Video: 'Teach Astronomy - Galileo and the Church'

(Monday, February 26, 1616) — Astronomer Galileo Galilei met today with a Roman Inquisition official, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, who ordered him to abandon the “heretical” concept of heliocentrism, which held that the earth revolved around the sun, instead of the other way around.

Video: 'The last Days of Guy Fawkes' (Jan. 31, 1606, at 40:41)

(Friday, January 31, 1606) — Guy Fawkes, convicted of treason for his part in the “Gunpowder Plot” against the English Parliament and King James I, was executed today.

Video: 'Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot'

(Tuesday, November 5, 1605) — The Gunpowder Plot, a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby, failed today when Guy Fawkes was seized before he could blow up the English Parliament.

Video: 'St. Augustine - First Colony'

(Saturday, September 8, 1565) — A Spanish expedition established the first permanent European settlement in the United States today at present-day St. Augustine, Florida.

Video: 'Mini Bio: Louis XIV'

(Thursday, September 1, 1715) — Following a reign of 72 years, King Louis XIV of France died today of gangrene at Versailles, four days before his 77th birthday.

Video: 'Tales of William Wallace [Full Documentary]' (Aug. 23, 1305, at 26:04)

(Monday, August 23, 1305) — Sir William Wallace, a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence, was executed by the English today for treason.

Video: 'Richard III The New Evidence'

(Monday, August 22, 1485) — England’s King Richard III, 32, was killed today in the Battle of Bosworth Field, effectively ending the War of the Roses (click here to watch “King Richard III (1452-1485).”

(Sunday, July 31, 1715) — A fleet of Spanish ships carrying gold, silver and jewelry sank today during a hurricane off the east Florida coast, scattering most of their treasure along the ocean floor. Of some 2,500 crew members, more than 1,000 died.

Video: 'Magna Carta - Timelines.tv History of Britain B03'

(Monday, June 15, 1215) — England’s King John put his seal to Magna Carta (“the Great Charter”) today at Runnymede. Essentially a peace treaty between the unpopular John and a group of rebel barons, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown.

Video: 'Pocahontas-John Rolfe Wedding Re-enactment 2'

(Tuesday, April 5, 1614) — Pocahontas, Indian Chief Powhatan’s daughter, married Englishman John Rolfe today in the Virginia Colony. A convert to Christianity, Pocahontas had adopted the name “Rebecca” when she was baptized.