slug: balkh

label: Balkh

description: capital of Balkh District, Afghanistan

year_label: 329 BCE

text: Marching west to Bactra (Zariaspa), Alexander appoints Artabazus of Phrygia as the satrap of Bactria.

title: 329 BC

section: Events › By place › Macedonian Empire

year_label: 328 BCE

text: Understanding now the danger represented by his enemy, Alexander moves personally to relieve Maracanda, only to learn that Spitamenes has left Sogdiana. Spitamenes then attacks Bactra, from where he is repulsed with great difficulty by the satrap of Bactria, Artabazus of Phrygia.

title: 328 BC

year_label: 208 BCE

text: Antiochus III advances into Bactria, which is ruled by the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus I, and defeats Euthydemus at the Battle of the Arius. After resisting a siege of his capital Bactra (Balkh) by the Seleucids, Euthydemus obtains an honourable peace by which Antiochus promises Euthydemus' son Demetrius the hand of one of his daughters.

title: 208 BC

section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire

text: First Perso-Turkic War: The Sassanid Persians capture the cities Balkh and Herat (Afghanistan). They cross the Oxus River and repulse a Turkic invasion.

title: 589

section: Events › By place › Persia

text: The Rashidun army under Abdullah ibn Aamir invades Afghanistan, and captures the main forts in Khorasan (modern Iran). The Muslim Arabs occupy the cities of Balkh and Herat, which surrender peacefully.

title: 651

section: Events › By place › Arabian Caliphate

text: Spring – Forces under the Transoxianian emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad are victorious at Balkh (Northern Afghanistan) over Amr ibn al-Layth; the latter is captured and sent to Caliph Al-Mu'tadid in Baghdad. The Samanid Dynasty rules over Khorasan, as well as Transoxiana. A few months later, the Samanids conquer the Zaydid emirate of Tabaristan. This victory marks the beginning of the dispersion of the local Shi'ites by the new Sunni power.

title: 900

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate

date: November

text: November – Genghis Khan dispatches his youngest son Tolui, at the head of an army (around 50,000 men), into the Khwarazmian province of Khorasan. His forces also include 300 catapults, 700 mangonels to discharge pots filled with naphtha, 4,000 storming-ladders, and 2,500 sacks of earth for filling up moats. Among the first cities to fall is Termez (captured after a two-day siege) and later Balkh.

title: 1220

section: Events › By place › Mongol Empire

text: Dost Mohammad Barakzai, emir of Afghanistan, captures Balkh.

title: 1850


slug: baltic-sea

label: Baltic Sea

description: inland sea of the Atlantic Ocean basin

year_label: 325 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: (around this year) – Pytheas made a voyage of naval exploration to northwestern Europe, reaching Britain and the Baltic Sea, and mentioning Thule as the furthest island to the north in the Atlantic.

title: 325 BC

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Conflict & Security

text: Viking Age: First Viking raid, by Danes against the Baltic coast. Godfred destroys the Slav settlement of Reric (near present-day Wismar), used as a strategic trade route. The population is displaced or abducted, to Hedeby (Denmark).

title: AD 808

text: Danish Vikings attempt to subjugate the Curonians on the shoreline of the Baltic Sea, but they are repulsed. King Olof leads Swedish Vikings in retaliation, and attacks the towns of Seeburg and Apuolė (modern Courland).

title: 853

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: June 11

text: June 11 – Vladimir I (the Great), grand prince of Kiev, consolidates the Kievan realm from modern Ukraine to the Baltic Sea. Vladimir is proclaimed ruler (knyaz) of all Kievan Rus'.

title: 980

section: Crime & Justice

date: April 23

text: April 23 – Adalbert, exiled bishop of Prague, organises a mission to convert the Old Prussians in north-east Poland. On his way, Adalbert is murdered by pagans on the Baltic coast. His body is bought back for its weight in gold by Duke Bolesław I (the Brave).

title: 997

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Olaf Haraldsson, future king of Norway, makes raids in the Baltic Sea. He lands on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, wins a battle there, and forces the inhabitants to pay tribute.

title: 1008

section: Culture & Society

date: November 21

text: November 21 – Eric X is crowned – which is the first known coronation of a Swedish king. He strengthens his relationship with his brother-in-law, King Valdemar II of Denmark ("the Conqueror"). Shortly after, Valdemar conquers Danzig (modern-day Gdańsk) on the Baltic coast, and Eastern Pomerania from the Slavonic Wends.

title: 1210

text: Livonian Crusade: The Livonian Brothers of the Sword are absorbed into the Teutonic Order, as the autonomous Livonian Order. An Estonian rebellion begins on Saaremaa Island (located in the Baltic Sea).

title: 1237

text: The German cities of Lübeck, Wismar, and Rostock enter into a pact to defend against pirates of the Baltic Sea, laying the groundwork for the Hanseatic League.

title: 1259

date: February 16

text: February 16 – Livonian Crusade - Battle of Karuse: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order decisively, on the frozen surface of the Baltic Sea.

title: 1270

section: Events › Europe

date: May 24

text: May 24 – The Treaty of Stralsund ends the second war between Denmark and the Hanseatic League, an alliance of market towns across northern Europe along the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

title: 1370

section: Events › April–June

text: Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen of the Teutonic Knights guarantees peace with the Kalmar Union of Scandinavia by selling the Baltic Sea island of Gotland to Queen Margaret of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

title: 1409

section: Events › Date unknown

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: May 31

text: May 31 – The Swedish warship Mars, flagship of the Swedish Navy, catches fire while fighting against the navy of Denmark in the battle of Öland off of the coast of the island of the same name in the Baltic Sea, and sinks along with its crew of 350 sailors and 450 soldiers it had been transporting. The wreckage of the ship will go undiscovered for 447 years until being found on August 19, 2011.

title: 1564

date: February 22

text: February 22 (Gregorian), February 12 (Julian) – The Great Northern War begins with a joint invasion of Swedish territory in Germany and Latvia, by Denmark and Poland/Saxony. Sweden has control of the Baltic Sea and holds territory that includes Finland, Estonia, Latvia and parts of northern Germany. To challenge its power, an alliance is formed between Tsar Peter I of Russia, King Frederick IV of Denmark and Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. Sweden's ruler is the militaristic Charles XII, known as the "Swedish Meteor".

title: 1700

section: Events › January–March

date: April 24

text: April 24 – The Battle of Fehmarn takes place in the Baltic Sea as part of the Great Northern War. Ten warships of Denmark, under the command of Christian Gabel, overwhelm a force of Swedish Navy ships led by Carl Wachtmeister. By the time the battle ends the next day, five Swedish ships and 1,626 crewmen have been captured, and another 353 killed. The Danish navy suffers 65 deaths.

title: 1715

date: July 11

text: July 11 – Russia's Baltic Sea fleet is first spotted from the Swedish coast, starting the Russian Pillage of 1719–21 as part of the Great Northern War.

title: 1719

section: Events › July–September

date: July 9

text: July 9 – Russo-Swedish War – Second Battle of Svensksund: In a massive Baltic Sea battle of 300 ships, the Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian galley fleet: 304 Swedes are killed, 3,500 Russians killed and 6,000 captured, 51 Russian galleys and other rowing craft are sunk and 22 are taken.

title: 1790

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: June 21

text: June 21 – The Kiel Canal, connecting the North Sea to the Baltic across the base of the Jutland peninsula in Germany, is officially opened.

