This Day In European History

28th March

Events
1380: The first recorded use of gunpowder in a European war.
1854: Britain and France declare war on Russia as part of The Crimean War.
1930: Constantinople is renamed Istanbul.
1849: A German National Assembly declares King Wilhelm IV of Prussia as German Emperor; he declines, wanting the princes to declare it instead.
1898: Germany introduces a bill to expand its navy, beginning over a decade of rivalry with Britain.
1942: When British commandos attack St. Nazaire, the only possible Atlantic dock for Nazi battleship Tirpitz, they earn five VC's, Britain's highest award for bravery.

Births
1515: St. Teresa of Ávila, Spanish nun.
1592: Comenius, Bohemian teaching innovator.
1862: Aristide Briand, French prime minister on eleven occasions.
1868: Maksim Gorky, Russian writer.

Deaths
1677: Wenzel Hollar, Bohemian artist.
1881: Modest Mussorgsky, Russian composer.

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