SortStack #1836 — 2031-06-19

By year · Order from earliest to most recent.

1. Galileo points a telescope at the night sky for the first time 1609

   With a telescope magnifying about twenty times, he saw mountains on the Moon and four moons of Jupiter — direct evidence that not everything orbits Earth.

2. Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned Emperor of the French 1804

   At the ceremony in Notre-Dame, Napoleon took the crown from Pope Pius VII and placed it on his own head — a move planned in advance, not an impulsive snub.

3. Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species 1859

   The entire first print run sold out to booksellers on the first day. Darwin had sat on the theory for some twenty years before a rival's letter forced his hand.

4. 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.'

5. Mark Zuckerberg launches Facebook from his Harvard dorm room 2004

   It launched as 'TheFacebook,' restricted to Harvard students. The general public couldn't join for another two years.

6. Fire engulfs Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris 2019

   The spire fell, but the rooftop beehives survived — and the cathedral reopened five years later after a meticulous reconstruction.

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