What Happened On This Day?

On this day, there were a number of significant events that took place all around the world.

15CE – Julius Caesar Germanicus was born on this day. He was a Roman dictator who made reforms to the Roman Empire and was honoured with a divine title. His assassination was highly instrumental to the demise of the Roman Republic. He was also recognised as one of the best authors in Latin prose. His death led to the end of the Roman Empire.

1544 – Born on this day was William Gilbert, a wealthy English Physicist who is also known by many as the father of electrical engineering and magnetism. The term “Magnetic potential” is also known as the Gilbert (G).

1736 – Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, a German physicist, was born. He is behind the temperature scale and is responsible for assigning the number 32 as the melting point of ice, 96 as the temperature of blood and 212 as the steam point.

1738 – The Methodist church kicked off on this day by an Anglican Reverend, John Wesley. It started out as a revival but became a denomination after his death. The church preaches Jesus Christ, salvation, love and faith.

1830 – The song Mary Had A Little Lamb was published in a collection of poems Poems For Our Children. Its author was Sarah Josepha Hale.

1861 – General Benjamin Butler, Union commander of Fort Monroe, announced that slaves will not be contrabands of war. This move was made to render the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act null and void. As a result, no slave was returned to their owner.

2011 – A pipeline belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) exploded at Eko-Ovwore-Amukpe community in Delta State. The explosion left about 20 persons dead.