June 4 in History 1411 – King Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries. 1561 – The steeple of St Paul’s, the medieval cathedral of London, is destroyed in a fire caused by lightning and…
May 21 in History 293 – Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Galerius as Caesar to Diocletian, beginning the period of four rulers known as the Tetrarchy. 878 – Syracuse, Sicily, is captured by the Muslim Aghlabids after a nine-month siege. 879 – Pope John VIII gives blessings to Branimir of Croatia and to the Croatian people, considered to be international recognition…
April 26 in History 1336 – Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux. 1478 – The Pazzi family attack Lorenzo de’ Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in Florence Cathedral. 1564 – Playwright William Shakespeare is baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (date of actual birth is unknown). 1607 – English colonists make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia. 1721 – A…
April 19 in History AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Piso’s plot to kill Emperor Nero and all the conspirators are arrested. 531 – Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persians at Raqqa (northern Syria). 797 – Empress Irene organizes a conspiracy against her son, the Byzantine emperor Constantine VI.…
April 10 in History 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople. 837 – Halley’s Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles). 1407 – Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa Lama visits the Ming dynasty capital at Nanjing. He is awarded the title “Great Treasure Prince of…
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.…
April 2 in History 1513 – Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León first sights land in what is now the United States state of Florida. 1755 – Commodore William James captures the Maratha fortress of Suvarnadurg on west coast of India. 1792 – The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint. 1800 – Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere…
It is the first day of the second quarter of the year, and the midway point of the first half of the year. April 1 in History 33 – According to one historian’s account, Jesus Christ’s Last Supper is held.…
March 30 in History 598 – Balkan Campaign: The Avars lift the siege at the Byzantine stronghold of Tomis. Their leader Bayan I retreats north of the Danube River after the Avaro-Slavic hordes are decimated by the plague. 1282 – The people of Sicily rebel against the Angevin king Charles I, in what becomes known as the Sicilian Vespers. 1296 – Edward I sacks Berwick-upon-Tweed, during armed…
March 16 in History 934 – Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang. 1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford’s Tower, York. 1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse to recant are burned to death after the Fall of Montségur. 1322 – The Battle of Boroughbridge takes place…