This Day In History: October 31st to November 5th
October 31, 1517 - Martin Luther Posts The 95 Theses
Frustrated with issues he saw in the Catholic Church (most notably the idea of indulgences, the process by which one could pay a priest for a supposed get-out-of-Hell pass), Martin Luther wrote a list stating said issues - one that was 95 items long - and nailed it to the door of a local Church in Wittenberg. This action began the Protestant Reformation, in which Christianity would split into Protestantism and Catholicism, eventually leading to the dis-empowerment of the Church following a thirty-year long conflict between the Catholic and the Protestant nations.
(Painting of Martin Luther Posting The 95 Theses, christianfaithinamerica.com)
November 1, 966 - First Written Reference to Austria
On this date, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III issued a deed to Bishop Gottschalk of Freising, in which he used the name, “Ostarrichi”. This name would eventually become, “Osterreich” in German, and “Austria” in English. This reference also marks the beginning of a duchy that would slowly grow to become one of the most powerful nations in Europe, holding sway over much of the continent through its’ royal families’ marriages into the majority of European Kingdoms.
November 2, 1917 - The Balfour Declaration is Proclaimed
The Balfour Declaration came as a response to the Zionist movement among Jewish people that called for the creation of a Jewish state in the Jewish homeland around Jerusalem. To satisfy this movement, the British declared support for a Jewish State in Palestine, an area controlled by the crumbling Ottoman Empire. Unfortunately, this ran counter to the British agreement to the Arabs, in which they promised all of modern-day Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Iraq, Syria, and the Levant would be part of a unified Arabic Kingdom. This, of course, led to absolutely zero long-lasting conflicts in the Middle East.
November 3, 1903 - Panama Separates From Colombia
Until 1903, the modern-day nations of Panama and Colombia had both been part of Colombia. This ended due to a U.S.-Colombian disagreement; the U.S. wanted to build a canal through Panama, which Colombia disagreed with. In response, the U.S. supported Panamanian Rebels, with the condition that, once independent, they would let the U.S. construct the canal.
November 4, 1922 - Discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb
On this date, British explorers in Egypt discovered the tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The reason this discovery is more well-known than other Egyptian tombs wasn’t because King Tut was an important monarch - in fact, it was the opposite; as a fairly unimportant monarch that only ruled for a brief period of time, his tomb was left largely intact by grave robbers, leading to the discovery of what Ancient Egyptians typically kept in their tombs.
November 5, 1757 - Frederick the Great of Prussia Wins The Battle of Rossbach
Following his rapid expansion of Prussian Power, Frederick the Great faced an increasing number of enemies against him, to the point where, during the Seven Years War, his only ally against Russia, France, and Austria was Britain, who spent much of the war fighting overseas. As such, he often had to defeat combinations of the powers against him - as he did in the Battle of Rossbach, when he won against a combined French-Austrian Army.
