1786: The first successful ascent of the highest mountain in the Alps and western Europe, Mont Blanc. Sadly, both climbers forgot to bring their Alphorns.
1100: Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey. This particular Henry was not significant enough for Shakespeare, and conveniently skipped.
1900: Queen Elizabeth, ‘the Queen Mother’ is born. Not to be confused with Elizabeth II, who will most likely live forever.
By Allan warren (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
1610: Explorer Henry Hudson enters the bay later named after him, the Hudson Bay. Since his crew mutinied and left him for dead, an apology card was also in order. It’s in a bottle, floating out there somewhere. Sorry Hud!
By Neemster (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
1774: Oxygen is ‘discovered’ by Britain’s Sir Joseph Priestly, and given a symbol (O), though most refer to it as “the substance formerly known as air.”
By penner (http://flickr.com/photos/penner/2450784866) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
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