SortStack #3082 — 2034-11-16
By year · Order from earliest to most recent.
- The Code of Hammurabi is inscribed on a stone pillar in Babylon 1754 BCE
Its 282 laws include the famous 'eye for an eye' principle. The original basalt stele survives and stands in the Louvre in Paris.
- Leonardo da Vinci begins painting the Mona Lisa 1503
It was a minor celebrity until 1911, when an Italian handyman stole it from the Louvre — the theft, and the two-year hunt, made it the most famous painting on Earth.
- 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.
- The Taj Mahal is completed in Agra 1653
Emperor Shah Jahan built it as a tomb for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, employing some 20,000 workers — and was later imprisoned by his own son within sight of it.
- The American colonies declare independence from Britain 1776
Most delegates didn't sign the Declaration until August. John Adams predicted Americans would forever celebrate the second of July.
- President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas 1963
Abraham Zapruder's 26-second home movie of the motorcade became one of the most studied pieces of film ever shot.