This Day In European History
17th October
Events1346: The Battle of Neville's Cross; England defeats Scotland.
1483: Tomas de Torquemada becomes Inquisitor-General in Spain.
1556: Former Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, having abdicated from his many crowns and titles, retires to a Spanish monastery.
1604: King James I of Britain publishes an anonymous attack on smoking,
1651: Having been defeated at the Battle of Worcester, the future King Charles II of England flees to France.
1797: The Treaty of Campo Formio between France and Austria is signed after Napoleon's victories push Austria into giving up territorial claims.
1854: The Anglo-French siege of Sevastapol begins in the Crimean War.
1860: First professional gold tournament, in Scotland.
1885: The Bessemer steel making process is patented by Briton Henry Bessemer.
Births
1725: John Wilkes, English journalist.
1760: Claude-Henri de Rouvroy, French reformer and co-founder of Christian Socialism.
Deaths
1586: Philip Sidney, English soldier poet.
1673: Thomas Clifford, England statesman.
1705: Ninon de Lenclos, French courtesan.
1740: Empress Anna Ivanovna of Russia.
1760: King George II of Britain.
1849: Frédéric Chopin, Polish composer.
1887: Gustav Kirchhoff, German physicist.
