Events The real power is in the hands of the magister militum Ricimer. 636 – The Rashidun Caliphate defeats the Sasanian Empire at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah in Iraq. 1493 – Christopher Columbus goes ashore on an island called Borinquen he first saw the day before. He names it San Juan Bautista (later renamed again… Read More
Events 401 – The Visigoths, led by king Alaric I, cross the Alps and invade northern Italy. 1095 – The Council of Clermont begins: called by Pope Urban II, it led to the First Crusade to the Holy Land. 1493 – Christopher Columbus first sights the island now known as Puerto Rico. 1494 – French… Read More
Events 887 – Emperor Charles the Fat is deposed by the Frankish magnates in an assembly at Frankfurt, leading his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia, to declare himself king of the East Frankish Kingdom in late November. 1183 – Genpei War: The Battle of Mizushima takes place off the Japanese coast, where Minamoto no Yoshinaka’s invasion… Read More
Events Li Jing removes the ruling family to his own capital in Nanjing, ending the Chu Kingdom. 1272 – While travelling during the Ninth Crusade, Prince Edward becomes King of England upon Henry III of England’s death, but he will not return to England for nearly two years to assume the throne. 1532 – Francisco… Read More
Events 655 – Battle of the Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria. 1315 – Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy: The Schweizer Eidgenossenschaft ambushes the army of Leopold I in the Battle of Morgarten. 1532 – Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire: Commanded by Francisco Pizarro, Spanish conquistadors under Hernando de… Read More
Events 1770 – James Bruce discovers what he believes to be the source of the Nile. 1812 – Napoleonic Wars: At the Battle of Smoliani, French Marshals Victor and Oudinot are defeated by the Russians under General Peter Wittgenstein. 1910 – Aviator Eugene Burton Ely performs the first takeoff from a ship in Hampton Roads,… Read More
Events 1002 – English king Æthelred II orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St. Brice’s Day massacre. 1093 – Battle of Alnwick: in an English victory over the Scots, Malcolm III of Scotland, and his son Edward, are killed. 1642 – First English Civil War: Battle of Turnham Green:… Read More
