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

A Daily Dose of History (10 Feb 2026) Today's historical events: Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end. In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, sparking the revolution in the Wars of Scottish Independence. The St Scholastica Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and p...

A Daily Dose of History (09 Feb 2026) Today's historical events: Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland. Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake. Gregory XV becomes Pope, the last Pope elected by acclamation. The Capture of Fort Rocher takes place during the Anglo-Spanish W...

A Daily Dose of History (08 Feb 2026) Today's historical events: Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir. Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al Mansurah. The Byzantine civil war of 1341-47 ends with a power-sharing agreement between John VI Kantakouzenos and John V Palaiologos. Leiden University is...

A Daily Dose of History (07 Feb 2026) Today's historical events: Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor. Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II. Edward of Caernarvon (later king Edward II of England) becomes the first English Prince of Wales. King Thihathu founds the Pinya Kingdom as the de jure...

A Daily Dose of History (06 Feb 2026) Today's historical events: The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop. James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of his brother Charles II. The warrior queen Dandara, leader of the runaway slaves in Quilombo dos Palmares, Brazil, is captured and commits suicide rath...

A Daily Dose of History (05 Feb 2026) Today's historical events: Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy. An Lushan, leader of a revolt against the Tang Dynasty, declares himself emperor and establishes the state of Yan. Idris I reaches Volubilis and founds the Idrisid dynasty, marking the secession of Morocco from the Abbasid caliphate and founding the first Moroccan state. Henry of Navarre abjures Catholic...

A Daily Dose of History (04 Feb 2026) Today's historical events: Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrelling sons, Caracalla and Geta, whom he had instructed to make peace. The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song, in...

A Daily Dose of History (03 Feb 2026) Today's historical events: Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire. 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. The Portuguese navy defeats a joint fleet of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Su...

A Daily Dose of History (02 Feb 2026) Today's historical events: Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III of France is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath in Saxony. Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years. Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes king of Burgundy. Terra Mariana, eventually comprising...

A Daily Dose of History (01 Feb 2026) Today's historical events: The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer. 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...

A Daily Dose of History (31 Jan 2026) Today's historical events: Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades. 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. The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain rece...

A Daily Dose of History (30 Jan 2026) 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 2026) 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. War of the Sixth Coalition: France defeats Russia and P...

A Daily Dose of History (29 Jan 2026) 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. First Mongol invasion of Đại Việt: Đại Việt defeats the...

A Daily Dose of History (29 Jan 2026) 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. War of the Sixth Coalition: France defeats Russia and P...

A Daily Dose of History (29 Jan 2026) 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. War of the Sixth Coalition: France defeats Russia and P...

A Daily Dose of History (25 Jan 2026) Today's historical events: After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate. In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty. Alfonso II becomes King of Naples. Coronation of Francis I of France takes place at Reims Cathedral, where the new monarch is anointed w...

A Daily Dose of History (24 Jan 2026) 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 2026) 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 2026) Today's historical events: Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (Caesar) by his father Heraclius at Constantinople. Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vikings at Basing. The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrives at the Vatican. The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate...

A Daily Dose of History (29 Jul 2025) Today's historical events: The Praetorian Guard storm the palace and capture Pupienus and Balbinus. They are dragged through the streets of Rome and executed. On the same day, Gordian III, age 13, is proclaimed emperor, the sixth emperor of the year. Pakal ascends the throne of Palenque at the age of 12. Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripo...

A Daily Dose of History (28 Jul 2025) Today's historical events: Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of treason. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day. La Laguna encomienda, known today as the Laguna province in the Philippines, is founded by the Spaniards as one of the oldest encomiendas (provinces) in the country. In the Eighty Y...

A Daily Dose of History (27 Jul 2025) Today's historical events: Siward, Earl of Northumbria, invades Scotland and defeats Macbeth, King of Scotland somewhere north of the Firth of Forth. Friedrich Barbarossa arrives at Niš, the capital of Serbian King Stefan Nemanja, during the Third Crusade. Georgian-Seljuk wars: At the Battle of Basian the Kingdom of Georgia defeats the Sultanate of Rum. Battle...

A Daily Dose of History (26 Jul 2025) Today's historical events: First Fitna: In the Battle of Siffin, troops led by Ali ibn Abu Talib clash with those led by Muawiyah I. Battle of Pliska: Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros I is killed and his heir Staurakios is seriously wounded. Rout of an alliance of Christian troops from Navarre and Léon against the Muslims at the Battle of Valdejunquera. Henry VII...

A Daily Dose of History (25 Jul 2025) Today's historical events: Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops. Climax of the Siege of Thessalonica by the Slavs in a three-day assault on the city walls. The Edict of Pistres of Charles the Bald orders defensive measures against the Vikings. Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Prince Louis, later King Louis VII of France, at the Cathedral of Sain...