597 years ago today
Joan of Arc Arrives to Relieve the Siege of Orléans
On April 29, 1429, Joan of Arc — a seventeen-year-old peasant girl from Domrémy who claimed to hear the voices of saints — arrived with a relief army at the besieged city of Orléans, which had been under English blockade for six months. Her arrival electrified the demoralized French garrison and townspeople. Within nine days, the English siege was broken and Orléans was liberated — a decisive turning point in the Hundred Years' War. Joan's military success transformed the political and military situation in France, enabling the coronation of Charles VII at Reims and reinvigorating French national resistance. She was captured by the Burgundians in 1430 and burned at the stake as a heretic in Rouen in 1431 at the age of nineteen. She was canonized as a saint in 1920 and remains the patron saint of France.
Duke Ellington
American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader
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Henri Poincaré
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Hirohito
Emperor of Japan, 1926–1989
Hirohito was the longest-reigning monarch in Japanese history, serving as emperor during both World War II and Japan's postwar transformation into a democratic economic powerhouse. His precise role in the wartime decisions that led to the Pacific conflict remains a subject of historical debate.
Joan of Arc Relieves Siege of Orléans
The teenage warrior-saint Joan of Arc arrives with a relief army to lift the six-month English siege of Orléans, reversing French fortunes in the Hundred Years' War.
James Cook Arrives at Botany Bay, Australia
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Easter Rising Ends — Irish Leaders Surrender
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Dachau Concentration Camp Liberated
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U.S. Forces Invade Cambodia
President Nixon announces that U.S. and South Vietnamese forces have invaded Cambodia to interdict North Vietnamese supply routes along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, sparking massive anti-war protests across American university campuses.
Nixon Releases Edited Watergate Transcripts
President Richard Nixon announces the release of edited transcripts of White House tape recordings relating to the Watergate scandal, hoping to satisfy investigators while protecting key evidence. The tactic fails; impeachment proceedings begin.
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Italian mystic and saint
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