Category: What Happened on this DAY?

1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.[1] 1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.[2] 1607 – An estimated 200 square miles (51,800 ha) along the coasts of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary in England are destroyed by massive flooding, resulting in an estimated 2,000 deaths.[3] 1648 – Eighty Years’ War: The Treaty of Münster and Osnabrück is signed, ending the conflict […]

904 – Sergius III is consecrated pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.[1] 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu’izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by Al-Muti as caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate.[2] 1258 – First Mongol invasion of Đại Việt: Đại Việt defeats the Mongols at the battle of Đông Bộ Đầu, forcing the Mongols to withdraw from […]

814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession of his son Louis the Pious as ruler of the Frankish Empire.[1] 1069 – Robert de Comines, appointed Earl of Northumbria by William the Conqueror, rides into Durham, England, where he is defeated and killed by rebels.[2] This incident leads to the Harrying of the North. 1077 – Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, […]

AD 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor;[1] under his rule the Roman Empire would reach its maximum extent. 1186 – Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, marries Constance of Sicily. 1302 – Dante Alighieri is exiled from Florence. 1343 – Pope Clement VI issues the papal bull Unigenitus to justify the power of the pope and the use of indulgences. Nearly 200 years later, Martin Luther would protest this. […]

661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph. 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII,[1] who becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire. 1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil. 1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Mw Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people. 1564 – The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman […]

AD 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate.[1] 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to overthrow of the dynasty.[2] 1348 – A strong earthquake strikes the South Alpine region of Friuli in modern Italy, causing considerable damage to buildings as far away as Rome.[3] 1494 – Alfonso II becomes King of Naples.[4] 1515 – Coronation of Francis I of France takes place […]

AD 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.[1] 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.[2] 1438 – The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV. 1458 – Matthias Corvinus becomes King of Hungary. 1679 – King Charles II of England dissolves the Cavalier Parliament. 1742 – Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor. 1758 – During the Seven Years’ War the leading burghers of Königsberg submit to Elizabeth of Russia, […]

393 – Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor.[1] 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao. 1264 – In the conflict between King Henry III of England and his rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, King Louis IX of France issues the Mise of Amiens, a one-sided decision in favour of Henry that later leads to the Second Barons’ War. 1368 – In a […]

613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (Caesar) by his father Heraclius at Constantinople. 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vikings at Basing. 1506 – The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrives at the Vatican. 1517 – The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and captures present-day Egypt at the Battle of Ridaniya. 1555 – The Ava Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in what is now Myanmar. 1689 – The Convention Parliament convenes to […]

763 – The Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa ends in a decisive Abbasid victory. 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz’s mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union. 1535 – Following the Affair of the Placards, French Protestants are burned […]