On this Day, in 1421: Jan Žižka defeated the imperial forces at the Battle of Kutná Hora
On December 21, 1421, thanks to what some historians believe to be the first mobile artillery manoeuver in history, HussiteContinue Reading
Tag: On this Day
On this Day, in 1893: Dvorak’s New World Symphony premiered in New York
On December 16, 1893, Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s most celebrated and popular piece, the Symphony 9 – more commonly knownContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1808: Napoleon’s Polish cavalry led the legendary Charge of Somosierra
On November 30, 1808, 125 Polish “chevaux-légers” serving in Napoleon’s army famously hurled themselves through the fog at the BattleContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1921: Leoš Janáček’s opera Katya Kabanova premiered in Brno
On November 23, 1921, the opera Katya Kabanova by acclaimed Czech composer Leoš Janáček was first performed in Brno, Czechoslovakia.Continue Reading
On this Day, in 1335: the Kings of Bohemia, Poland and Hungary held a historic meeting in Visegrád
On November 19, 1335, in the most important diplomatic event in Central Europe of the 14th century, Casmir III ofContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1806: Jan Henryk Dąbrowski led an uprising against Prussian occupation
On November 3, 1806, leading the first units of the French army, Polish General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski entered Poznań andContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1938: the First Vienna Award forced Czechoslovakia to surrender territory to Hungary
On November 2, 1938, orchestrated by the foreign ministers of Germany, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and of Italy, Galeazzo Ciano, theContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1956: the Hungarian Revolution toppled the Communist regime
On October 23, 1956, a peaceful student demonstration against the Communist regime in Budapest escalated into a full-scale revolution, whichContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1552: István Dobó repelled the Ottoman forces at the Siege of Eger
On October 18, 1552, after 39 days of bloody, brutal, and heroic fighting on the walls of Eger, captain IstvánContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1944: Ferenc Szálasi and the Arrow Cross Party took power in Hungary
On October 15, 1944, Adolf Hitler launched Operation Panzerfaust and forced the regent of the Kingdom of Hungary Miklós Horthy to abdicate inContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1943: Jewish prisoners led a successful uprising at the Sobibór death camp
On October 14, 1943, an uprising was instigated by a small group of Jewish prisoners at the extermination camp atContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1883: the Orient Express made its first stopover in Budapest
On October 7, 1883, three days after departing from Paris on its inaugural journey to Constantinople, the Orient Express madeContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1849: the “Thirteen Martyrs of Arad” were executed by Habsburg forces
On October 6, 1849, known as the “Thirteen Martyrs of Arad”, thirteen Hungarian rebel generals were executed by Austrian forcesContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1944: the last resistance fighters of the Warsaw Uprising surrendered
On October 2, 1944, after two months of heavy fighting during which the Polish capital was almost entirely destroyed, theContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1608: the first Polish settlers arrived in America
On October 1, 1608, twelve years before the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, the first Polish settlers arrived at Jamestown aboardContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1938: the “Munich Betrayal” sanctioned Germany’s annexation of the Sudetenland
On September 30, 1938, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy signed the Munich Agreement, which sanctioned Adolf Hitler’s annexationContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1848: the Hungarian Revolutionary forces repelled the invading Austro-Croatian army
On September 29, 1848, the newly formed Hungarian Revolutionary Army, the Honvéd, repelled the invading Austro-Croatian forces at the pivotalContinue Reading
On this Day, in 935: “Good King Wenceslas” was murdered
On September 28, 935, Duke Wenceslas of Bohemia was stabbed to death by a group of nobles allied to hisContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1940: Polish resistance hero Witold Pilecki was voluntarily sent to Auschwitz
On September 19, 1940, Polish resistance hero Witold Pilecki was voluntarily captured and sent to Auschwitz to gather intelligence fromContinue Reading
On this Day, in 1914: Russian forces began laying siege to the fortress-city of Przemyśl
On September 16, 1914, after invading the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia, Russian forces began laying siege to the fortress-city ofContinue Reading