Events:
1412 – The Medici Bank of Florence, Italy, becomes the official bankers of the Pope. The Medici’s would go one to be one of the richest and most influential familes in Europe.

1492 – Queen Isabella I of Castile is presented with the first official written grammar of the Spanish language. She asked the writer, Elio Antonio de Nebrijia why it was useful, and his response was that “Language is the instrument of an Empire.”

1547 – A 16 year old Ivan IV of Russia is crowned in Moscow. He was the first Russian ruler to be crowned as “Tsar of all the Russias”. He would rule until his death at age 53, but is known by his nickname, Ivan the Terrible to history.

1556 – Holy Roman Emperor Charles V formally abdicates the crown of Spain, in favour of his son, Phillip II. Phillip would rule until his death in 1598 and be famous for launching the failed Spanish Armada invasion of England.

1707 – The Scottish Parliament passes the Union with England Act, which propses the two countries fuse into one, and become what we know as the United Kingdom of Great Britain today. The English Parliament had already passed a similiar measure. The two countries had already been united under one monarch since 1603.

1979 – The Shah of Iran, flees the country with his family following the Iranian Revolution. He would start in Egpyt but live in several other countries until his death in 1980.

Birthdays:
1245 – Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster and Leicester is born in London as a son of Henry III and Queen Eleanor. He would spend time on the Ninth Crusade with his brother, the future Edward I. The House of Lancaster, which later became a player in the War of the Roses, is descended from him.

1409 – Rene I, King of Naples and Count of Anjou is born in France. He came to his titles at a young age, but became a political force later during the Hundred Years War. His daughter, Margaret, would marry Henry VI of England, and was a formidable woman in her own right, known as one of the “She-Wolves of France”.

1836 – Francis II of the Two Sicilies is born in Naples to King Ferdinand II and Queen Maria Christina. He would only rule for two years, 1859-1861, until he was deposed during the Wars of Italian Unification, when his kingdom was merged with the Kingdom of Sardinia.

1952 – In not-so-dead royalty, the future King Fuad II of Egypt is born today and would become King in July of the same year after his father’s abdication. However he would be overthrown a year later and would be sent to live in Switzerland in exile, where he still resides today.

Deaths:
1942 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert dies at age 91 in England. He had served in the British Army for over 40 years actively, and spent time as Governor-General of Canada. He is the longest living male of the British Royal Family and tied with his sister to be the oldest of Victoria’s children.

Have an awesome day!!