SortStack #2186 — 2032-06-03

By year · Order from earliest to most recent.

1. Rome is founded, according to legend, by Romulus 753 BCE

   Romans dated their entire calendar 'ab urbe condita' — from the founding of the city — and the legend says Romulus killed his twin brother Remus over the city walls.

2. The Black Death arrives in Europe aboard Genoese trading ships 1347

   Within five years it killed somewhere between a third and half of Europe's population — the deadliest pandemic in recorded human history.

3. Napoleon is finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo 1815

   Overnight rain delayed the French attack, buying time for Prussian reinforcements. Wellington called it 'the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life.'

4. 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.

5. The Channel Tunnel opens between England and France 1994

   Its undersea section is the longest of any tunnel in the world. British and French digging crews met beneath the seabed and shook hands through the breakthrough hole.

6. Hijacked airliners destroy the Twin Towers in New York 2001

   The attacks grounded all civilian flights over the US for days — the first time in aviation history American skies were essentially emptied.

← All puzzles · Play today’s SortStack