June 9 in History 411 BC – The Athenian coup succeeds, forming a short-lived oligarchy. AD 53 – The Roman emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia. AD 68 – Nero commits suicide, after quoting Homer’s Iliad, thus ending the Julio-Claudian dynasty and starting the civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors. 721 – Odo of Aquitaine defeats the Moors in…
June 6 in History 913 – The 8-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, Constantine VII, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire, under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed by Constantine’s uncle Alexander III on his deathbed. 1513 – Italian Wars: Battle of…
May 31 in History 455 – Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome. 1223 – Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River: Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus’ and Cumans. 1293 – Mongol invasion of Java was a punitive expedition against King Kertanegara of Singhasari, who had refused to pay tribute to…
April 3 in History 686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich’aak K’ahk’ assumes the crown of Calakmul. 801 – King Louis the Pious captures Barcelona from the Moors after a siege of several months. 1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. 1077 – The first Parliament of Friuli is created. 1559 – The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis treaty is signed, ending the Italian Wars. 1860 – The first…
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 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,…
February 28 in History 202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty. 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes. 1246 – The siege of Jaén ends in the context of the Spanish Reconquista resulting in the Castilian takeover of…
February 19 in History 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies. 356 – Emperor Constantius II issues a decree closing all pagan temples in the Roman Empire. 1594 – Having already been elected to the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1587, Sigismund III of…
February 14 in History 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt. 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages. 1014 – Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy,…
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…