1512 - Battle of Ravenna: French forces under Gaston de Foix defeat the Holy League in a major battle of the Italian Wars 1783 - Hostilities formally cease in the American Revolutionary…
1407 - Lama Deshin Shekpa visits the Ming Dynasty capital at Nanjing and is awarded the title Great Treasure Prince of Dharma 1516 - 1st Jewish ghetto established: Venice compels Jews to…
1767 - Ayutthaya kingdom falls to Burmese invaders 1886 - William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.1898 - Battle of Atbara River, Anglo-Egyptian forces crush…
1581 - Francis Drake knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard Golden Hind at Deptford. 1655 - Battle at Postage Farina, Tunis: English fleet beats Barbary pirates. 1789 - 1st US Congress begins regular sessions during George Washington's…
1645 - English Long Parliament passes the Self-Denying Ordinance, limiting regional armies, significant step toward New Model Army. 1922 - Joseph Stalin is appointed General Secretary of the Russian Communist Party by an…
1453 - Mehmed II begins his siege of Constantinople (İstanbul), which falls May 29 1513 - Explorer Juan Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain as the first known European to reach Florida 1792 -…
527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne. 1748 - Ruins of Pompeii rediscovered by Spaniard Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre. 1918 - the Royal Air…
240 BC - 1st recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. 1856 - Russia signs the Treaty of Paris, ending the Crimean War. 1867 - Alaska Purchase: US buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 ($109…
845 - Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving 1549 - The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of…
1513 - Spaniard Juan Ponce de León and his expedition first sight Florida 1625 - Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland ascends the English throne 1914 - 1st successful non-direct blood transfusion is…
31 - 1st Easter, according to calendar-maker Dionysius Exiguus 1436 - Florentine cathedral Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore with then the largest dome in the world by Filippo Brunelleschi, consecrated by…
1349 - Between 100 and 3,000 Jews are killed in Black Death riots in Erfurt, Germany 1804 - Napoleonic Code adopted in France, stresses clearly written and accessible law 1871 - Journalist Henry Morton…
1345 - According to scholars at the University of Paris, the Black Death, from what they call “a triple conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars in the 40th degree of Aquarius,…
1279 - A Mongolian victory at the naval Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China 1644 - 200 members of Peking imperial family and court commit suicide in loyalty to…
1123 -1st Latern Council (9th ecumenical council) opens in Rome, agreements of the Concordat of Worms ratified 1314 - Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and the last Grand Master of the Knights…
44 BC - Julius Caesar is stabbed to death by Brutus, Cassius and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March in Rome.221 - Liu Bei, a Chinese warlord…
843 - Icon veneration officially re-instated in Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople 1502 - Ismail I, founder of the Safavid dynasty, crowned Shah of Persia (rules till 1524) 1918 - Moscow becomes capital of revolutionary…
1531 - Henry VIII recognised as supreme head of Church in England by the Convocation of Canterbury 1702 - Anne became the last Stuart monarch of Great Britain, having earlier acquiesced to the Act of Settlement of 1701,…
161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, an unprecedented political arrangement in the Roman Empire 1530 - English King Henry VIII's divorce request is denied by the…
1479 - Treaty of Alcaçovas: Portugal gives the Canary Islands to Castile in exchange for claims in West Africa 1836 - Battle of the Alamo: After 13 days of fighting 1,500-3,000 Mexican…
363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a campaign that brings about his own death 1046 - Persian scholar Naser…
202 - BC Coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place, initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty's rule over China 1710 - In the Battle…
1776 - At the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, North Carolinian revolutionaries defeated loyalists during the American Revolution. 1884 - Paul Kruger, president of the South African Republic, signed a…
1616 - Roman Inquisition delivers injunction to Galileo demanding he abandon his belief in heliocentrism, which states the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun 1797 - Bank of England…
1570 - Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England for heresy and persecution of English Catholics during her reign. Also absolves her subjects from allegiance to the crown. 1793…
303 - 1st official Roman edict for persecution of Christians issued by Emperor Diocletian 1525 - Battle of Pavia: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's troops beat the French. French King…
1632 - Galileo's "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems" is published 1774 - British House of Lords rules authors do not have perpetual copyright 1797 - The Last Invasion of Britain by…
1792 - US postal service created, postage 6-12 cents depending on distance 1872 - New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art opens 1873 - British Naval Officer John Moresby discovers the site of Port…
356 -Emperor Constantius II shuts all heathen temples. 1600 - Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in South American recorded history. 1878 - Thomas Edison is granted a patent for his…
1568 - Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II agrees to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire for peace. 1865 - Columbia, South Carolina, burns down during American Civil War. 1876 - Sardines first canned…
1659 - 1st known cheque (£400) (on display at Westminster Abbey) 1840 - American Charles Wilkes discovers Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica 1923 - Howard Carter opens the inner burial chamber of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb and finds…
1014 - Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry II Holy Roman Emperor 1076 - Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (for the 1st time) 1797 - The Battle of Cape St Vincent: British…
1700 - The Great Northern War begins in Northern Europe between Denmark–Norway, Saxony and Russia and the Swedish Empire. 1912 - The last Qing Emperor of China, Puyi abdicates after losing the…
1858 - First vision of the Virgin Mary to 14-year-old Bernadette of Lourdes, France 1929 - Vatican City (world's smallest country) made an enclave of Rome 1975 - Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for leadership of…
60 - St Paul thought to have been shipwrecked at Malta 1720 - Edmond Halley appointed as the second Astronomer Royal at the Greenwich Observatory 1763 - Treaty of Paris ends French-Indian War, surrendering…
474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire together with his son Leo II 1775 - British Parliament declares Massachusetts colony is in rebellion 1904 - Japanese land troops at Chemulpo…
1672 - Isaac Newton reads 1st optics paper before Royal Society in London 1807 - Battle of Eylau ends inconclusively between Napoleon's forces and Russian Empire - 1st battle Napoleon isn't victorious 1960 - Queen Elizabeth…
1238 - The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir 1301 - Edward of Caernarion (later Edward II) becomes first (English) Prince of Wales 1842 - Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent…
1508 - Maximilian I proclaimed Holy Roman Emperor, 1st Emperor in centuries not to be crowned by the Pope 1778 - France recognizes USA, signs Treaty of Alliance in Paris, 1st US…
1576 - Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV of France) abjures Catholicism at Tours 1885 - News of the fall of Khartoum reaches London 1885 - King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo…
211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies, leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons, Caracalla and Geta 960 - Coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of the Song, initiating three…
1451 - Sultan Mehmed II, the Conqueror inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire 1509 - The Battle of Diu, naval battle at port of Diu, India between Portugal and the Ottoman Empire,…
1653 - New Amsterdam becomes a city (later renamed New York) 1848 - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican–American War: US acquires Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona for $15 million…
1587 - Queen Elizabeth I of England signs death warrant for her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots 1843 - Oldest continuous writer of insurance in America - The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York…
1865 - Congress passes the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in America (passes 121-24) 1865 - General Robert E. Lee named Commander-in-Chief of Confederate Armies during US Civil War 1933 - Adolf Hitler promises parliamentary democracy 1943 -…
1661 - Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is ritually executed after having been dead for two years 1815 - Burned US Library of Congress re-established with Thomas Jefferson's 6,500…
661 - Rashidun Caliphate, then the largest empire in history, ends with the death of its leader, Ali. Succeeded by the Umayyad Caliphate. 1595 - William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet" is…
1521 - Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms in Worms, Germany which lasts until May 25th. Produced the "Edict of Worms" which dennouced Martin Luther 1807 - London's Pall Mall is 1st street…
1820 - Russian Antarctic Expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev discover the continent of Antarctica 1825 - US Congress approves Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for the forced relocation…
1482 - "Pentateuch" the Jewish Bible is 1st printed as a book in Bologna, Italy. 1531 - Lisbon hit by Earthquake; about 30,000 die. 1564 - The Council of Trent issued its conclusions…
1554 - Founding of the city of São Paulo in Brazil. 1565 - Battle at Talikota India: Deccan sultanate destroy Vijayanagar's army and the last Hindu kingdom of Southern India. 1840 - American…
41 - Claudius succeeds his nephew Caligula as Roman Emperor after the later's assassination by officers of the Praetorian Guard. 1857 - University of Calcutta founded as the first full-fledged university in South Asia. 1899 -…
971 - War elephant corps of the Southern Han defeated at Shao by crossbow fire from Song Dynasty troops; Southern Han state forced to submit to the Song Dynasty. 1st regular…
1689Â - Prince William of Orange (future King William III of Britain), summons Convention Parliament to discuss ruling jointly with his wife Mary (daughter of exiled King James II).1840 - Under…
1525 - The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in Zürich, breaking…
379 - Theodosius installed as co-emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire 1812 - Peninsular War: After a ten day siege, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, orders British soldiers of the Light and…
532 - Nika uprising against Emperor Justinian I in Constantinople fails, 30,000 killed by troops loyal to the Emperor in the Hippodrome 1591 - King Naresuan of Siam kills Crown Prince Minchit Sra of…