Category: What Happened on this DAY?

222 – Emperor Elagabalus is assassinated, along with his mother, Julia Soaemias, by the Praetorian Guard during a revolt. Their mutilated bodies are dragged through the streets of Rome before being thrown into the Tiber. 1387 – Battle of Castagnaro: English condottiero Sir John Hawkwood leads Padova to victory in a factional clash with Verona. 1641 – Guaraní forces living in the Jesuit reductions defeat bandeirantes loyal to the Portuguese Empire at the Battle of Mbororé in present-day Panambí, Argentina. 1649 – The Frondeurs and the French sign the Peace of Rueil. […]

241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end. 298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa against the Berbers, and makes a triumphal entry into Carthage. 947 – The Later Han is founded by Liu Zhiyuan. He declares himself emperor and establishes the capital in Bian, present-day Kaifeng. 1607 – Susenyos I defeats the combined armies of Yaqob and Abuna Petros II […]

141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China.[1] 1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg.[2] 1226 – Khwarazmian sultan Jalal ad-Din conquers the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.[3] 1230 – Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen II defeats Theodore of Epirus in the Battle of Klokotnitsa.[4] 1500 – The fleet of Pedro Álvares Cabral leaves Lisbon for the Indies. The fleet will discover Brazil which lies within boundaries granted to Portugal […]

1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem Shahnameh.[1] 1126 – Following the death of his mother Urraca, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of Castile and León.[2] 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bourgeois militias and the army of the bishop of Strasbourg. 1576 – Spanish explorer Diego García de Palacio first sights the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Copán. 1618 – Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion. 1655 – John Casor becomes the […]

161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius.[1] 1277 – The University of Paris issues the last in a series of condemnations of various philosophical and theological theses. 1573 – A peace treaty is signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice, ending the Ottoman–Venetian War and leaving Cyprus in Ottoman hands. 1799 – Napoleon […]

12 BC – The Roman Emperor Augustus is named Pontifex Maximus, incorporating the position into that of the emperor.[1] 632 – The Farewell Sermon (Khutbah, Khutbatul Wada’) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. 845 – Execution of the 42 Martyrs of Amorium at Samarra.[2] 961 – Byzantine conquest of Chandax by Nikephoros Phokas, end of the Emirate of Crete. 1204 – The Siege of Château Gaillard ends in a French victory over King John of England, who loses control of Normandy to […]

363 – Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death. 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he will later describe in his book Safarnama. 1279 – The Livonian Order is defeated in the Battle of Aizkraukle by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. 1496 – King Henry VII of England issues letters patent to John Cabot and […]

AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title princeps iuventutis (head of the youth). 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia. 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources. 938 – Translation of the relics of martyr Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, Prince of the Czechs. 1152 – Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany. 1238 – The Battle of […]

473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire.[1] 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan. 1575 – Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Sultan of Bengal Daud Khan Karrani‘s army at the Battle of Tukaroi. 1585 – The Olympic Theatre, designed by Andrea Palladio, is inaugurated in Vicenza.[2] 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine Corps begins the Battle of Nassau. 1779 – American Revolutionary […]

537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his bucellarii are almost cut off. 986 – Louis V becomes King of the Franks. 1127 – Assassination of Charles the Good, Count of Flanders. 1444 – Skanderbeg organizes a group of Albanian nobles to form the League of Lezhë. 1458 – George of Poděbrady is chosen as the king of Bohemia. 1476 – Burgundian Wars: The Old Swiss Confederacy hands Charles the […]