On This Day
474 BC – Roman consul Aulus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years truce.[1]
The Roman–Etruscan Wars,[1] also known as the Etruscan Wars[2][3] or the Etruscan–Roman Wars,[4] were a series of wars fought between ancient Rome (in both the regal and the republican periods) and the Etruscans. Information about many of the wars is limited, particularly those in the early parts of Rome’s history, and in large part is known from ancient texts alone. The conquest of Etruria was completed in 265–264 BC.[5]
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1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse to recant are burnt to death after the Fall of Montségur.[2]
The siege of Montségur (May 1243 – 16 March 1244) was a siege that took place during the Albigensian Crusade. It pitted the royal forces of Louis IX of France and those of the bishops of Albi and Narbonne against the forces of Pierre Roger de Mirepoix, who protected a community of Cathars in Montségur.
45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
The Battle of Munda (17 March 45 BC), in southern Hispania Ulterior, was the final battle of Caesar’s civil war against the leaders of the Optimates.[1] With the military victory at Munda and the deaths of Titus Labienus and Gnaeus Pompeius (eldest son of Pompey), Caesar was politically able to return in triumph to Rome, and then govern as the elected Roman dictator. Subsequently, the assassination of Julius Caesar furthered the long Republican decline that led to the Roman Empire, initiated with the reign of the emperor Augustus.
1241 – First Mongol invasion of Poland: Mongols overwhelm Polish armies in Kraków in the Battle of Chmielnik and plunder the city.
The Battle of Chmielnik occurred on 18 March 1241 during the Mongol invasion of Poland. It ended in the defeat of the Polish armies of Sandomierz and Kraków provinces. The Mongols were able to move unimpeded, and plunder the abandoned city of Kraków.
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1687 – Explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle, searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River, is murdered by his own men.
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (/ləˈsæl/; November 22, 1643 – March 19, 1687), was a 17th-century French explorer and fur trader in North America. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, and the Mississippi River. He is best known for an early 1682 expedition in which he canoed the lower Mississippi River from the mouth of the Illinois River to the Gulf of Mexico; there, on April 9, 1682, he claimed the Mississippi River basin for France after giving it the name La Louisiane, in honor of Saint Louis and Louis XIV. One source states that “he acquired for France the most fertile half of the North American continent”.[1][2] A later, ill-fated expedition in 1687 to the Gulf coast of Mexico (today the U.S. state of Texas) gave the United States a putative claim to Texas in the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803; La Salle was assassinated during that expedition.
1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
Michael IV Autoreianos Ancient Greek: Μιχαὴλ Αὐτωρειανός; died 26 August 1212) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1208[1] to his death in 1212.
1180 – Emperor Antoku accedes to the throne of Japan.
Emperor Antoku (安徳天皇, Antoku-tennō, 22 December 1178 – 25 April 1185) was the 81st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1180 through 1185.[1] His death marked the end of the Heian period and the beginning of the Kamakura period.
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871 – Æthelred of Wessex is defeated by a Danish invasion army at the Battle of Marton.[2]
The Battle of Meretun (or Merton) between a West Saxon army led by King Æthelred and his brother, the future King Alfred the Great, and a Viking army took place on 22 March 871 at an unknown location in Wessex, probably in one of the modern counties of Dorset, Hampshire, or Wiltshire.
1400 – The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.
The Trần dynasty,[a] (Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳), officially Đại Việt ( Chữ Hán: 大越), was a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled from 1225 to 1400. The dynasty was founded when emperor Trần Thái Tông ascended to the throne after his uncle Trần Thủ Độ orchestrated the overthrow of the Lý dynasty. The Trần dynasty defeated three Mongol invasions, most notably during the decisive Battle of Bạch Đằng River in 1288.[6] The final emperor of the dynasty was Thiếu Đế, who was forced to abdicate the throne in 1400, at the age of five years old in favor of his maternal grandfather, Hồ Quý Ly.
1603 – Tokugawa Ieyasu is granted the title of shōgun from Emperor Go-Yōzei, and establishes the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo, Japan.[8][9]
The Tokugawa shogunate,[a] also known as the Edo shogunate,[b] was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868.[18][19][20]
The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars of the Sengoku period following the collapse of the Ashikaga shogunate. Ieyasu became the shōgun, and the Tokugawa clan governed Japan from Edo Castle in the eastern city of Edo (Tokyo) along with the daimyō lords of the samurai class.[21][22][19]
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421 – Italian city Venice is founded with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo di Rialto on the islet of Rialto.[4]
Venice (/ˈvɛnɪs/ VEN-iss; Italian: Venezia [veˈnɛt͡sja] ⓘ; Venetian: Venesia [veˈnɛsja], formerly Venexia [veˈnɛzja]) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by 438 bridges.[3] The islands are in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay lying between the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers (more exactly between the Brenta and the Sile). In 2020, about 258,685 people resided in greater Venice or the Comune di Venezia, of whom about 51,000 live in the historical island city of Venice (centro storico) and the rest on the mainland (terraferma). Together with the cities of Padua and Treviso, Venice is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE), which is considered a statistical metropolitan area, with a total population of 2.6 million.[4]
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1244 – The crown of Aragon and the crown of Castile agree in the Treaty of Almizra on the limits of their respective expansion into al-Andalus.[3]
The Treaty of Almizra (or Treaty of Almiçra) was the third of a series of three treaties between the Crown of Aragon and Crown of Castile meant to determine the limits of their expansion into Andalusia so as to prevent squabbling between the Christian princes. Specifically, it defined the borders of the Kingdom of Valencia. James I of Aragon signed it on 26 March 1244, but Alfonso X of Castile did not affirm it until much later. According to the treaty, all lands south of a line from Biar to Villajoyosa through Busot were reserved for Castile. This ended most further Aragonese expansion on the Iberian peninsula.[1]
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1809 – Peninsular War: A combined Franco-Polish force defeats the Spanish in the Battle of Ciudad Real.
The Battle of Ciudad Real was fought on 27 March 1809 and resulted in a French victory under General Sebastiani against the Spanish under General Conde de Cartojal.[1][2]
Born On This Day
1516 – Alqas Mirza, Safavid prince (d. 1550)[47]
Abu’l Ghazi Sultan Alqas Mirza (Persian: ابوالقاسم غازی سلطان القاس میرزا), better known as Alqas Mirza (القاس میرزا; 15 March 1516 – 9 April 1550), was a Safavid prince and the second surviving son of king (shah) Ismail I (r. 1501–1524). In early 1546, with Ottoman help, he staged a revolt against his brother Tahmasp I (r. 1524–1576), who was king at the time.
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1465 – Kunigunde of Austria, Duchess of Bavaria (d. 1520)[42]
Kunigunde of Austria (16 March 1465 – 6 August 1520), a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duchess of Bavaria from 1487 to 1508 by her marriage to the Wittelsbach duke Albert IV.
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1473 – James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)[13]
James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchieburn, following a rebellion in which the younger James was the figurehead of the rebels. James IV is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland. He was responsible for a major expansion of the Scottish royal navy, which included the founding of two royal dockyards and the acquisition or construction of 38 ships, including the Great Michael, the largest warship of its time.
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1495 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France (d. 1533)[16]
Mary Tudor (/ˈtjuːdər/ TEW-dər; 18 March 1496 – 25 June 1533) was an English princess who was briefly Queen of France as the third wife of King Louis XII. Louis was more than 30 years her senior. Mary was the fifth child of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the youngest to survive infancy.
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1488 – Johannes Magnus, Swedish archbishop and theologian (d. 1544)
Johannes Magnus (a modified form of Ioannes Magnus, a Latin translation of his birth name Johan Månsson; 19 March 1488 – 22 March 1544) was the last functioning Catholic Archbishop in Sweden, and also a theologian, genealogist, and historian.
1319 – Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke (d. 1348)
Laurence de Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke (20 March 1319 – 20 August 1348) was an English nobleman and held the titles 1st Earl of Pembroke (4th creation), Baron Abergavenny and Baron Hastings under Edward II of England and Edward III of England.
1527 – Hermann Finck, German composer and educator (d. 1558)
Hermann Finck (21 March 1527 – 28 December 1558) was a German music theorist, composer and organist.
1367 – Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, English politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (probable;[46] d. 1399)
Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, KG (22 March 1366 – 22 September 1399) was an English peer. His family was a venerable one, and by the time Thomas reached adulthood, they were extremely influential in national politics. He claimed a direct bloodline from King Edward I. His father died when Thomas and his elder brother were young. John soon died, and Thomas inherited the Earldom of Nottingham. He had probably been friends with the king, Richard II, since he was young, and as a result, he was a royal favourite, a role he greatly profited from. He accompanied Richard on his travels around the kingdom and was elected to the Order of the Garter. Richard’s lavish dispersal of his patronage made him unpopular with parliament and other members of the English nobility, and Mowbray fell out badly with the king’s uncle, John of Gaunt.
1514 – Lorenzino de’ Medici, Italian writer and assassin (d. 1548)
Lorenzino de’ Medici (22 March 1514 – 26 February 1548),[1] also known as Lorenzaccio, was an Italian politician, writer, and dramatist, and a member of the Medici family. He became famous for assassinating his cousin, Alessandro de’ Medici, Duke of Florence in 1537. He was in turn murdered in 1548 in retaliation for his deed.[2]
1494 – Georgius Agricola, German mineralogist and scholar (d. 1555)[93]
Georgius Agricola (/əˈɡrɪkələ/; born Georg Bauer; 24 March 1494 – 21 November 1555) was a German Humanist scholar, mineralogist and metallurgist. Born in the small town of Glauchau, in the Electorate of Saxony of the Holy Roman Empire, he was broadly educated, but took a particular interest in the mining and refining of metals. He was the first to drop the Arabic definite article al-, exclusively writing chymia and chymista in describing activity that we today would characterize as chemical or alchemical, giving chemistry its modern name.[1][2][3] For his groundbreaking work De Natura Fossilium published in 1546, he is generally referred to as the father of mineralogy and the founder of geology as a scientific discipline.[2][3]
1297 – Andronikos III Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1341)
Andronikos III Palaiologos (Medieval Greek: Ἀνδρόνικος Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνός Παλαιολόγος, romanized: Andrónikos Doúkās Ángelos Komnēnós Palaiológos; 25 March 1297 – 15 June 1341), commonly Latinized as Andronicus III Palaeologus, was the Byzantine emperor from 1328 to 1341.[1] He was the son of Michael IX Palaiologos and Rita of Armenia. He was proclaimed co-emperor in his youth, before 1313, and in April 1321 he rebelled against his grandfather, Andronikos II Palaiologos. He was formally crowned co-emperor in February 1325, before ousting his grandfather outright and becoming sole emperor on 24 May 1328.
1634 – Domenico Freschi, Italian priest and composer (d. 1710)
Giovanni Domenico Freschi (26 March 1634 – 2 July 1710) was an Italian composer and Roman Catholic priest. From the age of 22 until his death he worked as a church musician and composer in Vincenza. He was also active as an opera composer from 1671 to 1685.
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1546 – Johannes Piscator, German theologian (d. 1625)
Johannes Piscator (/pɪˈskeɪtər, ˈpɪskə-/; German: Johannes Fischer; 27 March 1546 – 26 July 1625) was a German Reformed theologian, known as a Bible translator and textbook writer.
He was a prolific writer, and initially moved around as he held a number of positions. Some scholarly confusion as to whether there was more than one person of the name was addressed in a paper by Walter Ong.[1][2][3]
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FYI
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
EarthSky News
This Day in Tech History
This Day In History
Interesting Facts
Word Genius: Word of the Day
Wise Trivia
James Clear: 3-2-1: How to help someone, the value of bad luck, and rewarding competence
James Clear: 3-2-1: On the surprising path to success, the value of downtime, and how parenting changes you
Child Sexual Abuse Triggers
Cleared Hot Podcast: Episode 378 – Nick Middaugh
Ideas
Wooden Projects: Gigantic Sunbed With Mosquito Net and Sun Curtains
By Makerneer: Oven Rack Push/Pull Stick + Herb Stripper + Kitchen Measurements = 3 Tools in One!
By Workshop Edits: Building a Tiny Backyard Office
By Designs by Donnice: Felting Wool Animal Ear Hats (Using Resist Wet Felting Technique)
By Cybercraftics: Laser Harp
Recipes
By In The Kitchen With Matt: How to Make Butter in a Food Processor
By curlmoohi: Strawberry Lava-Filled Chocolate Crinkle Cookies in Pressure Cooker
Just the Recipe: Paste the URL to any recipe, click submit, and it’ll return literally JUST the recipe- no ads, no life story of the writer, no nothing EXCEPT the recipe.
DamnDelicious
RecipeTinEats
- Easy Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Beef June 16, 2026Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Beef is what you make when you want a big batch of crowd-pleasing food with relatively little effort. The succulent pulled beef is smothered in an incredible homemade barbecue sauce, and there’s so many ways to serve it – pile into sliders, heap onto plates or stuff into baked potatoes! Easy... […]Nagi
- Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel June 12, 2026Firstly, thank you for the Jaffle love. 🥰 Hit the Jaffle button above to see what he got up to today! Secondly – cake. Specifically, Coffee Cake! A classic crumb cake with a jammy cinnamon ribbon, loaded with lots and lots of nubbly, extra crunchy cinnamon streusel. Outrageously good. Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel This... […]Nagi
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 18 June 18, 2026Picture of the day Red-headed weaver (Anaplectes rubriceps leuconotus) male building nest in the Soysambu Conservancy, Kenya.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 17 June 17, 2026Picture of the day Lt. Col. Nick Rutgers preparing his F-15 Eagle for flight
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Welcome to the Stump the Bookseller blog!
Stump the Bookseller is a service offered by Loganberry Books to reconnect people to the books they love but can’t quite remember. In brief (for more detailed information see our About page), people can post their memories here, and the hivemind goes to work. After all, the collective mind of bibliophiles, readers, parents and librarians around the world is much better than just a few of us thinking. Together with these wonderful Stumper Magicians, we have a nearly 50% success rate in finding these long lost but treasured books. The more concrete the book description, the better the success rate, of course. It is a labor of love to keep it going, and there is a modest fee. Please see the How To page to find price information and details on how to submit your Book Stumper and payment.
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