referred to as the October Crisis [http://www.mcgill.ca/maritimelaw/history/crisis/] when James Cross, the British trade commissioner to Canada, was kidnapped along with Pierre Laporte, a provincial minister and Vice-Premier, who was murdered a few days later. In their published Manifesto, the terrorists stated: "In the coming year Bourassa (Quebec Premier) will have to face reality; 100,000 revolutionary workers, armed and organized." At the request of premier Robert Bourassa, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act. Once the War Measures Act was in place, arrangements were made for all detainees to see legal counsel. In addition, the Quebec Ombudsman [http://www.protecteurducitoyen.qc.ca/en/index.asp], Louis Marceau, was instructed to hear complaints of detainees and the Quebec government agreed to pay damages to any person unjustly arrested. On February 3, 1971, John Turner, the Minister of Justice of Canada, reported that 497 persons had been arrested under the War Measures Act, of whom 435 had been released. The other 62 were charged, of which 32 were crimes of such seriousness that a Quebec Superior Court judge refused them bail. A federal government inquiry later revealed that some Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) agents infiltrated the group to gain evidence of the group's willingness to commit terrorist acts. In 1977, the newly elected Parti Québécois government of René Lévesque introduced the Charter of the French Language. Often known as Bill 101, it defined French as the only official language of Quebec.

Quebec and the Canadian Constitution

Lévesque and his party had run in the 1970 and 1973 Quebec elections under a platform of separating Quebec from the rest of Canada. His party was defeated both times, with 23% and 30% of the vote respectively, and Lévesque himself was defeated in his own riding (electoral district). In the 1976 election, he softened his message by promising a referendum (plebiscite) on sovereignty-association rather than outright separation, by which Quebec would have independence in most government functions but share some other ones, such as a common currency, with Canada. Though many Quebecers, especially English-speaking Quebecers, viewed sovereignty-association as thinly-veiled separation, Lévesque and the Parti Québécois were swept into power with 41% of the popular vote on November 15, 1976. The question of sovereignty-association was placed before the voters in the 1980 Quebec referendum. During the campaign, Pierre Trudeau promised that a vote for the NO side was a vote for reforming Canada. Trudeau advocated the patriation of Canada's Constitution from the United Kingdom, as the existing constitutional document, the British North America Act, could only be amended by the United Kingdom Parliament. Sixty percent of the Quebec electorate voted against the proposition. Polls showed that the ovewhelming majority of English Quebecers voted against, and that French Quebecers were almost equally divided, with older voters less in favor, and younger voters more in favor. After his loss in the referendum, Lévesque went back to Ottawa to start negotiating a new constitution with Trudeau, his minister of Justice Jean Chrétien and the nine other provincial premiers. The negotiations quickly reached a stand-still. Then on the night on November 4 to November 5 1981, called in Quebec the 'Night of the Long Knives' (La Nuit des Longs Couteaux'), Jean Chrétien met all the provincial premiers except René Lévesque to sign the document that would eventually become the new Canadian constitution. The next morning, they put Lévesque in front of the "fait accompli." Lévesque refused to sign the document, and returned to Quebec. In 1982, Trudeau had the new constitution approved by the British Parliament, with Quebec's signature still missing (a situation that persists to this day). In subsequent years, two attempts were made to gain Quebec's approval of the constitution. The first was the Meech Lake Accord of 1987, which was finally abandoned in 1990 when the provinces of Manitoba and Newfoundland refused to support it. This led to the formation of the Bloc Québécois party in Ottawa under the leadership of Lucien Bouchard, who had resigned from the federal cabinet. The second attempt, the Charlottetown Accord of 1992, was rejected by 56.7% of all Canadians and 57% of Quebecers. This result caused a split in the Quebec Liberal Party that led to the formation of the new Action Démocratique (Democratic Action) party led by Mario Dumont and Jean Allaire. On October 30, 1995, with the Parti Québécois back in power since 1994, a second referendum on sovereignty took place. This time, it was rejected by a slim majority (50.6% NO to 49.4% YES); a clear majority of French-speaking Quebecers voted in favour of sovereignty. The referendum was tainted by several controversies. Federalists complained that an unusually high number of ballots had been rejected in pro-federalist ridings, notably in the riding of Chomedey, although Quebec's chief electoral officer found no evidence of fraud. The pro-federalist side was accused of not respecting the Quebec laws with regards to spending limits during referendums (spending three times as much as the separtist side), and to have accelerated the naturalization of immigrant people living in the province of Québec (43,850 immigrants were naturalized during 1995, whereas the average number between 1988 and 1998 was 21,733). The same night of the referendum, Jacques Parizeau, then premier, declared that the loss was due to money and the ethnic vote. A media frenzy around these comments forced Parizeau to resign. Lucien Bouchard became Quebec's new premier in 1996. After winning the next election, Bouchard retired from politics in 2001. Bernard Landry was then appointed leader of the Parti Québécois and premier of Quebec. In 2003, Landry lost the election to the Quebec Liberal Party and Jean Charest. Jean Charest

Politics

The Lieutenant Governor represents Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. The head of government is the Premier (called premier ministre in French) who leads the largest party in the unicameral National Assembly or Assemblée Nationale, from which the Council of Ministers is appointed. Until 1968, the Quebec legislature was bicameral, consisting of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. In that year the Legislative Council was abolished, and the Legislative Assembly was renamed the National Assembly. Quebec was the last province to abolish its legislative council. The government of Quebec awards an order of merit called the National Order of Quebec. It is inspired in part by the French Legion of Honour. It is conferred upon men and women born or living in Quebec (but non-Quebecers can be inducted as well) for outstanding achievements.

Economy

The St. Lawrence River Valley is a fertile agricultural region, producing dairy products, fruit, vegetables, maple syrup (Quebec is the world's largest producer), and livestock. North of the St. Lawrence River Valley, the territory of Quebec is extremely rich in resources in its coniferous forests, lakes, and rivers—pulp and paper, lumber, and hydroelectricity are still some of the province's most important industries. High-tech industries are very important around Montreal. It includes the aerospace companies like jet manufacturer Bombardier, the jet engine company Pratt & Whitney, the flight simulator builder CAE and defense contractor