January 18 in History 474 – Seven-year-old Leo II succeeds his maternal grandfather Leo I as Byzantine emperor. He dies ten months later. 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople fail. 1126 – Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chinese throne in favour of his son Emperor Qinzong. 1486 – King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV uniting the House…
January 17 in History 38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey. 1362 – Saint Marcellus’ flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea. 1377 – Pope Gregory XI reaches Rome, after deciding to move…
January 14 in History 1236 – King Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence. 1301 – Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Árpád dynasty in Hungary. 1343 – Arnošt of Pardubice becomes the last bishop of Prague and, subsequently, the first Archbishop of Prague. 1539 – Spain annexes Cuba. 1639 – The “Fundamental Orders”, the…
January 10 in History 49 BC – Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signalling the start of civil war. AD 9 – The Western Han dynasty ends when Wang Mang claims that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the dynasty and the beginning of his own, the Xin dynasty. AD…
January 9 in History 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire. 681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain. 1127 – Jin–Song Wars:…
January 8 in History 307 – Jin Huaidi becomes emperor of China in succession to his father, Jin Huidi, despite a challenge from his uncle, Sima Ying 871 – Alfred the Great leads a West Saxon army to repel an invasion by Danelaw Vikings. 1297 – François Grimaldi, disguised as a monk, leads his men to…
January 5 in History 1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; the Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France. 1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French army beats Brandenburg. 1757 – Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, the…
January 3 in History 250 – Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (except Jews) to make sacrifices to the Roman gods. 1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem. 1653 – By the Coonan Cross Oath, the Eastern Church in India cuts itself off from colonial Portuguese tutelage.…
January 1 in History During the Middle Ages under the influence of the Catholic Church, many countries in western Europe decided to move the start of the year to one of several important Christian festivals – December 25 (the Nativity of Jesus), March…