On This Day
31st July 1498 - On his third voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus "discovered" the island of Trinidad. 1703 - Daniel Defoe was placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel. He had ruthlessly satirised the High Church Tories in a pamphlet, but allegedly, instead of throwing rotten veg and fruit at him, the crowd threw flowers. 1741 – Charles Albert of Bavaria invaded Upper Austria and Bohemia. 1790 – The first U.S. patent was issued to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process. 1792 - Director David Rittenhouse laid the cornerstone in Philadelphia for the U.S. Mint, the first building of the federal government. 1895 – The Basque Nationalist Party (Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea-Partido Nacionalista Vasco) was founded by Basque nationalist leader Sabino Arana. 1913 – The Balkan States signed an armistice at Bucharest. 1919 – The German national assembly adopted the Weimar constitution. 1938 – Bulgaria signed a non-aggression pact with Greece an...