title: 1895

section: Events › June

date: June 15

text: June 15 – Sweden's Department of Foreign Affairs hosts a conference for delegates from Germany, Denmark, Norway, the UK, the Netherlands, Russia and Sweden to make agreements on fishing in the Arctic Ocean, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.

title: 1899

date: October 23

text: October 23 – WWI: The torpedoing of armored cruiser results in only 3 men being rescued from a crew of 675, the greatest single loss of life for the Imperial German Navy in the Baltic Sea during the war.

title: 1915

section: Events › October

date: December 5

text: December 5 – Estonian War of Independence: The British light cruiser strikes a mine and sinks near Saaremaa in the Baltic Sea, killing 11 sailors.

title: 1918

section: Events › December

date: August 18

text: August 18 – Russian Civil War: North Russia intervention – The Bolshevik fleet at Kronstadt, protecting Petrograd on the Baltic Sea, is substantially damaged by British Royal Navy Coastal Motor Boats (torpedo boats) and military aircraft in a combined operation.

title: 1919

section: Events › August

date: February 10

text: February 10 – General Józef Haller first performs Poland's Wedding to the Sea, a symbolic celebration of the restitution of Polish access to the Baltic Sea.

title: 1920

section: Events › February

date: August 2

text: August 2 – The White Sea–Baltic Canal, Stalin's 227 km ship canal constructed using forced labour in the Soviet Union, opens, connecting the White Sea with Lake Onega and the Baltic.

title: 1933

date: April

text: is sunk by Soviet submarine L-3 in the Baltic Sea while evacuating German troops and civilians as part of Operation Hannibal; 7,000–8,000 drown.

title: 1945

section: Events › April

date: June 13

text: June 13 – "Catalina affair": Soviet MiG-15 fighter planes shoot down a Swedish military Douglas C-47 Skytrain, carrying out signals intelligence gathering operations over the Baltic Sea, killing all 8 crew; three days later they shoot down a Catalina flying boat, searching for possible survivors.

title: 1952

section: Events › May–June

date: February 27

text: February 27 – The Soviet oil tanker Antonio Gramsci suffers a minor shipwreck in shallow waters shortly after leaving shore in Ventspils, resulting in a 5,000 ton oil spill, the largest that has ever occurred on the Baltic Sea.

title: 1979

date: January 14

text: January 14 – The Polish ferry sinks off the coast of Rügen in the Baltic Sea, killing 54 people.

title: 1993

section: Events › January

date: September 28

text: September 28 – The car ferry MS Estonia sinks in the Baltic Sea, killing 852 people.

title: 1994

section: Events › September


slug: baltimore

label: Baltimore

description: city in Maryland, United States

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: May 21

text: May 21 – The Maryland Democratic Party is founded by supporters of Andrew Jackson in Baltimore, and hosts its first meeting at the Baltimore Atheneum.

title: 1827

section: Culture & Society

date: March 7

text: March 7 – Baltimore City College, the third public high school in the United States, is established in Baltimore, Maryland.

title: 1839

date: April 2

text: April 2 – The Washingtonian movement for teetotalism is founded by a group of alcoholics in Baltimore, Maryland.

title: 1840

date: May 24

text: May 24 – The first electrical telegram is sent by Samuel Morse from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. to the B&O Railroad "outer depot" in Baltimore, saying "What hath God wrought".

title: 1844

text: Loyola College is chartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

title: 1852

date: May 23

text: May 23 – The Preakness Stakes horse race is run for the first time in Baltimore.

title: 1873

section: Events › May

text: February 22 – Johns Hopkins University is founded in Baltimore, Maryland.

title: 1876

section: Conflict & Security

date: July 16

text: July 16 – Great Railroad Strike of 1877: Riots by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad railroad workers in Baltimore lead to a sympathy strike and rioting in Pittsburgh, and a full-scale worker's rebellion in St. Louis, briefly establishing a communist government, before U.S. president Rutherford B. Hayes calls in the armed forces.

title: 1877

section: Events › July

text: March 7 – Alum Chine explosion: British freighter Alum Chine, carrying 343 tons of dynamite, explodes in the harbour of Baltimore, Maryland.

title: 1913

section: Events › March

date: September 27

text: September 27 – The first liberty ship, the , is launched at Baltimore.

title: 1941

date: November 3

text: November 3 – Carrie, an American supernatural horror film directed by Brian De Palma, is premiered in 17 theaters in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area.

title: 1976

section: Events › November

section: Health & Medicine

date: January 10

text: January 10 – The first successful heart transplant from a pig to a human patient occurs in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.

title: 2022

section: Deaths

date: March 26

text: March 26 – A container ship collides with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, causing a total collapse of the bridge and the deaths of six people.

title: 2024


slug: bangkok

label: Bangkok

description: capital of Thailand

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: April 21

text: April 21 – A Lak Mueang (city pillar) is erected on Rattanakosin Island, located on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River, by order of King Rama I, an act considered the founding of the capital city of Bangkok.

title: 1782

section: Events › April–June

date: April 6

text: April 6 – Rama I overthrows King Taksin of Siam (now Thailand) in a coup d'état, and moves the political capital from Thonburi, across the Chao Phraya River to Rattanakosin Island, the historic center of Bangkok.

title: 1782

section: Religion & Belief

date: March 22

text: March 22 – The Emerald Buddha is installed at the Wat Phra Kaew, on the grounds of the Grand Palace in Bangkok (or in 1785).

title: 1784

section: Events › January–March

date: May 15

text: May 15 – Mongkut is crowned as King (Rama IV) of Siam, at the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

title: 1851

text: April 6 – The first New Year's Day is observed, of the solar calendar adopted by Siamese King Chulalongkorn, with the 106th anniversary of Bangkok's founding in 1782 as its epoch (reference date).

title: 1888

date: March 10

text: March 10 – The Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 is signed in Bangkok.

title: 1909

section: Events › March–April

date: October

text: The Burma Railway is completed between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma (modern-day Myanmar) (415 km mi) by the Empire of Japan, to support its forces in the Burma campaign, using the forced labour of Asian civilians and Allied Prisoners of war.

title: 1943

section: Events › October

date: September 8

text: September 8 – SEATO is established in Bangkok, Thailand.

title: 1954

date: February 19

text: February 19 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established, at a meeting in Bangkok.

title: 1955

date: August 8

text: August 8 – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded in Bangkok, Thailand.

title: 1967

date: October 6

text: October 6 – Students gathering at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand are massacred, while protesting the return of ex-dictator Thanom Kittikachorn by a coalition of right-wing paramilitary and government forces, triggering the return of the military to government.

title: 1976

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: April 5

text: April 5 – Kuwait Airways Flight 422 is hijacked while en route from Bangkok, Thailand, to Kuwait. The hijackers demand the release of 17 Shiite Muslim prisoners held by Kuwait. Kuwait refuses to release the prisoners, leading to a 16-day siege across 3 continents. Two passengers are killed before the siege ends.

title: 1988

date: May 26

text: May 26 – Lauda Air Boeing 767 crashes near Bangkok, Thailand, killing all 223 people on board.

title: 1991

date: May 17

text: May 17 – Protests begin in Bangkok, Thailand, against the government of General Suchinda Kraprayoon, sparking a bloody crackdown.

title: 1992

date: May 19

text: May 19 – Protests in Bangkok, Thailand, end with a bloody military crackdown, killing 91 and injuring more than 2,100.

