“Mordad 5th”—day 129th in the Iranian official calendar (236 days – 237 days in leap years – till the end of the year) July 26 in History 657 – First Fitna: In the Battle of Siffin, troops led by Ali ibn Abu Talib clash with those led…
July 13 in History 587 BC – Babylon’s siege of Jerusalem ends following the destruction of Solomon’s Temple. 1174 – William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173–74, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England. 1249 – Coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots. 1260 – The Livonian Order suffers its…
On this day the Summer solstice may occur in the Northern Hemisphere, and the Winter solstice may occur in the Southern Hemisphere. June 22 in History 217 BC – Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. 168 BC – Battle of Pydna: Romans under Lucius Aemilius…
May 30 in History AD 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem. Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall. The Romans build a circumvallation, cutting down all trees within fifteen kilometers.…
May 20 in History 325 – The First Council of Nicaea is formally opened, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church. 491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed Augusta is able to choose her successor for the Byzantine throne, after Zeno (late emperor) dies of dysentery. 685 – The Battle of Dun Nechtain is…
This day marks the approximate midpoint of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere (starting the season at the March equinox). May 5 in History 553 – The Second Council of Constantinople begins 1215 – Rebel barons renounce…
April 29 in history 1091 – Battle of Levounion: The Pechenegs are defeated by Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. 1386 – Battle of the Vikhra River: The Principality of Smolensk is defeated by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and becomes its vassal. 1429 – Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orléans. 1483 – Gran Canaria,…
April 14 in History 43 BC – Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Caesar’s assassin Decimus Brutus in Mutina, defeats the forces of the consul Pansa, but is then immediately defeated by the army of the other consul, Aulus Hirtius. AD 69 – Vitellius, commander of the Rhine armies, defeats Emperor Otho in the Battle of…
March 25 in History 708 – Pope Constantine succeeds Pope Sisinnius as the 88th pope. 717 – Theodosius III resigns the throne to the Byzantine Empire to enter the clergy. 919 – Romanos Lekapenos seizes the Boukoleon Palace in Constantinople and becomes regent of the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII. 1000 – Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah assassinates the eunuch chief minister Barjawan and assumes control of the government.…
February 11 in History 660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. AD 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming of age clears…