Category: What Happened on this DAY?

887 – Berengar I is elected as king of Italy by the lords of Lombardy. He is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at Pavia.[1] 1481 – Battle of Westbroek: Holland defeats troops of Utrecht. 1489 – The forces of the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, take control of Almería from the Nasrid ruler of Granada, Muhammad XIII. 1704 – Second Battle of Anandpur: In the Second Battle of Anandpur, Aurangzeb’s two generals, Wazir Khan and Zaberdast Khan executed two children […]

36 – Forces of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han, under the command of Wu Han, conquer the separatist Chengjia empire, reuniting China.[1] 274 – A temple to Sol Invictus is dedicated in Rome by Emperor Aurelian.[2] 333 – Roman Emperor Constantine the Great elevates his youngest son Constans to the rank of Caesar. 336 – First documentary sign of Christmas celebration in Rome. 350 – Vetranio meets Constantius II at Naissus (Serbia) and is forced to abdicate his title (Caesar). Constantius allows him to live […]

502 – Chinese emperor Xiao Yan names Xiao Tong his heir designate. 640 – Pope John IV is elected, several months after his predecessor’s death. 759 – Tang dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengdu, where he is hosted by fellow poet Pei Di. 820 – Emperor Leo V is assassinated in the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople and is succeeded by Michael II. 1144 – The capital of the crusader County of Edessa falls to Imad ad-Din Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo. 1294 – Pope Boniface VIII is elected, replacing St. Celestine […]

484 – The Arian Vandal Kingdom ceases its persecution of Nicene Christianity.[1] 558 – Chlothar I is crowned King of the Franks. 583 – Maya queen Yohl Ik’nal is crowned ruler of Palenque. 962 – The Sack of Aleppo as part of the Arab–Byzantine wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops storm the city of Aleppo. 1572 – Theologian Johann Sylvan is executed in Heidelberg for his heretical Antitrinitarian beliefs. 1598 – Arauco War: Governor of Chile Martín García Óñez de Loyola is killed in the Battle of Curalaba by Mapuches led […]

AD 69 – Vespasian is proclaimed Emperor of Rome; his predecessor, Vitellius, attempts to abdicate but is captured and killed at the Gemonian stairs.[1] 401 – Pope Innocent I is elected, the only pope to succeed his father in the office.[2] 856 – Damghan earthquake: An earthquake near the Persian city of Damghan kills an estimated 200,000 people, the sixth deadliest earthquake in recorded history.[3] 880 – Luoyang, eastern […]

AD 69 – The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors.[1] 1124 – Pope Honorius II is consecrated, having been elected after the controversial dethroning of Pope Celestine II.[2] 1140 – Conrad III of Germany besieges Weinsberg. 1237 – The city of Ryazan is sacked by the Mongol army of Batu Khan.[3] 1361 – The Battle of Linuesa is fought in the context of the Spanish Reconquista between the forces of […]

AD 69 – Priscus enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor for Nero‘s former general Vespasian.[1] 1192 – Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after the Third Crusade.[2] 1334 – Cistercian Jacques Fournier is elected Pope Benedict XII.[3] 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans. 1808 – Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza begins. 1808 – The original Garden […]

1154 – Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.[1] 1187 – Pope Clement III is elected.[2] 1490 – Anne, Duchess of Brittany, is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy. 1562 – The Battle of Dreux takes place during the French Wars of Religion.[3] 1606 – The ships Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery depart England carrying settlers who founded, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.[4] 1675 – The Great […]

218 BC – Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia: Hannibal‘s Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Roman Republic. 1271 – Kublai Khan renames his empire “Yuan” (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan dynasty of Mongolia and China. 1499 – A rebellion breaks out in Alpujarras in response to the forced conversions of Muslims in Spain. 1622 – Portuguese forces score a military victory over the Kingdom of Kongo at the Battle of Mbumbi in present-day Angola. 1655 – The Whitehall Conference ends […]

497 BC – The first Saturnalia festival was celebrated in ancient Rome. 546 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoths under king Totila plunder the city, by bribing the Byzantine garrison. 920 – Romanos I Lekapenos is crowned co-emperor of the underage Constantine VII. 942 – Assassination of William I of Normandy. 1398 – Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud‘s armies in Delhi are defeated by Timur. 1538 – Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England. 1583 – Cologne War: Forces under Ernest of Bavaria defeat […]