SortStack #1108 — 2029-06-21

By year · Order from earliest to most recent.

1. Temujin unites the Mongol tribes and takes the name Genghis Khan 1206

   His empire became the largest contiguous land empire in history, and genetic studies suggest millions of men today descend from his male line.

2. King John seals the Magna Carta at Runnymede 1215

   John never intended to honor it — the Pope annulled the charter within ten weeks — yet it became a foundation stone of constitutional law anyway.

3. Christopher Columbus makes landfall in the Americas 1492

   Columbus never set foot on the North American mainland and insisted until his death that he had reached the edge of Asia.

4. The Penny Black, the world's first postage stamp, goes on sale 1840

   It bore Queen Victoria's profile and no country name — and because Britain invented the stamp, British stamps still omit the country's name today.

5. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay become the first to summit Everest 1953

   News of the climb reached London on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation — billed by the press as a double celebration.

6. Richard Nixon becomes the first US president to resign 1974

   A month after he left office, his successor Gerald Ford granted him a full pardon — a decision many believe cost Ford the next election.

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