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

A Daily Dose of History (01 Feb 2024) Today's historical events: The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights (Prussia). The Chinese general Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege. The Kalabalik or Skirmish at Bender results from the Ottoman sultan's order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized. French Re...

A Daily Dose of History (31 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades. The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain receives the Kingdom of Naples. Eighty Years' War and Anglo-Spanish War: The Battle of Gembloux is a victory for Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria over...

A Daily Dose of History (30 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom. 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. Eighty Years' War: The Treaty of Münster and Osnabrüc...

A Daily Dose of History (29 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. 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. Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore. "The...

A Daily Dose of History (28 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: 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. Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, is lifted after he humbles himself before Pope Gregory VII at Canossa in Italy. Edward VI, the nine-year-old son of Henry...

A Daily Dose of History (27 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent. Dante Alighieri is condemned in absentia and exiled from Florence. Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan and Caliph of Islam in Istanbul on the death of Ahmed II. Mustafa rules until his abdication in 1703. Spani...

A Daily Dose of History (26 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War. For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers. The 8.7-9.2 Mw Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records. The British First Fl...

A Daily Dose of History (25 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate. Alfonso II becomes King of Naples. Coronation of Francis I of France takes place at Reims Cathedral, where the new monarch is anointed with the oil of Clovis and girt with the sword of Charlemagne. Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife...

A Daily Dose of History (24 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula. The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV. Matthias Corvinus is elected King of Hungary. King Henry VIII of England suffers an accident while jousting, leading to a brain injury that historians say may hav...

A Daily Dose of History (23 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Roman emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor. Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao. In the conflict between King Henry III of England and his rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, King Louis IX of France issues the Mise of Amiens,...

A Daily Dose of History (22 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrives at the Vatican. The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and captures present-day Egypt at the Battle of Ridaniya. The Ava Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in what is now Myanmar. The Convention Parliament convenes to determine whether James II and VII, the las...

A Daily Dose of History (21 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union. Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm. The RMS Tayleur sinks off Lambay Island on her maiden...

A Daily Dose of History (20 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: The first English parliament to include not only Lords but also representatives of the major towns holds its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now commonly known as the "Houses of Parliament". Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland. Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway. Battle of Rio de J...

A Daily Dose of History (19 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrender after a forty-day siege led by Tang dynasty general Ashina She'er, establishing Tang control over the northern Tarim Basin in Xinjiang. Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England, completing his reconquest of Normandy. The Italian Duchy of Mirandola surrenders to the Po...

A Daily Dose of History (18 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Nika riots in Constantinople fail. Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chinese throne in favour of his son Emperor Qinzong. King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, uniting the House of Lancaster and the House of York. Pope Pius IV reopens the Council of Trent for its third and final session. Henry Morgan...

A Daily Dose of History (17 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea. Pope Gregory XI reaches Rome, after deciding to move the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon. Giovanni da Verrazzano sets sail westward from Madeira to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean. France grants religious toleration to the Huguenots in the Edic...

A Daily Dose of History (16 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III establishes the Caliphate of Córdoba. Saint Marcellus's flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea. Bigod's Rebellion, an armed insurrection attempting to resist the English Reformation, begins. Grand Duke Ivan IV of Muscovy becomes the first Tsar of Russia, replacing the 264-year-old Gra...

A Daily Dose of History (15 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London. Truce of Yam-Zapolsky: Russia cedes Livonia to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The British Museum opens to the public. American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present-day Vermont) declares its independence. Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris addresses...

A Daily Dose of History (14 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: King Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence. Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Árpád dynasty in Hungary. The "Fundamental Orders", the first written constitution that created a government, is adopted in Connecticut. The Third Battle of Panipat is fought in India between the Afghans under Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Mara...

A Daily Dose of History (13 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Sicut Dudum, forbidding the enslavement of the Guanche natives in Canary Islands by the Spanish, is promulgated by Pope Eugene IV. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, is sentenced to death for treason, on the grounds of having quartered his arms to make them similar to those of the King, Henry VIII of England. French Revolutionary Wars: A...

A Daily Dose of History (12 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reigned since his election in June 1523. Bayinnaung, who would go on to assemble the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, is crowned King of Burma. The city of Belém, Brazil is founded on the Amazon River delta, by Portuguese captain Francisco Caldeira Castelo B...

A Daily Dose of History (11 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia becomes King of Bohemia. Arauco War: A Spanish army is defeated by local Mapuche-Huilliches as it tries to cross Bueno River in Southern Chile. A powerful earthquake destroys parts of Sicily and Malta. The first American life insurance company, the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Presbyter...

A Daily Dose of History (10 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Pope Fabian succeeds Anterus to become the twentieth pope of Rome. Robert Guiscard conquers Palermo in Sicily for the Normans. Philip the Good, the Duke of Burgundy, establishes the Order of the Golden Fleece, the most prestigious, exclusive, and expensive order of chivalry in the world. Stephen III of Moldavia defeats the Ottoman Em...

A Daily Dose of History (09 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain. Jin-Song Wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin dynasty besiege and sack Bianjing (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song dynasty of China, and abduct Emperor Qinzong of Song and others, endin...

A Daily Dose of History (08 Jan 2024) Today's historical events: Jin Huaidi becomes emperor of China in succession to his father, Jin Huidi, despite a challenge from his uncle, Sima Ying. François Grimaldi, disguised as a monk, leads his men to capture the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco, establishing his family as the rulers of Monaco. The papal bull Romanus Pontifex awards the Kingdom of...