1184 BC: Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned, according to calculations by Eratosthenes 631: Emperor Taizong of Tang of China, sends envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk for the release of Chinese prisoners captured during transition from Sui to Tang from northern frontier; succeeds in freeing 80,000 1776: Continental Congress creates committee to draft a Declaration […]
1190: Third Crusade: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa drowns while crossing the Saleph River (modern Turkey) leading an army to Jerusalem 1786: A landslide dam on the Dadu River caused by earthquake ten days earlier collapses, killing 100,000 in the Sichuan province of China 1898: US Marines land in Cuba during Spanish–American War 1916: Great Arab Revolt begins against ruling […]
452: Italy invaded by Attila the Hun 793: Vikings in long ships from modern-day Norway plunder St Cuthbert’s monastery on Lindisfarne Island, off the northeast coast of England 1191: King Richard I of England arrives at Acre in modern day Israel to join the Siege of Acre during the Third Crusade 1783: Laki volcano in southern Iceland begins 8-month eruption, killing […]
1494: Treaty of Tordesillas: Spain and Portugal divide the new world along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa 1628: English King Charles I ratifies the Petition of Rights 1654: Louis XIV crowned King of France 1753: British Museum founded by an Act of Parliament with royal assent from King George II (opens in 1759) […]
1523: Gustav Vasa is elected King of Sweden, marking the end of the Kalmar Union 1716: French transport the 1st African slaves to Louisiana 1916: The death of Yuan Shikai, ruler of much of China since 1912, causes the central government to virtually collapse in the face of warlords, including Sun Yat-sen 1944: Operation Overlord: D-Day begins as the 156,000-strong Allied Expeditionary Force lands […]
1873 Sultan Bargash bin Said under British pressure closes the infamous slave market of Zanzibar in modern day Tanzania 1947: US Secretary of State George Marshall outlines the “Marshall Plan” to rebuild Western Europe 1963: State of siege proclaimed in Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini arrested 1967: Six-Day War begins between Israel and the neighboring Arab states of Egypt, Jordan and Syria 1968: Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan shoots Robert F. […]
1760: Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada taken from the Acadians 1940: British complete the “Miracle of Dunkirk” by evacuating 338,226 allied troops from France via a flotilla of over 800 vessels including Royal Navy destroyers, merchant marine boats, fishing boats, pleasure craft and even lifeboats 1945: US, Soviet Union, Britain […]
4000 BC: Approximate domestication of the horse in the Eurasian steppes near Dereivka, central Ukraine (hypothesis only) 1215: Beijing, under control of Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Beijing 1676: Battle of Öland: allied Danish-Dutch forces defeat the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea, during the Scanian […]
1279 BC: Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great becomes Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt (19th Dynasty) 1578: Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich, England, to Frobisher Bay, Canada. Eventually mines fools gold, famously used to pave the streets of London. 1902: Boer War Ends; Treaty of Unity signed, Britain annexes Transvaal 1910: Union of South Africa declares its independence […]
1431: Hundred Years’ War: 19 year old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal in Rouen, France 1539: Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto’s expedition of 10 ships and 700 men lands in Florida 1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo between US and Mexico comes into force, giving New Mexico, California and parts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona and […]
