On 30 November 1786 Leopold formally abolished the death sentence as well as banning the use of torture.
20th July 1807: The world’s first internal combustion engine is patented in France
20th July 2019
At 12.15pm on the afternoon of the 16th October 1793, Marie Antoinette was executed by guillotine in the Place de la Revolution in Paris.
American outlaw Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
Dr James Hiram Bedford became the first human to be cryonically preserved.
World-renowned escapologist Harry Houdini performed his final show in Detroit while suffering from appendicitis.
The body of actress Peg Entwistle was found in a ravine below the Hollywoodland sign in Los Angeles.
South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko died in Pretoria prison from injuries inflicted while in police custody.
The death of Mumtaz Mahal, the chief consort of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, prompted her husband to construct the Taj Mahal.
24th January 41 CE: Emperor Caligula killed by the Praetorian Guard
24th January 2020
22nd January 1905: Bloody Sunday massacre in Saint Petersburg
22nd January 2020
11th November 1918: WW1 Armistice of Compiègne is signed
11th November 2018
1st September 1939: Nazi Germany invades Poland
1st September 2018