This Day in History
Today: January 4, 2026
-46
Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina.[1]
871
Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army.[2]
1642
English Civil War: King Charles I, accompanied by 400 soldiers, attempts to arrest five members of Parliament for treason, only to discover the men had been tipped off and fled.[3]
1649
English Civil War: The Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial.[4]
1717
The Netherlands, Great Britain, and France sign the Triple Alliance.[5]
1762
Great Britain declares war on Spain, which meant the entry of Spain into the Seven Years' War.[6]
1798
Constantine Hangerli arrives in Bucharest, Wallachia, as its new Prince, invested by the Ottoman Empire.[7]
1844
The first issue of the Swedish-languaged Saima newspaper founded by J. V. Snellman is published in Kuopio, Finland.[8][9]
1853
After having been kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American South, Solomon Northup regains his freedom; his memoir Twelve Years a Slave later becomes a national bestseller.[10]
1854
The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.[11]
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