By Martin Banks A team of experts and members of the armed forces from different countries, including the UK, are this week digging at a site in Waterloo, Belgium which witnessed horrific death and injury during the famous battle in 1815. The dig, the latest in a series of such excavations, this week unearthed fresh […]
By Martin Banks Ieper, also known as Ypres in West Flanders, is an area that saw intense fighting throughout the First World War. Known to the British troops based there during the war as ‘Wipers’, the town is intrinsically linked with the war. However, celebrations to mark this week’s WW2 anniversary will also take place […]
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 […]
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 the Spanish–American War […]
68: Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide, imploring his secretary Epaphroditos to slit his throat to evade a Senate-imposed death by flogging 721: Odo of Aquitaine defeats a Umayyad Muslim army at the Battle of Toulouse 1549: Book of Common Prayer is adopted by the Church of England 1815: End of the Congress of Vienna: New […]
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 capturing and killing monks 1191: King Richard I of England arrives at Acre in modern day Israel to join the Siege of Acre during the Third Crusade […]
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 […]
1523: Gustav Vasa is elected King of Sweden, marking the end of the Kalmar Union 1716: French transport the first African slaves to Louisiana 1916: The death of Yuan Shikai, ruler of much of China since 1912, causes central government to virtually collapse in the face of pressure from warlords, and from political reformers including […]
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 […]
1760: The Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive in Nova Scotia, Canada, to claim land 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 1989: […]
