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 25 in History 567 BC – Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans. 240 BC – First recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet. 1085 – Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo,…
May 23 in History 1430 – Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to raise the Siege of Compiègne. 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy. 1533 – The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void. 1568 – Dutch rebels…
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 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 7 in History 451 – Attila the Hun sacks the town of Metz and attacks other cities in Gaul. 529 – First draft of the Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I. 611 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul sacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico. 1141 – Empress Matilda became…
April 6 in History 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 – The Scots reaffirm their independence by…
April 5 in History 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 to full power.…
March 29 in History 845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving. 1430 – The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of Venice. 1461 – Battle of Towton: Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England, bringing a temporary…
March 23 in History 1400 – The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official. 1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of…