title: 2010

date: December 29

text: December 29 – Jeju Air Flight 2216, a Boeing 737-800 passenger flight from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, to Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, veers off the runway at Muan International Airport and crashes into a barrier, killing 179 people. Two injured survivors are reported.

title: 2024


slug: bangladesh

label: Bangladesh

description: country in South Asia

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: May 9

text: May 9 – A fleet of four Portuguese ships, commanded by João da Silveira from Portuguese India, arrived in Chittagong (now part of Bangladesh, but at the time part of the Sultanate of Bengal), reputed to be the wealthiest region in the Indian subcontinent.

title: 1518

text: September 8 – (11th waning of Tawthalin 939 ME) Min Phalaung, King of Arakan in what is now northern Myanmar and southern Bangladesh on the Bay of Bengal, enters his new palace in dedication ceremonies at the capital at Mrauk U.

title: 1577

section: Events › July–September

date: December 5

text: December 5 (30 Ramadan 1020 A.H.) – To celebrate the end of the daily fasting of the month of Ramadan, the Mughal Empire Army commander, Mubariz Khan, hosts the celebration banquet and learns that Pashtun rebel leader Khwaja Usman and 250 of his men have evacuated Bokainagar (modern-day Gouripur in Bangladesh) during the Mughal Army's holiday observance.

title: 1611

section: Events › October–December

date: March 12

text: March 12 – At Daulambapur, near Kamalganj in what is now the Sylhet Division in Bangladesh, a battle takes place between 4,500 troops led by General Islam Khan I of India's Mughal Empire, and 12,000 defenders led by the Afghan warlord Khwaja Usman. The Mughals are almost defeated until Usman is struck in the eye by an arrow fired from a crossbow.

title: 1612

date: July 1

text: July 1 – In India, Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan becomes the new Nawab of Bengal after the death of his father-in-law, Murshid Quli Khan. At the time, Bengal consists of what is now the nation of Bangladesh and the southeast Indian state of West Bengal and is subservient to the Mughal Empire.

title: 1727

date: September 18

text: September 18 – John Deane, a colonial administrator of Britain's British East India Company, returns to Calcutta (Kolkata) after an absence of more than two years, and takes office at Fort William to return to administering the Bengal Presidency, an area now covering the Indian state of West Bengal and the nation of Bangladesh.

title: 1728

section: Climate & Environment

date: October 7

text: October 7 – At least 300,000 people are killed when a tropical cyclone strikes the Bay of Bengal in India and modern-day Bangladesh. The storm sends 12 m high waves over the Sundarbans delta, and overflows the Hooghly River.

title: 1737

date: April 2

text: April 2 – A powerful earthquake along the border between modern-day Bangladesh and Myanmar causes a tsunami in the Bay of Bengal that kills at least 200 people.

title: 1762

date: April 13

text: April 13 – Warren Hastings begins his service for the British East India Company as Governor of Bengal, arriving at the company's headquarters at Fort William, outside of Calcutta, and including what are now parts of northeast India and Bangladesh. Hastings serves for two years, then later becomes Governor-General of India.

title: 1772

date: March 5

text: March 5 – The First Anglo-Burmese War begins in much of what is now Bangladesh, and lasts for almost two years until the surrender of territories by the Kingdom of Burma on February 24, 1826.

title: 1824

text: The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established in Bengal Province (modern-day Bangladesh).

title: 1913

section: Events › Date unknown

section: Births

date: March 17

text: March 17 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, founder, 2-time president and second prime minister of Bangladesh (d. 1975)

title: 1920

section: Births › March

date: September 28

text: September 28 – Sheikh Hasina, 10th Prime Minister of Bangladesh

title: 1947

section: Births › September

date: February 21

text: February 21 – In Dhaka, East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) police open fire on a procession of students, killing 4 people and starting a country-wide protest, which leads to the recognition of Bengali as one of the national languages of Pakistan. The day is later declared "International Mother Language Day" by UNESCO.

title: 1952

section: Events › January–February

date: November 29

text: November 29 – Foundation stone for Mirzapur Cadet College is laid in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh).

title: 1963

date: November 7

text: November 7 – Start of the 1968 movement in Pakistan, which leads to the resignation of General Ayub Khan, and ultimately the split of the country and formation of Bangladesh.

title: 1968

section: Events › November–December

date: November 13

text: November 13 – 1970 Bhola cyclone: A 120-mph (193 km/h) tropical cyclone hits the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (modern-day Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people (considered the 20th century's worst cyclone disaster). It gives rise to the temporary island of New Moore / South Talpatti.

title: 1970

date: April 17

text: April 17 – The People's Republic of Bangladesh forms under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Mujibnagor.

title: 1971

section: Events › April

date: August 25

text: August 25 – Bangladesh and eastern Bengal are flooded; thousands flee the area.

title: 1971

section: Events › August

date: December 16

text: December 16 – Victory Day of Bangladesh: The Pakistan Army in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) surrenders to the joint forces of India and the Bengali nationalist separatists, ending the Bangladesh Liberation War.

title: 1971

section: Events › December

date: March 25

text: March 25 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistani army starts Operation Searchlight in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) at midnight after President Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, a military ruler, voids election results that gave the Awami League an overwhelming majority in the parliament; start of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide. That ended the non-cooperation movement.

title: 1971

date: January 10

text: January 10 – Independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returns to Bangladesh after spending over nine months in prison in Pakistan.

title: 1972

section: Events › January

date: January 18

text: January 18 – Members of the Mukti Bahini lay down their arms to the government of the newly independent Bangladesh, 33 days after winning the war against the occupying Pakistan Army.

title: 1972

date: March 19

text: March 19 – India and Bangladesh sign the Indo-Bangladeshi Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace.

title: 1972

date: August 15

text: August 15 – Founder President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh is killed during a coup led by Major Syed Faruque Rahman.

title: 1975

date: October 16

text: October 16 – The last naturally occurring case of smallpox is diagnosed and treated, the victim being two-year-old Rahima Banu in Bangladesh.

title: 1975

date: August 29

text: August 29 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi national poet (b. 1899)

title: 1976

section: Deaths › August

date: April 24

text: April 24 – In northern Bangladesh, a cyclone kills 13 people and injures about 100 others.

title: 1977

date: May 30

text: May 30 – Bangladeshi President Ziaur Rahman is assassinated in Chittagong.[https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/30/newsid_4401000/4401129.stm]

title: 1981

date: January 14

text: January 14 – The head of Bangladesh's military dictatorship, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, announces his intentions to "turn Bangladesh into an Islamic state."

title: 1983

date: May 25

text: May 25 – Approximately 10,000 people are killed when Bangladesh is affected by the storm surge from Tropical Storm One (1B).

title: 1985

text: May 25 – The Bangladeshi double-decked ferry Shamia capsizes in the Meghna River, southern Barisal, Bangladesh, killing more than 500 by some estimates.

title: 1986

date: December 2

text: December 2 – A cyclone in Bangladesh leaves 5 million homeless and thousands dead.

title: 1988

text: April 26 – The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado, the deadliest tornado ever recorded, kills an estimated 1,300 people in the Dhaka Division of Bangladesh.

title: 1989

text: April 29 – A tropical cyclone hits Bangladesh, killing an estimated 138,000 people.

title: 1991

text: February 15 – Begum Khaleda Zia is re-elected as Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The country's second democratic election is marred by low voter turnout, due to several boycotts and pre-election violence, which has resulted in at least thirteen deaths.

title: 1996

text: May 13 – Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people.

title: 1996

text: November 16 – Up to 15,000 people are believed to have been killed after Cyclone Sidr hits Bangladesh.

