This Day That Year

December 19

in History

Pope Martin I Tried — A pope dragged in chains before an emperor
Constantinople, Byzantine EmpireMedieval
653

Pope Martin I Tried

A pope dragged in chains before an emperor

In Constantinople, Pope Martin I stood trial before Byzantine authorities for his defiant opposition to the Monothelite heresy. Abducted from Rome in a dramatic act of imperial overreach, he was the last pope to be martyred. His conviction and eventual banishment to Crimea, where he died in poverty, underscored the brutal reality of church-state conflict in the early medieval world.

653 AD
The Hopetoun Blunder — Australia's federation stumbles at the starting gate
Sydney, AustraliaEarly 20th Century
1900

The Hopetoun Blunder

Australia's federation stumbles at the starting gate

In one of Australian political history's most embarrassing episodes, the first Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun, appointed William Lyne as premier rather than the expected Edmund Barton. When Lyne failed to form a government and was forced to resign, the fiasco became known as the Hopetoun Blunder, a cautionary tale about assumptions and protocol on the eve of Australian federation.

1900 AD
South Vietnam — The ruling junta of South Vietnam, led by Nguyễn Khánh, initiated a coup, dissolving the High National Council, a civilian advisory body.
Late 20th Century
1964

South Vietnam

The ruling junta of South Vietnam, led by Nguyễn Khánh, initiated a coup, dissolving the High National Council, a civilian advisory body.

The ruling junta of South Vietnam, led by Nguyễn Khánh, initiated a coup, dissolving the High National Council, a civilian advisory body.

1964 AD