Events 1500 – Ludovico Sforza is captured by Swiss troops at Novara and is handed over to the French. 1606 – The Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America. 1741 – War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia gains… Read More

Events 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground. 537 – Siege of Rome: The Byzantine general Belisarius receives his promised reinforcements, 1,600 cavalry, mostly of Hunnic or Slavic origin and expert bowmen. He starts, despite shortages, raids against the Gothic camps and Vitiges is forced… Read More

Events 217 – Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated. He is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus. 632 – King Charibert II is assassinated at Blaye (Gironde), along with his infant son Chilperic. 876 – The Battle of Dayr al-‘Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids. 1232 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols begin their… Read More

Events 451 – Attila the Hun sacks the town of Metz and attacks other cities in Gaul. 611 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul sacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico. 1141 – Empress Matilda became the first female ruler of England, adopting the title ‘Lady of the English’. 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan arrives… Read More

Events 46 BC – Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) at the Battle of Thapsus. 402 – Stilicho defeats the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia. 1250 – Seventh Crusade: Ayyubids of Egypt capture King Louis IX of France in the Battle of Fariskur. 1320 –… Read More

Events 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I. 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa’im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his army. 1081 – Alexios I Komnenos is crowned Byzantine emperor at Constantinople, bringing the Komnenian dynasty… Read More

Events 503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines. 1147 – Moscow is mentioned for the first time in the historical record, when it is named as a meeting place for two princes. 1268 – A five-year Byzantine–Venetian peace treaty is concluded between Venetian envoys… Read More