title: 2007

text: February 25 – Soldiers of Bangladeshi border security force Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutiny and take the commanding army officers and their families hostages at the force's headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka. 57 army officers are killed along with 17 civilians by the mutineers.

title: 2009

text: September 5 – India and Bangladesh sign a pact to end their 40-year border demarcation dispute.

title: 2011

text: April 24 – The 2013 Savar building collapse, one of the worst industrial disasters in the world, kills 1,134 people in Bangladesh.

title: 2013

text: March 16 – The fifth ICC T20 World Cup in cricket is held in Bangladesh.

title: 2014

text: November 1 – Bangladesh faces a nationwide blackout.

title: 2014

text: April 25 – A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Nepal and causes 8,857 deaths in Nepal (including 19 at Everest base cammp), 130 in India, 27 in China and 4 in Bangladesh with a total of 9,018 deaths.

title: 2015

text: August 1 – 161 exclaves of Bangladesh within India or vice versa are ceded to the country that contained them.

title: 2015

text: June 6 – The governments of India and Bangladesh officially ratify their 1974 agreement to exchange enclaves along their border.

title: 2015

text: May 12 – A second major earthquake in Nepal, measuring 7.3 on the moment magnitude scale, results in 153 deaths in Nepal, 62 in India, 1 in China and 2 in Bangladesh, with a total of 218 deaths.

title: 2015

text: August 11 – 2019 Indian floods: At least 114 people, including 57 in Kerala, 30 in Karnataka and 27 in Maharashtra, are reported to have died in monsoon-related floods in India. At least 227 died across India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

title: 2019

text: November 4 – Amnesty International alleges that Bangladesh killed 466 people in 2018 under the guise of an anti-drugs campaign in what appears to be a wave of extrajudicial executions.

title: 2019

text: November 9 – Cyclone Bulbul kills seven in West Bengal, India and seven in Bangladesh. 2,000,000 people are evacuated.

title: 2019

text: May 21 – Cyclone Amphan makes landfall in eastern India and Bangladesh, killing over 100 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 4 million others. It causes over US$13 billion in damage, making it the costliest cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean, shattering the record previously held by Nargis.

title: 2020

text: May 9 – Cyclone Mocha forms in the Indian Ocean, killing over 400 people and injuring over 700 as it strikes Myanmar and Bangladesh.

title: 2023


slug: baptism

label: Baptism

description: Christian rite of admission and adoption, almost invariably with the use of water

section: Deaths

date: November 3

text: November 3 – Emperor Constantius II dies of a fever at Mopsuestia in Cilicia, age 44; on his deathbed he is baptised, and declares his cousin Julian rightful successor.

title: 361

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

section: Religion & Belief

text: Augustine is baptized on Easter Vigil by Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.

title: 387

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: The Lateran Council, convened by Pope Felix III, establishes conditions for readmitting to the Church those Christians who have been rebaptized by the Vandals.

title: 487

date: December 25

text: December 25 – Clovis I is baptized into the Catholic faith at Rheims, by Saint Remigius. The conversion strengthens the bonds between his Gallo-Roman subjects, led by their Catholic bishops.

title: 496

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: The Armenian bishop Kardutsat goes with 7 priests, on a missionary trip to the steppes north of the Caucasus. He succeeds in baptizing many Huns and in translating books into their language.

title: 585

section: Culture & Society

text: Agilulf, cousin of Authari (called "the Thuringian"), is raised on the shield (a ceremonial investment) by Lombard warriors in Milan. He becomes king of the Lombards, on advice of the Lombard dukes (dux). Agilulf marries widowed queen Theodelinda and is baptized to please her.

title: 591

text: Kubrat, ruler of the Bulgars, is baptised in Constantinople.

title: 619

date: April 19

text: April 19 – Eanflæd, daughter of Edwin of Northumbria, is born at a royal residence by the River Derwent. She is baptised by Paulinus, bishop of York.

title: 626

section: Events › By place › Britain

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: King Cenwalh of Wessex is driven from his kingdom by his brother-in-law, King Penda of Mercia (according to Bede). He flees to the court of king Anna of East Anglia, and is baptised while in exile. Penda overruns Wessex.

title: 645

text: Peada marries Alchflaed, daughter of King Oswiu of Bernicia, and is baptised at Ad Murum (in the region of Hadrian's Wall) by bishop Finan.

title: 653

text: Wulfhere appoints Æthelwealh as king of Sussex, and Æthelwealh is baptized in Mercia. He receives the recently-conquered territories in modern-day Hampshire.

title: 661

text: King Swithelm of Essex is converted to Christianity and baptised by Cedd, at the court of King Æthelwald of East Anglia, who acts as his sponsor. East Anglia may have held some sort of overlordship over Essex at this time (approximate date).

title: 662

text: Cædwalla of Wessex arrives in Rome and is baptised by pope Sergius I, taking the name Peter. He dies 10 days later and is buried at St. Peter's Basilica.

title: 689

section: Conflict & Security

text: Saxon Wars: King Charlemagne summons a major assembly of Saxon and Frankish lords at Paderborn, then leads his army across Saxony as far as the Lower Elbe, without significant resistance. Duke Widukind retreats with his 'rebel' forces beyond the Elbe, but then negotiates and exchanges hostages. Charlemagne returns to his palace at Attigny (Ardennes), followed by Widukind; here the Saxon leaders are baptized as Christians on Christmas Day. Widukind and the Saxon nobility swear fealty to Charlemagne.

title: 785

text: Harald Klak accepts Christianity, and is baptized with his wife and son Godfrid at Mainz.

title: 826

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: March

text: March – Viking raiders led by Weland are trapped at Trilbardou Bridge (Northern France), and submit to King Charles the Bald. He and his family accept Christianity (they are baptised) before leaving Neustria.

title: 862

section: Events › By place › Central Europe

text: Treaty of Wedmore: Guthrum agrees to a peace treaty and is baptised, taking the name of Aethelstan. England is divided between Wessex in the south, and the Vikings in the Danelaw up north. Guthrum returns to East Anglia.

title: 878

date: April 14

text: April 14 – Mieszko I, first duke and prince of Poland, is baptized a Christian, which is usually considered the foundation of the Polish state. Mieszko's baptism, under the influence of his wife Doubravka of Bohemia, brings his territories into the community of Christian countries. The lands ruled by Mieszko cover about 250,000 km², and are inhabited by about 1.2 million people around this time.

title: 966

section: Events › Europe

text: Olaf Tryggvason, already a baptised Christian, is confirmed as Christian in a ceremony at Andover. After receiving gifts from Æthelred II, Olaf leaves for Norway.

title: 994

section: Events › By place › England

text: King Eric VI (the Victorious) dies at Uppsala, after a 25-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Olof Skötkonung, as the first baptized Christian ruler of Sweden.

title: 995

text: The first documented reference of Gdańsk is made by Adalbert. During his mission he baptises the inhabitants of the city called Gyddannyzc.

title: 997

text: Olof Skötkonung, king of Sweden, is baptized in Husaby (Västergötland) by missionary Sigfrid, and makes generous donations on the spot.

title: 1008


slug: barack-obama

label: Barack Obama

description: 44th President of the United States (2009–2017)

section: Births

date: September 26

text: September 26 – Jack Hoffman, American high school football player and pediatric brain cancer patient who met President Barack Obama in 2013 (d. 2025)

title: 2005

date: November 4

text: November 4 – 2008 United States presidential election: Democratic U.S. Senator Barack Obama defeats Republican candidate John McCain and is elected the 44th President of the United States, making him the first African-American to be elected to the office.

