January 28 in History 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession of his son Louis the Pious as ruler of the Frankish Empire. 1069 – Robert de Comines, appointed Earl of Northumbria by William the Conqueror, rides into Durham, England, where he is defeated…
January 27 in History AD 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule, the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent. 1186 – Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, marries Constance of…
January 26 in History 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph. 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes the sole emperor of the…
January 25 in History AD 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate. 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to overthrow of the dynasty. 1348 – A strong earthquake strikes the South Alpine region of Friuli in modern Italy,…
January 21 in History 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa. 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others…
January 20 in History 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution. 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom. 1265 – The first English parliament to include not only Lords but also representatives of the major…
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 13 in History 532 – The Nika riots break out, during the racing season at the Hippodrome in Constantinople, as a result of discontent with the rule of the Emperor Justinian I. 1435 – Sicut Dudum, forbidding the enslavement of the Guanche natives in Canary Islands by the Spanish, is promulgated by Pope…
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…