June 10 in History 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…
June 9 in History 411 BC – The Athenian coup succeeds, forming a short-lived oligarchy. AD 53 – The Roman emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia. AD 68 – Nero commits suicide, after quoting Homer’s Iliad, 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…
June 6 in History 913 – The 8-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, Constantine VII, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire, under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed by Constantine’s uncle Alexander III on his deathbed. 1513 – Italian Wars: Battle of…
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 27 in History 1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens.At least 600 Jews are killed. 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death. 1153 – Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland. 1199 – John is crowned King of England. 1257 – Richard of Cornwall,…
May 16 in History 946 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan. 1204 – Having been elected on May 9, Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire. 1426 – Gov. Thado of Mohnyin becomes king of Ava. 1527 –…
May 6 in History 1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance. 1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanish. 1536 – King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed…
April 23 in History 215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene. 599 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul attacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico, defeating queen Yohl Ik’nal and sacking the city. 711 – Dagobert III succeeds his father King Childebert III as King of the Franks.…
April 18 in History 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The patrician Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days. 1506 – The cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica is laid. 1518 – Bona Sforza is crowned as queen consort of Poland.…
April 15 in History 769 – The Lateran Council condemned the Council of Hieria and anathematized its iconoclastic rulings. 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscard. 1395 – Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde at the Battle of the Terek River. The Golden Horde capital city, Sarai, is razed to the ground and Timur…