title: 2008

section: Events › November

date: January 20

text: January 20 – Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, becoming the first African-American to hold the office.

title: 2009

date: November 2

text: November 2 – 2010 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, in the middle of Democratic President Barack Obama's first term. Republicans ended unified Democratic control of Congress and the presidency by winning a majority in the House of Representatives.

title: 2010

section: Crime & Justice

date: May 1

text: May 1 – U.S. President Barack Obama announces that Osama bin Laden, the founder and leader of the militant group Al-Qaeda, was killed on May 2, 2011 (PKT, UTC+05) during an American military operation in Pakistan.

title: 2011

section: Events › May

date: November 6

text: November 6 – 2012 United States presidential election: Barack Obama is reelected President of the United States, defeating his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

title: 2012

section: Economy & Finance

date: April 28

text: April 28 – United States President Barack Obama's new economic sanctions against Russia go into effect, targeting companies and individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

title: 2014

section: Events › April

date: December 17

text: December 17 – U.S. President Barack Obama announces the resumption of normal diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

title: 2014

date: March 21

text: March 21 – Barack Obama visits Cuba, marking the first time a sitting US president has visited the island nation since President Calvin Coolidge visited in 1928.

title: 2016

section: Events › March


slug: barbados

label: Barbados

description: island nation in the Caribbean

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Crew of the Olive become the first English visitors to Barbados.

title: 1605

section: Events › Date unknown

text: An English colony is established in Barbados.

title: 1625

date: February 17

text: February 17 – England lands the first European settlers on Barbados.

title: 1627

section: Events › January–March

date: October 30

text: October 30 – The Commonwealth of England government passes a law prohibiting trade between English merchants and English colonies that had sided with Charles II over Oliver Cromwell. Specifically labeled as rebel colonies for purposes of the ban are the North American colonies of Virginia and the Somers Isles (alias Bermuda), as well as the Caribbean islands of Barbados and Antigua.

title: 1650

section: Events › October–December

text: About 1,200 Irish families sail from Barbados to Virginia and the Carolinas.

title: 1678

date: October 21

text: October 21 – In Barbados, a slave revolt is crushed.

title: 1692

date: October 3

text: October 3 – The Liverpool Merchant, the first slave ship to depart from the Port of Liverpool, sets sail for West Africa where it embarks hundreds of African slaves and sails for Barbados, arriving there on September 18, 1700 with 220 slaves on board.

title: 1699

section: Health & Medicine

date: November 17

text: November 17 – Future United States President George Washington becomes seriously ill with smallpox while he and his older brother Lawrence are visiting the island of Barbados during an epidemic Washington, 19 years old, survives the virus but is bedridden for almost a month.

title: 1751

section: Climate & Environment

date: October 10

text: October 10–16 – The Great Hurricane flattens the islands of Barbados, Martinique and Sint Eustatius; 22,000 are killed.

title: 1780

text: The British government establishes a permanent land force in the Eastern Caribbean, based in Barbados.

title: 1785

date: September 2

text: September 2 – A hurricane strikes Barbados.

title: 1786

section: Events › July–September

date: June 6

text: June 6 – In Barbados, Samuel Jackman Prescod is the first non-white person elected to the House of Assembly.

title: 1843

section: Events › April–June

date: October 19

text: October 19 – Alain Bombard begins to sail from the Canary Islands to Barbados in 65 days without using provisions; he reaches them December 23.

title: 1952

section: Events › September–October

text: May 1 – CARIFTA, the Caribbean Free Trade Association, is formally created as an agreement between Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago.

title: 1968

section: Events › May–June

date: July 12

text: July 12 – Thor Heyerdahl's papyrus boat Ra II arrives in Barbados.

title: 1970

section: Events › July


slug: barcelona

label: Barcelona

description: city in Catalonia, Spain

section: Deaths

text: The Visigoths invade the Iberian Peninsula and begin to conquer territory taken previously by the Vandals. King Athaulf and his pregnant wife Galla Placidia leave Gallia Narbonensis; they relocate at Barcelona. Their infant son, Theodosius, dies in infancy, eliminating an opportunity for a Roman-Visigothic line. Athaulf is assassinated in the palace while taking a bath. Sigeric succeeds him, but after a reign of seven days he is also murdered.

title: 415

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

section: Conflict & Security

text: Childebert I defeats the Visigoths and conquers the capital Narbonne. Amalaric flees south to Barcelona, where he is assassinated by his own men.

title: 531

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Tariq ibn Ziyad conquers the cities of Barcelona and Narbonne, where Visigothic nobles accept Umayyad overlordship, in return for autonomy in Septimania (Southern France). Muslims also raid Avignon and Lyon (approximate date).

title: 714

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

date: July 6

text: July 6 – The city of Barcelona is sacked by Moorish troops under Al-Mansur, the de facto ruler of Al-Andalus (modern-day Spain).

title: 985

text: Count Ramon Berenguer III (the Great) of Barcelona, joins the expedition to the Balearic Islands. A Pisan and Catalan fleet (some 450 ships), supported by a large army, conquer Ibiza and Mallorca. They destroy the bases on the islands used by Moorish pirates to prey on Mediterranean shipping.

title: 1114

section: Religion & Belief

text: Pedro Nolasco founds the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy in Barcelona, Spain.

title: 1218

section: Events › By topic › Religion

date: August 10

text: August 10 – The Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, whose followers are called the Mercedarians, is legally constituted in Barcelona by King James I of Aragon. It will receive papal approval 12 years later.

title: 1223

date: September

text: September – An Aragonese contingent under King James I ("the Conqueror") sails from Barcelona to the Holy Land but is caught in a storm and badly damaged. One squadron reaches Acre, but later returns to Catalonia.

title: 1269

date: November 5

text: November 5 – In Barcelona, Prince Alfonso "the Kind" becomes the new King of Aragon upon the death of his father, King Jaime II, and is enthroned as King Alfonso IV.

title: 1327

section: Events › October – December

text: June 6 – Massacre of 1391: Anti-Jewish pogroms erupt in Seville, Spain. Many thousands of Jews are massacred, and the violence spreads throughout Spain and Portugal, especially to Toledo, Barcelona and Mallorca. This event marks a turning-point in the history of the Spanish Jews, with most of the survivors leaving the Iberian Peninsula or being forced to convert.

title: 1391

section: Culture & Society

date: April 13

text: April 13 – The coronation of Martin of Aragon as King takes place in Barcelona. His wife Maria de Luna is crowned as the Queen consort takes place on April 23.

title: 1399

date: February 28

text: February 28 – In the Catalan Civil War, the Battle of Calaf is fought and Pedro V, the self-proclaimed King of Aragon, is defeated near Barcelona by the legitimate King, Juan II.

title: 1465

date: October 28

text: October 28 – The Catalan Civil War comes to an end as Barcelona surrenders to King Juan II of Aragon with the signing of the Capitulation of Pedralbes by the rebel leader Hugh Roger III of Pallars Sobirà, guaranteeing the rights of the Principality of Catalonia in return for allegiance to the Kingdom of Aragon.

title: 1472

section: Science & Discovery

date: December 25

text: December 25 – The fall of the meteorite of Barcelona is seen and heard over distances up to hundreds of kilometres and is interpreted as a divine sign.

