Category: What Happened on this DAY?

451 – The Chalcedonian Creed, regarding the divine and human nature of Jesus, is adopted by the Council of Chalcedon, an ecumenical council.[1] 794 – Emperor Kanmu relocates the Japanese capital to Heian-kyō (now Kyoto).[2] 906 – Ahmad ibn Kayghalagh leads a raid against the Byzantine Empire, taking 4,000–5,000 captives.[3] 1383 – The male line of the Portuguese House of Burgundy becomes extinct with the death of King Fernando, leaving […]

1096 – A Seljuk Turkish army successfully fight off the People’s Crusade. 1097 – Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemund of Taranto, and Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, begin the Siege of Antioch. 1209 – Otto IV is crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III. 1392 – Japanese Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu. 1512 – Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of […]

1568 – The Spanish Duke of Alba defeats a Dutch rebel force under William the Silent.[1] 1572 – Eighty Years’ War: Three thousand Spanish soldiers wade through fifteen miles of water in one night to effect the relief of Goes.[2] 1740 – France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony refuse to honour the Pragmatic Sanction, and the War of the Austrian Succession begins. 1781 – The Patent of […]

202 BC – Second Punic War: At the Battle of Zama, Roman legions under Scipio Africanus defeat Hannibal Barca, leader of the army defending Carthage. 439 – The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, take Carthage in North Africa. 1216 – King John of England dies at Newark-on-Trent and is succeeded by his nine-year-old son Henry. 1386 – The Universität Heidelberg holds its first lecture, making […]

320 – Pappus of Alexandria, Greek philosopher, observes an eclipse of the Sun and writes a commentary on The Great Astronomer (Almagest). 614 – King Chlothar II promulgates the Edict of Paris (Edictum Chlotacharii), a sort of Frankish Magna Carta that defends the rights of the Frankish nobles while it excludes Jews from all civil employment in the Frankish Kingdom. 629 – Dagobert I is crowned King of the Franks. 1009 – The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a […]

690 – Empress Wu Zetian establishes the Zhou Dynasty of China.[1] 1091 – London tornado of 1091: A tornado thought to be of strength T8/F4 strikes the heart of London. 1346 – The English capture King David II of Scotland at Neville’s Cross and imprison him for eleven years. 1448 – An Ottoman army defeats a Hungarian army at the Second Battle of Kosovo. 1456 – The University of […]

456 – Ricimer defeats Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the Western Roman Empire.[1] 690 – Empress Wu Zetian ascends to the throne of the Tang dynasty and proclaims herself ruler of the Chinese Empire. 912 – Abd ar-Rahman III becomes the eighth Emir of Córdoba.[2] 955 – King Otto I defeats a Slavic revolt in what is now Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. 1311 – The Council of Vienne convenes for the […]

1066 – Following the death of Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, Edgar the Ætheling is proclaimed King of England by the Witan; he is never crowned, and concedes power to William the Conqueror two months later.[1] 1211 – Battle of the Rhyndacus: The Latin emperor Henry of Flanders defeats the Nicaean emperor Theodore I Laskaris. 1529 – The Siege of Vienna ends when Austria routs the invading Ottoman […]

1066 – The Norman conquest of England begins with the Battle of Hastings.[1] 1322 – Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at the Battle of Old Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland’s independence.[2] 1586 – Mary, Queen of Scots, goes on trial for conspiracy against Queen Elizabeth I of England.[3] 1656 – The General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony enacts […]

54 – Roman emperor Claudius dies from poisoning under mysterious circumstances.[1] 409 – Vandals and Alans cross the Pyrenees and appear in Hispania. 1269 – The present church building at Westminster Abbey is consecrated. 1307 – Hundreds of Knights Templar in France are arrested at dawn by King Phillip the Fair, and later confess under torture to heresy. 1332 – Rinchinbal Khan becomes the Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of the Yuan […]