Doodle this day in History

November 4 - #OnThisDay a large-scale armed rising takes place in Wales. The Newport Rising was organised by Chartists who demanded electoral reform. The Chartists wanted greater suffrage and the right to vote with a secret ballot. 4000 Chartist sympathisers marched into Newport.

November 3 - #OnThisDay Emperor Constantius II dies. He was the son of Constantine the Great. He reigned from 337 (when he was twenty years old) up until his death. He died of a fever whilst on a military campaign in modern day Türkiye.

November 2 - #OnThisDay Helmut Pfeiffer is born. He became a lawyer in 1935 in Nazi Germany. He joined the Nazi Party in 1932. He joined the SS in November 1938 and became an SS captain in the winter of 1944. In the 1940s he began to make some efforts with rescue operations.

November 1 - #OnThisDay Four German sailors escape from an internment camp at Fort Stanton, New Mexico. Bruno Dathe, Willy Michel, Hermann Runne and Johannes Grantz escaped under the cover of darkness. Their absence was noted and a posse rode after them to capture them.

October 31 - #OnThisDay the siege of Fort Detroit ends. Fort Detroit had been attacked by Pontiac (an Ottawa chief) since the 9th of May. British soldiers who were captured by Native Americans were tortured and mutilated. Their remains were thrown into the river.

October 30 - #OnThisDay Washoe dies in 2007 at the age of 42. She was a female chimpanzee who had been born in West Africa. She was the first non-human to learn to communicate using signs adapted from American Sign Language (ASL). She learned approximately 350 signs of ASL.

October 29 - #OnThisDay Sir Walter Raleigh dies. He was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. He helped in the English colonisation of North America. He also helped to defend England against the Spanish Armada in 1588.

October 28 - #OnThisDay English actor Matt Smith is born. He became an actor in 2003. Key roles that Smith has played include the Eleventh Doctor in Doctor Who (2010-2013), Prince Philip in The Crown (2016-2017) and Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon (2022-present).

October 27 - #OnThisDay Taylor Mitchell is killed by eastern coyotes (also known as coywolves). She was 19 years old and was touring Eastern Canada in her car. It was unknown how she encountered the coyotes but sources say she may have tried to feed them or disturbed a den.

October 26 - #OnThisDay the Football Association (FA) is founded. This took place in the Freemasons’ Tavern in Great Queen Street, London. Prior to the FA meeting there were no universally accepted rules for playing football.

October 25 - #OnThisDay Windows XP is released in 2001. It was the OS successor to Windows 2000. It had increased performance and stability compared to previous Windows systems. It was the most widely used operating system until August 2012 in which Windows 7 overtook it.

October 24 - #OnThisDay Roman legionaries supporting Vespasian and Roman legionaries supporting Vitellius clash in the Second Battle of Bedriacum. This was known as the Year of the Four Emperors. The troops loyal to Vespasian were able to win.

October 23 - #OnThisDay Rinchinbal Khan begins his reign as Emperor of the Yuan dynasty. He reigned for roughly two months. He was not only Emperor of China but also the 14th Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. He was the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Genghis Khan.

October 22 - #OnThisDay William IX of Aquitaine is born. He was Duke of Aquitaine and Gascony as well as Count of Poitou. He was known as a troubadour, a lyric poet that employed the language called Occitan. He was the earliest troubadour whose work survives.

October 21 - #OnThisDay Pope Eusebius dies. His papacy had began on the 18th of April 309 until his exile on the 17th of August 310. His exile was due to his decision that apostates should not be forever debarred from holy communion.

October 20 (from yesterday) - The Sino-Indian War begins. It lasted for a month and a day. Two areas of the India-China border saw conflict emerge. China had launched simultaneous offensives against Indian Army positions.

October 19 - #OnThisDay the Battle of Cedar Creek is fought. The Confederates launched a surprise attack in heavy fog and were winning earlier in the day. Eventually the Union army rallied. They recaptured lost artillery and even captured the enemy’s artillery and wagons.

October 18 - #OnThisDay Howard Shore is born. He is a Canadian composer, conductor and orchestrator. He has composed the scores for over 80 films. One of his most famous scores would be Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” film trilogies.

October 17 - #OnThisDay the London Tornado of 1091 occurs. It is the earliest reported tornado in England. The tornado badly damaged the church of St Mary-le-Bow in the city of London. 600 wooden houses were demolished. Sources say there were only two known fatalities.

October 16 - #OnThisDay John C. Woods executes ten Nazi leaders at the Nuremberg trials. He was a US Army master sergeant who acted as hangman in the post-war trials, alongside Joseph Malta. Sources say Woods often bungled executions as Nazis were given too little rope.