title: 1704

date: April 27

text: April 27 – War of the Spanish Succession: After a siege of 14 days, a French and Spanish army fails to take control of Barcelona, which had been captured by Habsburg armies in 1705.

title: 1706

date: September 11

text: September 11 – War of the Spanish Succession: Barcelona is taken after a year's siege, and Catalonia surrenders to Spanish and French Bourbon armies.

title: 1714

date: May 6

text: May 6 – French Revolutionary Wars: Action of 6 May 1801 off Barcelona – British Royal Navy brig HMS Speedy, although outmanned and outgunned, captures the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo.

title: 1801

date: May 28

text: May 28 – War of the Sixth Coalition – Barcelona is restored to Spanish Bourbon rule as the French garrison leaves the city.

title: 1814

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: October 28 – In Catalonia, Spain, the Barcelona–Mataró railroad route (the first to be constructed in the Iberian Peninsula) is inaugurated.

title: 1848

date: May 14

text: May 14 – The Canellas meteorite, an 859 gram chondrite type meteorite, strikes Earth near Barcelona, Spain.

title: 1861

text: Antoni Gaudí begins to work on the Sagrada Família Cathedral in Barcelona (it was consecrated in 2010)

title: 1883

text: Publication in Barcelona of Enrique Gaspar's El anacronópete, the first work of fiction to feature a time machine.

title: 1887

date: July 25

text: July 25–August 2 – "Tragic Week" (La Semana Trágica/la Setmana Tràgica): The city of Barcelona experiences a workers' uprising.

title: 1909

section: Events › July–August

text: Fashion and perfumes company Puig is founded in Barcelona.

title: 1914

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: April 14

text: April 14 – The Second Spanish Republic is proclaimed in Madrid. Meanwhile, as a result of the victory of the Republican Left of Catalonia, Francesc Macià proclaims in Barcelona the Catalan Republic, as a state of the Iberian Federation.

title: 1931

date: November 9

text: November 9 – Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez for classical guitar and orchestra premieres in Barcelona, Spain.

title: 1940

section: Events › November

text: September 2 – ¡Hola! magazine is launched in Barcelona.

title: 1944

section: Events › September

date: September 27

text: September 27 – A flash flood in Barcelona, Spain, kills more than 440 people.

title: 1962

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: July 3

text: July 3 – All 112 people on board Dan-Air Flight 1903 are killed when the chartered British De Havilland Comet crashes into mountains north of Barcelona through navigational error.

title: 1970

date: October 23

text: October 23 – The president of Catalonia, Josep Tarradellas, returns to Barcelona from exile and the autonomous government of Catalonia, the Generalitat, is restored.

title: 1977

section: Events › October

date: October 16

text: October 16 – The International Olympic Committee chooses Albertville, France to be the host city of the 1992 Winter Olympics and Barcelona, Spain to be the host city of the 1992 Summer Olympics. The IOC also announces that the summer and winter games will separate with the winter games on every even, common year; and the summer games on every leap year starting from 1992.

title: 1986

date: June 19

text: June 19 – Hipercor bombing: the Basque terrorist group ETA perpetrate a car-bomb attack at an Hipercor market in Barcelona, killing 21 and wounding 45.

title: 1987

section: Events › June

date: May 24

text: May 24 – Milan of Italy wins the European Cup beating Steaua București of Romania 4–0 in Barcelona.

title: 1989

text: July 25–August 9 – The 1992 Summer Olympics are held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

title: 1992

date: May 26

text: May 26 – The 1999 UEFA Champions League final takes place at the Camp Nou Stadium, Barcelona, in which the English side Manchester United defeats the German side Bayern Munich 2–1.

title: 1999

text: August 17 – 2017 Barcelona attacks: 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub drives a van into pedestrians on La Rambla in Barcelona, killing 13 people and injuring at least 130 others.

title: 2017


slug: bari

label: Bari

description: Italian city, capital of the Apulia region

text: The Saracens, under the Berber leader Kalfun, capture the Byzantine city of Bari (Southern Italy). He becomes the first ruler of the Emirate of Bari, and expands his influence on the Italian mainland with raids.

title: 847

text: Summer – Emperor Basil I allies with the Frankish emperor Louis II against the Saracens. He sends a Byzantine fleet of 400 ships (according to the Annales Bertiniani), under the command of Admiral Niketas Ooryphas, to support Louis (who is besieging the city port of Bari) and to clear the south of the Adriatic Sea of Muslim raiders.

title: 869

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

date: February 2

text: February 2 – Franco-Lombard forces, aided by a Croatian fleet (of Sclaveni), led by Emperor Louis II, capture Bari, capital of the Emirate of Bari in Southern Italy.

title: 871

text: At the invitation of Benevento, the newly-restored Byzantine fleet appears in the waters off Otranto. On the orders of Emperor Basil I, the Byzantines sail up the Adriatic Sea and reconquer part of southern Italy. The city of Bari is occupied in the name of the Byzantine Empire. Instead of holding it for his 'ally' Adelchis of Benevento, Basil makes it the capital of the new Byzantine Theme of Longobardia.

title: 876

text: Guy IV, duke of Spoleto, conquers Benevento (after the Byzantines have moved the capital of Byzantine Italy from Benevento to Bari). Guy makes himself prince, thereby uniting the two Italian states. The Byzantines attempt to retake Benevento, but are defeated by Lombard troops.

title: 895

text: Spring – Emperor Otto I (the Great) travels to Capua to meet there with ambassadors of Nikephoros II, who again reiterate their friendship, but refuse to consent to his dowry demands (see 967). Otto invades the Byzantine Theme of Langobardia with a Lombard expeditionary force. With the assistance of Benevento-Capua and naval support from Pisa, Otto attempts to take Bari by assault, but Byzantine resistance is stiff, and Otto withdraws back to Ravenna.

title: 968

text: Pandulf Ironhead, duke of Benevento and Capua, leads the siege of Bovino. He is captured by the Byzantines and taken in chains to Bari, and jailed in Constantinople. Neapolitan forces under Marinus II, duke of Naples, invade Benevento-Capua, capture the city of Avellino and then lay siege to Capua.

title: 969

text: Summer – Byzantine-Imperial truce: Emperor Otto I (the Great) meets with John I at Bari and accepts a permanent peace agreement. Pandulf I (Ironhead) is released from captivity in Constantinople (see 969).

title: 970

text: The population of Bari revolts against the Byzantine Empire.

title: 987

text: Fall – Venetian-Byzantine forces defeat the Saracens at Bari. The citadel is on the brink of capitulation after a 3 day siege. Giovanni, a son of Doge Pietro Orseolo II, is married to the Byzantine princess Maria Argyra.

title: 1004

date: May 9

text: May 9 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus, an Italian nobleman, revolt in Bari against the Catepanate of Italy (a province of the Byzantine Empire). He and his brother-in-law Dattus (or Datto) mobilise a large army and invade southern Italy.

title: 1009

date: June 11

text: June 11 – Lombard Revolt: Mahmoud the Fat of Bari rises up against the Lombard rebels, led by Melus, and delivers the city to Basil Mesardonites, Byzantine governor (catepan) of the Catepanate of Italy. Melus is forced to flee to Salerno, and his brother-in-law Dattus escapes to Monte Cassino, but their families are taken captive, and carted off to Constantinople.

title: 1011

date: September 1

text: September 1 – Basil Boioannes, Byzantine general and governor of the Catapanate of Italy, sails from Bari across the Adriatic Sea to begin an invasion of Croatia, ruled by Krešimir III. He later takes Kresimir's wife as a hostage, transporting her to Bari and then to Constantinople as a hostage.

