December 5th, 2008

Today in History

1492:
Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic).

1484:
Pope Innocent VIII writes a Papal Bull that sets the inquisition into full swing and leads to the deaths hundreds of thousands of people accused of being witches

1932:
German physicist Albert Einstein granted a visa

1766:
In London, James Christie holds his first sale (he later founded Christie's, the world's oldest auction house).

1934:
Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Ethiopia (it took four days to capture the city).