Category: What Happened on this DAY?

506 – The bishops of Visigothic Gaul meet in the Council of Agde. 1419 – John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy is assassinated by adherents of the Dauphin, the future Charles VII of France. 1509 – An earthquake known as “The Lesser Judgment Day” hits Constantinople. 1515 – Thomas Wolsey is invested as a Cardinal. 1547 – The Battle of Pinkie, the last full-scale military confrontation between […]

9 – Arminius‘ alliance of six Germanic tribes ambushes and annihilates three Roman legions of Publius Quinctilius Varus in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. 337 – Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans succeed their father Constantine I as co-emperors. The Roman Empire is divided between the three Augusti. 533 – A Byzantine army of 15,000 men under Belisarius lands at Caput Vada (modern Tunisia) and marches to Carthage. 1000 – Battle of Svolder, Viking Age. 1087 – William Rufus becomes King of England, taking […]

617 – Battle of Huoyi: Li Yuan defeats a Sui dynasty army, opening the path to his capture of the imperial capital Chang’an and the eventual establishment of the Tang dynasty. 1100 – Election of Antipope Theodoric. 1198 – Philip of Swabia, Prince of Hohenstaufen, is crowned King of Germany (King of the Romans) 1253 – Pope Innocent IV canonises Stanislaus of Szczepanów, killed by king Bolesław II. 1264 – The Statute of Kalisz, guaranteeing […]

70 – A Roman army under Titus occupies and plunders Jerusalem. 878 – Louis the Stammerer is crowned as king of West Francia by Pope John VIII. 1159 – Pope Alexander III is chosen. 1191 – Third Crusade: Battle of Arsuf: Richard I of England defeats Saladin at Arsuf. 1228 – Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II lands in Acre, Israel, and starts the Sixth Crusade, which results in a peaceful restoration of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.[1] 1303 – Guillaume de Nogaret takes Pope Boniface VIII prisoner on behalf of Philip […]

394 – Battle of the Frigidus: Roman Emperor Theodosius I defeats and kills Eugenius the usurper. His Frankish magister militum Arbogast escapes but commits suicide two days later. 1492 – Christopher Columbus sails from La Gomera in the Canary Islands, his final port of call before crossing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. 1522 – The Victoria returns to Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain, the only surviving ship of Ferdinand Magellan‘s expedition and the first known ship […]

917 – Liu Yan declares himself emperor, establishing the Southern Han state in southern China, at his capital of Panyu. 1590 – Alexander Farnese‘s army forces Henry IV of France to lift the siege of Paris. 1661 – Fall of Nicolas Fouquet: Louis XIV‘s Superintendent of Finances is arrested in Nantes by D’Artagnan, captain of the king’s musketeers. 1666 – Great Fire of London ends: Ten thousand buildings, including Old St Paul’s Cathedral, are destroyed, but only six […]

476 – Romulus Augustulus is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself “King of Italy“, thus ending the Western Roman Empire. 626 – Li Shimin, posthumously known as Emperor Taizong of Tang, assumes the throne over the Tang dynasty of China. 929 – Battle of Lenzen: Slavic forces (the Redarii and the Obotrites) are defeated by a Saxon army near the fortified stronghold of Lenzen in Brandenburg. 1260 – The Sienese Ghibellines, supported by the forces of Manfred, King of Sicily, defeat the Florentine Guelphs at Montaperti. 1282 – Peter III […]

36 BC – In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompey, son of Pompey, thus ending Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate. 301 – San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world’s oldest republic still in existence, is founded by Saint Marinus. 590 – Consecration of Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great). 673 – King Wamba of the Visigoths puts down a revolt by Hilderic, governor of Nîmes (France) and rival […]

44 BC – Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion.[citation needed] 44 BC – Cicero launches the first of his Philippicae (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of them over the following months.[1] 31 BC – Final War of the Roman Republic: Battle of Actium: Off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra.[2] 1192 – The Treaty of Jaffa is signed […]

1173 – The widow Stamira sacrifices herself in order to raise the siege of Ancona by the forces of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. [1][2][3][4] 1355 – King Tvrtko I of Bosnia writes In castro nostro Vizoka vocatum from the Old town of Visoki. 1420 – A 9.4 MS-strong earthquake shakes Chile’s Atacama Region causing tsunamis in Chile as well as Hawaii and Japan.[5][6] 1449 – Tumu Crisis: The Mongols capture the Emperor of China. 1529 – The Spanish fort of Sancti Spiritu, the first one built […]