title: 1024

section: Events › July–September

text: Norman conquest of southern Italy: Norman forces under Robert Guiscard (duke of Apulia and Calabria) lay siege to the Byzantine city of Bari.

title: 1068

text: Spring – Romanos IV sends a Byzantine fleet (supported with an army) to relieve the siege of Bari. The Normans under Robert Guiscard defeat the Byzantines, and occupy the cities of Gravina and Obbiano in Apulia.

title: 1069

date: April 15

text: April 15 – Siege of Bari: The capital of Bari, the last Byzantine-controlled city in the Catepanate of Italy, is captured by Italo-Norman forces under Duke Robert Guiscard after a 32-month siege.

title: 1071

section: Crime & Justice

text: May 9 – The relics of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of seafarers, are stolen by Italian sailors from his church in Myra (modern Turkey) and transported to Bari in southern Italy.

title: 1087

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: August

text: August – Hugh ("the Great"), count of Vermandois (a brother of King Philip I), departs to join the First Crusade. He travels with a small army via the Alps to Rome. While sailing the Adriatic Sea from Bari to Dyrrachium his fleet is reduced by shipwreck. Hugh's own ship is stranded on the shore near Epirus.

title: 1096

section: Events › By place › First Crusade

date: September

text: September – Roger II of Sicily gains recognition as duke at Melfi from the Norman nobles of Naples, Bari, Capua, Salerno and other cities that have resisted him.

title: 1129

text: Summer – Emperor Lothair III invades southern Italy in response to the appeal of Emperor John II Komnenos (see 1135) and conquers Apulia from King Roger II of Sicily. Duke Grimoald of Bari, supported by Lothair III, rebels against Roger.

title: 1136

text: The city of Bari rebels against King William I ("the Bad") of Sicily and recognizes the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos as its overlord.

title: 1155

text: May 28 – King William I (the Bad) lands with a Sicilian expeditionary force in Apulia. He defeats the Byzantine army at Brindisi and recaptures Bari.

title: 1156

date: December 2

text: December 2 – WWII: Bari chemical warfare disaster: A surprise Luftwaffe air raid on Bari, Italy sinks 28 Allied ships in the harbor, including the American Liberty ship , releasing its secret cargo of mustard gas bombs, inflating the number of casualties.

title: 1943

section: Events › December


slug: basel

label: Basel

description: city on the Rhine in Switzerland

section: Conflict & Security

text: The Hungarians, after attacking Swabia, sack and burn Basel (modern Switzerland). They invade Lorraine in Lotharingia, destroying Verdun and Moyenmoutier, and many monasteries in Alsace. Duke Arnulf I (the Bad) with Hungarian military aid, reconquers his land from King Conrad I of the East Frankish Kingdom. After this event, Bavaria and Swabia agree to pay tribute to the Hungarians.

title: 917

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: February 26

text: February 26 – The Böse Fasnacht, a riot in the Swiss city of Basel, breaks out during a tournament at a carnival and numerous people are killed, including several of the soldiers of the Duke of Austria, Leopold III. The city council arrests and executes 12 perpetrators, but Duke Leopold proceeds with placing the city under stricter control.

title: 1376

section: Events › January–March

date: July 6

text: July 6 – The Swiss city of Basel is placed under an imperial ban by the Habsburg dynasty's Leopold III, Duke of Austria because of the February 26 riot.

title: 1376

section: Religion & Belief

text: A sermon by a German monk states "the game of cards has come to us this year", and prohibitions against cards are issued by Prince John of Castile, and the cities of Florence and Basel.

title: 1377

section: Events › Date unknown

date: July 25

text: July 25 – An ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, originally called by Pope Martin V before his death in February, convenes at Basel in Switzerland.

title: 1431

section: Deaths

date: July 24

text: July 24 – At Basel in Switzerland, Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy is crowned as "Pope Felix V" by Roman Catholic cardinals of the Council of Basel who had voted to depose Pope Eugene IV as leader of the Roman Catholic Church. As Felix V, he is designated in Vatican history as the last "antipope". He remains in Basel and never travels to Rome to assume the papacy; in 1449, after the death of Eugene IV, Amadeus assumes an oath of loyalty to Eugene's successor, Pope Nicholas V.

title: 1440

text: May 24 – Under an agreement with the Holy Roman Emperor, Friedrich III, the city council of Basel in Switzerland votes to expel all persons attending the Council of Basel, a group of clerics opposed to the Roman Catholic Pope.

title: 1448

section: Events › April–June

date: March 22

text: March 22 – At the Battle of Bruderholz, the Swiss Confederation defeats a larger force of troops from the Swabian League near Basel.

title: 1499

date: June 9

text: June 9 – The semi-independent city of Basel joins the Swiss Confederation as the eleventh canton of Switzerland.

title: 1501

date: March 1

text: March 1 – Desiderius Erasmus publishes a new Greek edition of the New Testament, Novum Instrumentum omne, in Basel.

title: 1516

text: The third edition of Erasmus's Greek Textus Receptus of the New Testament, Novum Testamentum (with parallel Latin text), is published in Basel.

title: 1522

text: The first edition of John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, a seminal work of Protestant systematic theology, is published in Basel.

title: 1536

text: Excerpta antiqua is published by Hervagius at Basel, Switzerland.

title: 1549

date: May 13

text: May 13 – At Basel, the body of Dutch Anabaptist leader David Joris is exhumed and burned, following his posthumous conviction of heresy.

title: 1559

date: September 28

text: September 28 – The first complete printed Bible in a Spanish translation (La Biblia), made by Casiodoro de Reina, is published in Basel.

title: 1569

section: Economy & Finance

text: J. R. Geigy, predecessor of Novartis, a global pharmaceutical brand, founded in Basel, Switzerland.

title: 1758

date: August 29

text: August 29 – The First Zionist Congress convenes in Basel, Switzerland.

title: 1897

section: Events › August

date: July 30

text: July 30 – At Basel in Switzerland, the International Zionist Conference delegates vote to reject the British offer of land in Uganda for a Jewish homeland.

title: 1905

section: Events › July

date: June 15

text: June 15 – The UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) is formed in Basel, Switzerland.

title: 1954

section: Health & Medicine

date: November 1

text: November 1 – Sandoz chemical spill: A major environmental disaster near Basel, Switzerland pollutes the Rhine, when an agrochemical storehouse catches on fire.

title: 1986

text: May 13–17 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 is held in Basel, Switzerland. Austrian contestant JJ wins with the song "Wasted Love".

title: 2025

section: Events › May


slug: basil-i

label: Basil I

description: Byzantine emperor from 867 to 886

section: Births

text: Basil I, emperor of the Byzantine Empire (d. 886)

title: 811

date: April 21

text: April 21 – Bardas, the regent of the Byzantine Empire, is murdered by Basil the Macedonian at Miletus, while conducting a large-scale expedition against the Saracen stronghold of Crete.

title: 866

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

date: September 24

text: September 24 – Emperor Michael III is murdered, by order of his co-emperor Basil I. Basil becomes sole ruler (basileus) of the Byzantine Empire, and founds the Macedonian Dynasty (until 1056). Basil rebuilds the Byzantine army and navy, in an effort to restore the empire.

