January 21
January 21
King Louis XVI executed
One day after being convicted of conspiracy with foreign powers and sentenced to death by the French National Convention, King Louis XVI is executed by guillotine in the Place de…
A Year In History: 1793
This Year in History:
1793
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
February 12
February 12
The US enacts first fugitive slave law
Congress passes the first fugitive slave law, requiring all states, including those that forbid slavery, to forcibly return enslaved people who have escaped from other states to their original owners.…
July 13
July 13
Charlotte Corday assassinates French revolutionary Jean‑Paul Marat
Jean‑Paul Marat, one of the most outspoken leaders of the French Revolution, is stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday, a Royalist sympathizer. Originally a doctor, Marat founded…
August 10
August 10
Louvre Museum opens
After more than two centuries as a royal palace, the Louvre is opened as a public museum in Paris by the French revolutionary government. Today, the Louvre’s collection is one…
August 21
August 21
Yellow fever breaks out in Philadelphia
On August 21, 1793, prominent Philadelphia physician Benjamin Rush alerts the city’s mayor that an epidemic of yellow fever was fast emerging. By the time the epidemic ended, some 5,000…
September 18
September 18
George Washington lays the Capitol cornerstone
On September 18, 1793, George Washington lays the cornerstone to the United States Capitol building, the home of the legislative branch of American government. The building would take nearly a…
October 16
October 16
Marie Antoinette is beheaded
Nine months after the execution of her husband, the former King Louis XVI of France, Marie Antoinette follows him to the guillotine on October 16, 1793. The daughter of the…
December 28
December 28
Writer Thomas Paine is arrested in France
Thomas Paine is arrested in France for treason. Though the charges against him were never detailed, he had been tried in absentia on December 26 and convicted. Before moving to…
