SortStack #1542 — 2030-08-29

By year · Order from earliest to most recent.

1. The last Western Roman emperor is deposed, ending the empire in the west 476

   The final emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was a teenager. The Germanic general Odoacer didn't execute him — he pensioned him off to a villa.

2. The Prophet Muhammad migrates from Mecca to Medina 622

   This journey, the Hijra, marks year one of the Islamic calendar — which is lunar, so it gains on the solar calendar by about eleven days per year.

3. James Watt patents his improved steam engine 1769

   Watt also coined 'horsepower' as a marketing tool — comparing his engines to the draft horses customers would be replacing. The watt unit is named for him.

4. The world's first public steam railway opens between Stockton and Darlington 1825

   George Stephenson's engine Locomotion No. 1 pulled the opening train. A man on horseback rode ahead waving a flag — the train soon outpaced him.

5. Queen Victoria dies after the longest reign in British history to date 1901

   She reigned for 63 years and her children married into so many royal houses she was called 'the grandmother of Europe.'

6. Queen Elizabeth II dies after seventy years on the throne 2022

   She appointed her fifteenth prime minister, Liz Truss, just two days before her death — having started with Winston Churchill.

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