This Day In European History
16th January
Events1547: Ivan 'the Terrible' crowned Tsar in Russia.
1556: The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V abdicates from all his titles.
1641: Catalan declared an Independent Republic by 'Spanish' rebels.
1746: Battle of Falkirk; British royal pretender 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' defeats a small British army.
1809: Battle of A Coruna; The British Peninsula army under John Moore successfully escape an attempt to destroy them by the French under Marshal Soult. Moore is killed.
Births
1409: King Rene I of Naples and Sicily.
1587: Gaspar de Guzman y Pimental, Spanish prime minister.
1728: Niccolo Piccinni, Italian composer.
1749: Conte Vittorio, Italian poet.
1853: Andre Michelin, French inventor of pneumatic tyres.
Deaths
1545: Georg Spalatin, German writer.
1554: Christiern Pedersen, Danish writer.
1794: Edward Gibbon, British historian and author of 'The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'.
1806: Nicolas Leblanc, French chemist.
1809: John Moore, British military commander.
