Events 671 – Emperor Tenji of Japan introduces a water clock (clepsydra) called Rokoku. The instrument, which measures time and indicates hours, is placed in the capital of Ōtsu. 1190 – Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the river Saleph while leading an army to Jerusalem. 1329 – The Battle of Pelekanon results in… Read More

Events 411 BC – The Athenian coup succeeds, forming a short-lived oligarchy. AD 68 – Nero commits suicide, after quoting Vergil’s Aeneid, thus ending the Julio-Claudian dynasty and starting the civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors. 721 – Odo of Aquitaine defeats the Moors in the Battle of Toulouse. 747 –… Read More

Events 218 – Battle of Antioch: With the support of the Syrian legions, Elagabalus defeats the forces of emperor Macrinus. 793 – Vikings raid the abbey at Lindisfarne in Northumbria, commonly accepted as the beginning of Norse activity in the British Isles. 1042 – Edward the Confessor becomes King of England – the country’s penultimate… Read More

Events 1099 – First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins. 1420 – Troops of the Republic of Venice capture Udine, ending the independence of the Patria del Friuli. 1494 – Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas which divides the New World between the two countries. 1776 – Richard Henry Lee presents the “Lee… Read More

Events 1513 – Battle of Novara. In the Italian Wars, Swiss troops defeat the French under Louis II de la Trémoille, forcing them to abandon Milan; Duke Massimiliano Sforza is restored. 1523 – Swedish regent Gustav Vasa is elected King of Sweden and, marking a symbolic end to the Kalmar Union, 6 June is designated… Read More

Events 1283 – Battle of the Gulf of Naples: Roger of Lauria, admiral to King Peter III of Aragon, destroys the Neapolitan fleet and captures Charles of Salerno. 1288 – The Battle of Worringen ends the War of the Limburg Succession, with John I, Duke of Brabant, being one of the more important victors. 1644… Read More

Events 1615 – Siege of Osaka: Forces under Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan. 1745 – Battle of Hohenfriedberg: Frederick the Great’s Prussian army decisively defeated an Austrian army under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine during the War of the Austrian Succession. 1760 – Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive to claim land in… Read More