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February 6 in History AD 60 – The earliest date for which the day of the week is known. A graffito in Pompeii identifies this day as a dies Solis (Sunday). In modern reckoning, this date would have been a Wednesday. 1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop. 1685 – James II of England and…
February 5 in History AD 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy. 756 – An Lushan, leader of a revolt against the Tang Dynasty, declares himself emperor and establishes the state of Yan. 789 – Idris I reaches Volubilis and founds the Idrisid dynasty, ceding Morocco from the Abbasid caliphate and founding the first Moroccan state. 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion. 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians are killed by the…
This day marks the approximate midpoint of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and of summer in the Southern Hemisphere (starting the season at the December solstice). February 4 in History 211 – Following the death of Rome’s Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the…
February 3 in History 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states. 1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire. 1488 – Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south. 1509 – The Portuguese navy defeats a…
February 2 in History 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum), a collection of “Roman law”. 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath in Saxony. 962 – Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years. 1032 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes king…
February 1 in History 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer. 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights (Prussia). 1662 – The Chinese general Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege. 1713 – The Kalabalik or Skirmish at Bender results from the Ottoman sultan’s order that…
January 31 in History 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as a successor to the late Pope Miltiades. 1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the throne as King Eric X of Sweden. 1504 – The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French…
January 30 in History 1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen. 1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom. 1607 – An estimated 200 square miles (51,800 ha) along the coasts of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary in England are destroyed by massive flooding, resulting in an estimated 2,000 deaths. 1648 – Eighty Years’ War: The Treaty of Münster and Osnabrück is…
January 29 in History 904 – Sergius III is consecrated pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu’izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by Al-Muti as caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate. 1258 – First Mongol invasion of Đại Việt: Đại Việt defeats the Mongols at the battle of Đông Bộ Đầu, forcing the…
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 and killed by rebels. This incident leads to the Harrying of the North. 1077 – Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry…