Bangkok is a younger capital than the United States is a country: King Rama I moved Siam's capital to the east bank of the Chao Phraya in 1782, six years after the Declaration of Independence.
The events
- Bangkok becomes Siam's capital1782 · Bangkok, Thailand. In 1782 the general Chao Phraya Chakri took the throne as Rama I and moved the capital to the east bank of the Chao Phraya river. There the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha rose. The new city's ceremonial name is one of the longest place names in the world, and the Chakri dynasty founded then still reigns in Thailand.
- US Declaration of Independence1776 · Philadelphia. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration drafted by Thomas Jefferson, proclaiming the thirteen colonies independent of Britain. Its words on equality and unalienable rights inspired revolutions around the world.
More amazing facts
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- 1775 Paul Revere never shouted 'The British are coming!' The ride was secret, British patrols were about, and colonists still saw themselves as British; witnesses recalled him saying 'The Regulars are coming out.'
- 1776 The Bolshoi Theatre and the United States are the same age: the theatre dates from March 1776, the Declaration of Independence from July of that year.
- 1776 Most delegates signed the Declaration of Independence on 2 August 1776, not 4 July.
- 1778 · 1779 Hawaii was first called the Sandwich Islands — after the same earl as the sandwich.