On today's date in 1069: Robert de Comines, appointed Earl of Northumbria by William the Conqueror, rides into Durham, England, where he is defeated and killed by rebels. This incident leads to the Harrying of the North. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 945: The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1776: American Revolutionary War: Henry Knox's "noble train of artillery" arrives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1841: Commodore Gordon Bremer took formal possession of Hong Kong Island for the United Kingdom at Possession Point. 
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On today's date in 1792: Thomas Hardy founded the London Corresponding Society to seek a "radical reform of parliament", later influencing the reform movements of early-19th-century England. 
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On today's date in 1817: Crossing of the Andes: Many soldiers of Juan Gregorio de las Heras are captured during the action of Picheuta. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 971: Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1579: The Union of Utrecht forms a Protestant republic in the Netherlands. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 871: Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vikings at Basing. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1523: Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1520: Sten Sture the Younger, the Regent of Sweden, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Bogesund and dies on February 3. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1958: Willie O'Ree of the Boston Bruins played his first game in the National Hockey League, becoming the first black Canadian to compete in the NHL. 
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On today's date in 1377: Gregory XI, the last Avignon pope, entered Rome after a four-month journey from Avignon, returning the papacy to its original city. 
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On today's date in -27: Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1818: A paper by David Brewster is read to the Royal Society, belatedly announcing his discovery of what we now call the biaxial class of doubly-refracting crystals. On the same day, Augustin-Jean Fresnel signs a "supplement" (submitted four days later) on reflection of polarized light. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1761: The Third Battle of Panipat is fought in India between the Afghans under Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Marathas. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1842: First Anglo-Afghan War: William Brydon, an assistant surgeon in the British Army, was the sole European of the 14,000 people retreating from Kabul to Jalalabad who evaded capture or death. 
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On today's date in 1866: The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1693: A powerful earthquake destroys parts of Sicily and Malta. #history #grownostr
On today's date in 1966: India and Pakistan signed the Tashkent Declaration to end the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965. 
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On today's date in 1799: British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the Napoleonic Wars. #history #grownostr