SortStack #2914 — 2034-06-01

By year · Order from earliest to most recent.

1. Copernicus publishes his book putting the Sun at the center of the cosmos 1543

   Legend says a finished copy was placed in his hands on his deathbed. The Catholic Church didn't formally suspend the book until 73 years later.

2. England defeats the Spanish Armada 1588

   Storms did more damage than English guns — far more Spanish ships wrecked on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland than were sunk in battle.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Abraham Lincoln is shot at Ford's Theatre 1865

   General Grant declined an invitation to join Lincoln in the box that night. Booth, a famous actor, knew the play well enough to time his shot to a big laugh line.

6. 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.

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