Category: What Happened on this DAY?

  1111 – Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.[1] 1204 – Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire.[2] 1612 – Miyamoto Musashi defeats Sasaki Kojirō at Funajima island. 1613 – Samuel Argall, having captured Native American princess Pocahontas in Passapatanzy, Virginia, sets off with her to Jamestown with the intention of exchanging her for English prisoners held by her father.[3] 1742 – George Frideric Handel‘s oratorio Messiah makes its world premiere in Dublin, Ireland. 1777 – American […]

240 – Shapur I becomes co-emperor of the Sasanian Empire with his father Ardashir I.[1] 467 – Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.[2] 627 – King Edwin of Northumbria is converted to Christianity by Paulinus, bishop of York.[3] 1012 – Duke Oldřich of Bohemia deposes and blinds his brother Jaromír, who flees to Poland. 1204 – The Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade breach the walls of Constantinople and enter the city, which they completely occupy the following day. 1606 – […]

491 – Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.[1] 1241 – Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi. 1512 – War of the League of Cambrai: Franco-Ferrarese forces led by Gaston de Foix and Alfonso I d’Este win the Battle of Ravenna against the Papal-Spanish forces. [2] 1544 – Italian War of 1542–46: A French army defeats Habsburg forces at the Battle of Ceresole, but fails to exploit its […]

428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople. Three years later, he would be deposed due to alleged heresy. 837 – Halley’s Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles). 1407 – Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa Lama visits the Ming dynasty capital at Nanjing. He is awarded the title “Great Treasure Prince of Dharma”. 1500 – Ludovico Sforza is captured by Swiss troops at Novara and […]

  190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground. 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (Enkyklikon) to the bishops of his empire, supporting the Monophysite christological position. 537 – Siege of Rome: The Byzantine general Belisarius receives his promised reinforcements, 1,600 cavalry, mostly of Hunnic or Slavic origin and expert bowmen. He starts, despite shortages, raids against the Gothic camps and Vitiges is forced into a stalemate. 1241 – Battle […]

  217 – Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated. He is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus. 632 – King Charibert II is assassinated at Blaye (Gironde), along with his infant son Chilperic. 876 – The Battle of Dayr al-‘Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids. 1093 – The new Winchester Cathedral is dedicated by Walkelin. 1139 – Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated. 1149 – Pope Eugene III takes refuge in the castle of Ptolemy II of Tusculum. 1232 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols begin their siege on […]

451 – Attila the Hun sacks the town of Metz and attacks other cities in Gaul. 529 – First draft of the Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I. 611 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul sacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico. 1141 – Empress Matilda became the first female ruler of England, adopting the title ‘Lady of the English’. 1348 – Charles University is founded in Prague. 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan arrives […]

  46 BC – Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) at the Battle of Thapsus.[1] 402 – Stilicho defeats the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia.[2] 1250 – Seventh Crusade: Ayyubids of Egypt capture King Louis IX of France in the Battle of Fariskur. 1320 – The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath. 1327 – The poet Petrarch first sees his idealized love, Laura, in the church of Saint Clare in Avignon. 1385 – […]

823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I. 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa’im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his army.[1] 1081 – Alexios I Komnenos is crowned Byzantine emperor at Constantinople, bringing the Komnenian dynasty to full power. 1242 – During the Battle on the Ice of Lake Peipus, Russian forces, led by Alexander Nevsky, rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights. 1536 – Royal Entry of Charles V into […]

686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich’aak K’ahk’ assumes the crown of Calakmul. 801 – King Louis the Pious captures Barcelona from the Moors after a siege of several months. 1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. 1077 – The first Parliament of Friuli is created. 1559 – The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis treaty is signed, ending the Italian Wars. 1860 – The first successful United States Pony Express run from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, begins. 1865 – American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate […]