A Daily Dose of History: Events on this Day in History

A Daily Dose of History (23 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul attacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico, defeating queen Yohl Ik'nal and sacking the city. Battle of Clontarf: High King of Ireland Brian Boru defeats Viking invaders, but is killed in battle. Edmund Ironside succeeds his father Æthelred the Unready as King of England. St. George's Night U...

A Daily Dose of History (22 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne. Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico. Treat...

A Daily Dose of History (22 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne. Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico. Treat...

A Daily Dose of History (20 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: The Sapienza University of Rome is instituted by a bull of Pope Boniface VIII. Three Genoese galleys and a Byzantine blockade runner fight their way through an Ottoman blockading fleet a few weeks before the fall of Constantinople. Jacques Cartier begins his first voyage to what is today the east coast of Canada, Newfoundland and Lab...

A Daily Dose of History (19 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: The freedman Milichus betrays Piso's plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all the conspirators are arrested. Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persians at Raqqa (northern Syria). Empress Irene organizes a conspiracy against her son, the Byzantine emperor Constantine VI. He is deposed and blinded....

A Daily Dose of History (18 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The patrician Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days. Peace of Ferrara between Republic of Venice, Duchy of Milan, Republic of Florence and House of Gonzaga: ending of the second campaign of the Wars in Lombardy fought...

A Daily Dose of History (17 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized. The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of Hasan II. Kaunas Castle falls to the Teutonic Order after a month-long siege. Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe...

A Daily Dose of History (16 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: Defeated by Vitellius' troops at Bedriacum, Otho commits suicide. Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the First Jewish-Roman War. Stefan Dušan, "the Mighty", is crowned Emperor of the Serbs at Skopje, his empire occupying much of the Balkans. The Revolt of the Comuneros begins in Spain...

A Daily Dose of History (15 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: The Lateran Council condemns the Council of Hieria and anathematizes its iconoclastic rulings. 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 installs a puppet ruler on the throne. Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defe...

A Daily Dose of History (14 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: Vitellius, commander of the Rhine armies, defeats Emperor Otho in the Battle of Bedriacum to take power over Rome. After his marriage to the Christian Doubravka of Bohemia, the pagan ruler of the Polans, Mieszko I, converts to Christianity, an event considered to be the founding of the Polish state. Co-Emperor Otto II, a son of Otto...

A Daily Dose of History (13 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire. Miyamoto Musashi defeats Sasaki Kojirō at Funajima island. Samuel Argall, having captured Pocahontas in Passapatanzy, Virginia, sets off with her to Jamestown with the intention of exchanging her for English prisoners held by her fat...

A Daily Dose of History (11 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi. War of the League of Cambrai: Franco-Ferrarese forces led by Gaston de Foix and Alfonso I d'Este win the Battle of Ravenna against the Papal-Spanish forces. Italian War of 1542-46: A French army def...

A Daily Dose of History (10 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople. Three years later, he would be deposed due to alleged heresy. Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles). Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa Lama visits the Ming dynasty capital at Nanjing. He is awarded the...

A Daily Dose of History (09 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: The distinguished soldier Septimus Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum. Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (Enkyklikon) to the bishops of his empire, supporting the Monophysite christological position. Siege of Rome: The Byzantine general Belisarius receives his promised reinforcements, 1,600 cav...

A Daily Dose of History (08 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: Roman emperor Caracalla is assassinated and is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus. The Battle of Dayr al-'Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids. Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated by Innocent II for supporting Anacletus II as pope for seven years, even though Roger had already publicly recognized In...

A Daily Dose of History (07 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: Attila the Hun captures Metz in France, killing most of its inhabitants and burning most of the town. First Corpus Juris Civilis, a fundamental work in jurisprudence, is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I. Empress Matilda becomes the first female ruler of England, adopting the title 'Lady of the English'. Holy Roman Emperor...

A Daily Dose of History (06 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath. Mehmed II begins his siege of Constantinople. The city falls on May 29, and is renamed Istanbul. One of the largest earthquakes recorded in the history of England, Flanders, or Northern France, takes place. At the Cape of Good Hope, Dutch sailor Jan van Rie...

A Daily Dose of History (05 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I. 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. During the Battle on the Ice of Lake Peipus, Russian forces, led by Alexander Nevsky, rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knigh...

A Daily Dose of History (04 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: King Louis the Pious captures Barcelona from the Moors after a siege of several months. A five-year Byzantine-Venetian peace treaty is concluded between Venetian envoys and Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. Francis Drake is knighted by Queen Elizabeth I for completing a circumnavigation of the world. Moriscos are expelled from the Ki...

A Daily Dose of History (03 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: Maya king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' assumes the crown of Calakmul. Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. The Patriarchate of Friûl, the first Friulian state, is created. The second of two the treaties making up the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis is signed, ending the Italian Wars. Robert Walpole becomes, in effect, the first Prim...

A Daily Dose of History (02 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Johns River. Commodore William James captures the Maratha fortress of Suvarnadurg on the west coast of India. The Coinage Act i...

A Daily Dose of History (01 Apr 2024) Today's historical events: According to one historian's account, Jesus Christ's Last Supper is held. Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne. In the Eighty Years' War, the Watergeuzen capture Brielle from the Seventeen Provinces, gaining the first foothold on land for what would become the Dutch Republic....

A Daily Dose of History (30 Mar 2024) Today's historical events: Balkan Campaign: The Avars lift the siege at the Byzantine stronghold of Tomis. Their leader Bayan I retreats north of the Danube River after the Avaro-Slavic hordes are decimated by the plague. The people of Sicily rebel against the Angevin king Charles I, in what becomes known as the Sicilian Vespers. Edward I sacks Berwick-upon-Tw...

A Daily Dose of History (29 Mar 2024) Today's historical events: Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving. The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of Venice. Battle of Towton: Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England, bringing a temporary stop to the Wars o...

A Daily Dose of History (28 Mar 2024) Today's historical events: Roman emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, bestowed on him by the Senate. After assassinating the Roman Emperor Pertinax, his Praetorian Guards auction off the throne to Didius Julianus. Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor. The foundation stone of Valletta, Malta's capital city...