Category: What Happened on this DAY?

250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.[1] 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom. 1265 – The first English parliament to include not only Lords but also representatives of the major towns holds its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now commonly known as the “Houses of Parliament”. 1320 – Duke Wladyslaw […]

379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to Augustus, and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.[1] 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrender after a forty-day siege led by Tang dynasty general Ashina She’er, establishing Tang control over the northern Tarim Basin in Xinjiang. 1419 – Hundred Years’ War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England, completing his reconquest of Normandy.[2] 1511 – The Italian city-fortress of Mirandola surrenders to the […]

474 – Seven-year-old Leo II succeeds his maternal grandfather Leo I as Byzantine emperor.[1] He dies ten months later. 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople fail. 1126 – Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chinese throne in favour of his son Emperor Qinzong.[2] 1486 – King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV uniting the House of Lancaster and the House of York.[3] 1562 – Pope Pius IV reopens the Council of Trent for its third and final session. 1591 – King Naresuan of Siam kills Crown […]

38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.[1] 1287 – The Treaty of San Agayz is signed. King Alfonso III of Aragon conquers the island of Menorca from the Moors. 1362 – Saint Marcellus’ flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea.[2] 1377 – Pope Gregory XI reaches Rome, after deciding to move […]

27 BCE – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire. 378 – General Siyaj K’ak’ conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spearthrower Owl of Teotihuacán. 550 – Gothic War: The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison. 929 – Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III established the Caliphate of Córdoba. 1120 – The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws […]

69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome,[1] beginning a reign of only three months. 1541 – King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to settle the province of New France (Canada) and provide for the spread of the “Holy Catholic faith”.[2] 1559 – Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London.[3] 1582 – Truce of Yam-Zapolsky: Russia cedes Livonia to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[4] 1759 – The British Museum opens to […]

1236 – King Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence.[1] 1301 – Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Árpád dynasty in Hungary. 1343 – Arnošt of Pardubice becomes the last bishop of Prague and, subsequently, the first Archbishop of Prague. 1539 – Spain annexes Cuba. 1639 – The “Fundamental Orders“, the first written constitution that created a government, is adopted in Connecticut. 1761 – The Third Battle of Panipat is fought in India between the Afghans under Ahmad Shah Durrani and […]

532 – The Nika riots break out, during the racing season at the Hippodrome in Constantinople, as a result of discontent with the rule of the Emperor Justinian I.[1][2] 1435 – Sicut Dudum, forbidding the enslavement of the Guanche natives in Canary Islands by the Spanish, is promulgated by Pope Eugene IV. 1547 – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, is sentenced to death for treason, on the grounds of having quartered […]

1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reigned since his election in June 1523. 1554 – Bayinnaung, who would go on to assemble the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, is crowned King of Burma. 1616 – The city of Belém, Brazil is founded on the Amazon River delta, by Portuguese captain Francisco Caldeira Castelo Branco. 1808 – John Rennie‘s scheme to […]

532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence. 630 – Conquest of Mecca: The prophet Muhammad and his followers conquer the city, Quraysh surrender.[1] 947 – Emperor Tai Zong of the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty invades the Later Jin, resulting in the destruction of the Later Jin. 1055 – Theodora is crowned empress of the Byzantine Empire. 1158 – Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia becomes King of Bohemia. 1569 – First […]