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…
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…
April 8 in History 217 – Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated. He is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus. 632 – King Charibert II is assassinated at Blaye (Gironde), along with his infant son Chilperic. 876 – The Battle of Dayr al-‘Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids. 1093 – The new Winchester Cathedral is dedicated by Walkelin. 1139 – Roger II of…
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.…
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…
March 28 in History AD 37 – Roman emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, bestowed on him by the Senate. 193 – After assassinating the Roman Emperor Pertinax, his Praetorian Guards auction off the throne to Didius Julianus. 364 – Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor. 1566 – The foundation stone of Valletta, Malta’s capital…
March 13 in History 1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years’ War. 1591 – At the Battle of Tondibi in Mali, Moroccan forces of the Saadi dynasty, led by Judar Pasha, defeat the Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at least five to…
March 3 in History 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire. 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan. 1575 – Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Sultan of Bengal Daud Khan Karrani’s army at the Battle of Tukaroi. 1585 – The Olympic Theatre, designed by Andrea Palladio,…