Category: What Happened on this DAY?

365 – The Alemanni cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. Emperor Valentinian I moves to Paris to command the army and defend the Gallic cities. 996 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freising, which is the oldest known document using the name Ostarrîchi (Austria in Old High German). 1009 – Berber forces led by Sulayman ibn al-Hakam defeat the Umayyad caliph Muhammad II of Córdoba in the battle of Alcolea. 1141 – Empress Matilda‘s reign as ‘Lady of the […]

475 – Romulus Augustulus is proclaimed Western Roman Emperor. 683 – During the Siege of Mecca, the Kaaba catches fire and is burned down. 802 – Empress Irene is deposed and banished to Lesbos. Conspirators place Nikephoros, the minister of finance, on the Byzantine throne. 932 – Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir is killed while fighting against the forces of general Mu’nis al-Muzaffar. Al-Muqtadir’s brother al-Qahir is chosen to succeed him. 1517 – Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses on the door of […]

637 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Antioch surrenders to the Rashidun Caliphate after the Battle of the Iron Bridge. 758 – Guangzhou is sacked by Arab and Persian pirates. 1137 – Ranulf of Apulia defeats Roger II of Sicily at the Battle of Rignano, securing his position as duke until his death two years later. 1270 – The Eighth Crusade ends by an agreement between Charles I of Anjou (replacing his deceased brother King Louis IX of France) and […]

AD 97 – Emperor Nerva is forced by the Praetorian Guard to adopt general Marcus Ulpius Trajanus as his heir and successor. 306 – Maxentius is proclaimed Roman emperor. 312 – Constantine I defeats Maxentius, becoming the sole Roman emperor in the West. 969 – The Byzantine Empire recovers Antioch from Arab rule. 1344 – The lower town of Smyrna is captured by Crusaders in response to Aydınid piracy. 1420 – Beijing is officially […]

312 – Constantine is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. 939 – Æthelstan, the first king of all England, dies and is succeeded by his half-brother, Edmund I. 1275 – Traditional founding of the city of Amsterdam. 1524 – French troops lay siege to Pavia. 1553 – Condemned as a heretic, Michael Servetus is burned at the stake just outside Geneva. 1644 – Second Battle […]

1185 – The Uprising of Asen and Peter begins on the feast day of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki and ends with the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire. 1341 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–47 formally begins with the proclamation of John VI Kantakouzenos as Byzantine Emperor. 1377 – Tvrtko I is crowned the first king of Bosnia. 1520 – Charles V is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor. […]

AD 69 – In the Second Battle of Bedriacum, troops loyal to Vespasian defeat those of Emperor Vitellius.[1] 1260 – Chartres Cathedral is dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France.[2] 1360 – The Treaty of Brétigny is ratified, marking the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years’ War.[3] 1590 – John White, the governor of the second Roanoke Colony, returns to […]

4004 BC – James Ussher’s proposed creation date of the world according to the Bible. 42 BC – Liberators’ civil war: Mark Antony and Octavian decisively defeat Brutus’s army. Brutus commits suicide. 425 – Valentinian III is elevated as Roman emperor at the age of six. 501 – The Synodus Palmaris, called by Gothic king Theoderic, absolves Pope Symmachus of all charges, thus ending the schism of Antipope […]

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 […]