14 August 1453

A Sunday in history

Weekday

Sunday

Season

Summer (N. Hemisphere)

Century

15th century

Records

302

  1. 2021

    A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck in Haiti, killing at least 2,248 people and causing $1.5 billion in damages and economic loss.

    Source
  2. 2013

    Security forces raided two camps of supporters of the ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo, leading to the deaths of at least 595 civilians.

    Source
  3. 2010

    The inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games opened in Singapore for athletes aged between 14 and 18.

    Source
  4. 2007

    Four coordinated suicide bomb attacks detonated in the Yazidi communities of Qahtaniya and Jazeera, Iraq, killing 796 people and wounding 1,562 others.

    Source
  5. 2005

    Helios Airways Flight 522 crashed into a mountain north of Marathon, Greece, killing all 121 people on board.

    Source
  6. 1975

    The Rocky Horror Picture Show premiered in London, the first in its record-breaking run in cinemas, which continues in limited release.

    Source
  7. 1941

    After a secret meeting in Newfoundland, British prime minister Winston Churchill and U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt (both pictured) issued the Atlantic Charter, establishing a vision for a post–World War II world.

    Source
  8. 1888

    One of the first recordings of music, of Arthur Sullivan's "The Lost Chord", was played at a press conference in London to introduce Thomas Edison's phonograph.

    Source
  9. 1816

    The United Kingdom formally annexed the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, administering the islands from the Cape Colony in South Africa.

    Source
  10. 1720

    The Spanish Villasur expedition, intended to slow the progress of French influence on the Great Plains of North America, ended in failure when it was ambushed (depicted) by Pawnee and Otoe forces.

    Source
  11. 1264

    War of Saint Sabas: A Genoese fleet captured or sank most of the ships of a Venetian trade convoy off the Albanian coast.

    Source

Photo archive

24 historic images from this day — tap to open the gallery.

What was life like?

Prices, jobs, food, music and everyday routine — the world as it felt to live in.

Sources & fact check

Every claim is traced to primary sources, archives, universities and the press — with an explicit confidence rating. Dossiers are generated once and cached permanently.