This day in history. Read about what happened today. A short and interesting account of historical events and facts about this day as well as any other day of the year. Find historical birthdays, deaths, tragedies, war events, disasters and sports events.

This year in history
In the year 1839

	January 19th	French painter, Paul Cezanne, was born in Aix-en-Provence, France. He is considered as one of the most important post-Impressionism painter and considered by many as the father of Cubism.
	March 23th	First ever recorded use of the abbreviation, OK, was printed in the Boston Morning Post newspaper.
	April 19th	In accordance with the terms of the 'Treaty of London', Belgium was established as a kingdom.
	July 8th	American businessman, John D. Rockefeller, was born in Richford, New York. He was one of the founders of Standard Oil, one of the largest and most profitable companies in history. He is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest American industrialists as well as one of the greatest philanthropists. It is estimated that by the time of his death in 1937, he had donated more than 500 million dollars to a multitude of charities.
	August 26th	The ship Amistad was captured off the coast of Long Island. The ship became a symbol in the movement to abolish slavery, after a group of African captives aboard revolted, and were subsequently recaptured, resulting in a legal battle over their status.
	November 17th	Giuseppe Verdi's first opera, Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio premiered in Milan.
	November 25th	A severe cyclone hit the city of Coringa in India producing huge waves which laid waste to the city. The port city was never rebuilt to the state it was prior to the disaster, which claimed the lives of over 300,000 people.

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