Nathaniel Palmer Discovers Antarctica: First American on the Peninsula
Twenty-one-year-old seal hunter Nathaniel Palmer steered his tiny 47-foot sloop Hero through Antarctic waters and became the first American to sight the Antarctic Peninsula. His discovery opened the region to commercial sealing and whaling fleets, beginning the era of human exploitation that would eventually prompt international treaties to protect the continent.
November 17, 1820
206 years ago
What Else Happened on November 17
Roman soldiers proclaimed Diocletian emperor near Nicomedia, launching a reign that would pull the empire back from the brink of collapse. He split the empire i…
Emperor Leo I elevated his son-in-law Zeno to the rank of co-emperor, attempting to secure the succession of the Eastern Roman Empire. The move backfired when L…
He was seven years old. Leo II ruled the Byzantine Empire for ten months — technically — but his father Zeno handled everything. The boy emperor had crowned Zen…
Emperor Kammu abandoned the sprawling Buddhist monasteries of Nara, relocating the imperial capital to Heian-kyo, modern-day Kyoto. This shift broke the politic…
O imperador japonês Kammu muda de residência de Nara para Quioto.
Frankish magnates strip Emperor Charles the Fat of his throne at Frankfurt, fracturing the Carolingian unity he desperately tried to hold together. His nephew A…
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