title: 867

text: Summer – Emperor Basil I allies with the Frankish emperor Louis II against the Saracens. He sends a Byzantine fleet of 400 ships (according to the Annales Bertiniani), under the command of Admiral Niketas Ooryphas, to support Louis (who is besieging the city port of Bari) and to clear the south of the Adriatic Sea of Muslim raiders.

title: 869

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: At the invitation of Benevento, the newly-restored Byzantine fleet appears in the waters off Otranto. On the orders of Emperor Basil I, the Byzantines sail up the Adriatic Sea and reconquer part of southern Italy. The city of Bari is occupied in the name of the Byzantine Empire. Instead of holding it for his 'ally' Adelchis of Benevento, Basil makes it the capital of the new Byzantine Theme of Longobardia.

title: 876

text: Fourth Council of Constantinople: Emperor Basil I calls for a synod, and reinstates Photius I as patriarch of Constantinople.

title: 879

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Battle of Cephalonia: A Byzantine fleet, under Admiral Nasar, is sent by Emperor Basil I to the Ionian Islands. Nasar defeats the Aghlabids in a night battle near Cephalonia (modern Greece).

title: 880

text: August 29 – Basil I, emperor of the Byzantine Empire (b. 811)

title: 886


slug: basil-ii

label: Basil II

description: Byzantine Emperor from the Macedonian dynasty

text: Basil II (Bulgar Slayer), Byzantine emperor (d. 1025)

title: 958

date: March 15

text: March 15 – Emperor Romanos II dies at age 39, probably of poison administered by his wife, Empress Theophano. He is succeeded by his infant son Basil II. Theophano becomes regent and de facto ruler, naming her other son Constantine VIII (only 3 years old) as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

title: 963

date: January 10

text: January 10 – Emperor John I Tzimiskes dies at Constantinople, after returning from a second campaign against the Abbasids in Syria. He is buried in the Church of Christ Chalkites, and succeeded by his 18-year-old nephew Basil II, who becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire. The administration remains in the hands of Basil Lekapenos (an illegitimate son of the late Emperor Romanos I).

title: 976

text: Battle of Pankaleia: Rebel forces under General Bardas Skleros are defeated by the Byzantine army loyal to Emperor Basil II, commanded by General Bardas Phokas (the Younger), near Pankaleia (modern-day Hisarköy). Phokas regroups his forces and continues his march to the East, drawing Skleros away from Constantinople.

title: 978

date: August 17

text: August 17 – Battle of the Gates of Trajan: Emperor Basil II leads a Byzantine expeditionary force (30,000 men) against the Bulgarians to capture the fortress city of Sredets. After a siege of 20 days, Basil is forced to retreat from the Sofia Valley towards the town of Ihtiman (through a passage known as the Gate of Trajan). The Bulgarians under Tsar Samuel ambush and defeat the Byzantine forces. Only the elite Varangian Guard escapes with heavy casualties and leads Basil to safety through secondary routes.

title: 986

date: February 7

text: February 7 – Bardas Phokas (the Younger) and Bardas Skleros, two members of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II. They overrun Anatolia, and Phokas declares himself Emperor. Basil applies for military assistance from Prince Vladimir the Great, ruler of Kievan Rus', who agrees to help him and sends a Varangian army (6,000 men).

title: 987

text: Fall – Emperor Basil II, supported by a contingent of 6,000 Varangians (the future Varangian Guard), organizes the defences of Constantinople to meet a threat from the insurgents, Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros. Basil crosses the Bosphorus, and leads a surprise attack on the rebel camp of Kalokyros Delphinas, at Chrysopolis. Delphinas is captured and executed, either by crucifixion or by impalement (approximate date).

title: 988

text: Emperor Basil II uses his contingent of 6,000 Varangians to help him defeat Bardas Phokas (the Younger), who suffers a seizure during the siege of Abydos (threatening to blockade the Dardanelles). Phokas dies, ending the revolt and threat to Constantinople. Upon Phokas' death, the other rebel leader Bardas Skleros (who is captured and blinded) yields to Basil's superior forces.

title: 989

text: Spring: Byzantine Emperor Basil II begins a campaign against the Bulgarians.

title: 991

section: Events

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Spring – Pietro II Orseolo, doge of Venice, concludes a treaty with Emperor Basil II to transport Byzantine troops, in exchange for commercial privileges in Constantinople. Venetian ships are exempted from customs duties at Abydos (mostly foreign goods are carried on Venetian ships). Venetian merchants in Constantinople are placed directly under the Grand Logothetes (Minister of Finance).

title: 992

date: September 15

text: September 15 – Battle of the Orontes: Fatimid forces, under Turkish general Manjutakin (also the governor of Damascus), besiege Apamea (modern Syria). Emperor Basil II sends a Byzantine expeditionary army, led by Dux Michael Bourtzes, to relieve the city in alliance with the Hamdanid Dynasty. Manjutakin defeats the Hamdanids with his forces and attacks the Byzantine force in the rear. The Byzantine army panics and flees, losing some 5,000 men in the process.

title: 994

text: Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Basil II launches a counter-campaign against the Fatimid Caliphate. He leads a Byzantine expeditionary army (13,000 men) to aid the Hamdanid emir Sa'id al-Dawla, and crosses Asia Minor in only sixteen days. Basil lifts the siege of Aleppo, and takes over the Orontes Valley. He incorporates Syria into the Byzantine Empire (including the larger city of Antioch) which is the seat of its eponymous Patriarch.

title: 995

section: Events › Asia › Byzantine Empire

text: Byzantine Emperor Basil II attempts to reconquer Bulgaria.

title: 1001

text: Battle of Skopje: Emperor Basil II defeats the Bulgarian forces near Skopje (modern North Macedonia). Leaving his army behind, Samuel of Bulgaria manages to escape. Basil continues his campaign and besieges the fortress of Pernik. By the end of the year Basil has reconquered about half of the Bulgarian Empire.

title: 1004

text: Summer – Battle of Thessalonica: Emperor Basil II launches a raiding expedition against Bulgaria. From Western Thrace via Serres he reaches the valley of the Strymon River, near Thessaloniki (modern Greece); the local Byzantine governor Theophylact Botaneiates defeats the Bulgarians.

title: 1014

text: Winter – Emperor Basil II ("the Bulgar Slayer") replaces Leo Tornikios with the new catapan Basil Boioannes and sends him reinforcements (including a detachment of the elite Varangian Guard) from Constantinople.

title: 1017

section: Events › Europe

section: Crime & Justice

date: August 15

text: August 15 – Ivats, Bulgarian nobleman and rebel leader, is treacherously blinded and captured by strategos Eustathios Daphnomeles, ending the last resistance to the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria by Basil II.

title: 1018

text: Battle of Shirimni, the Byzantine Empire under Basil II defeats the Kingdom of Georgia under Giorgi I at Shirimni, at the Lake Palakazio, modern Lake Çıldır, Turkey

title: 1021

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Spring – Battle of Svindax: The Byzantine army under Emperor Basil II defeats the Georgians at Svindax (modern Turkey). King George I is forced to negotiate a peace treaty, ending the Byzantine–Georgian wars.

title: 1022

date: December 15

text: December 15 – Byzantine Emperor Basil II ("Bulgar Slayer") dies in Constantinople after a 50-year reign. Never married, he is succeeded by his brother and co-emperor Constantine VIII, who becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire. Constantine calls the Sicilian invasion off. Catapan Basil Boioannes diverts the Byzantine expeditionary force already assembled on Calabria, to join the siege of Capua.

title: 1025


slug: basra

label: Basra

description: capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq

text: The city of Basra (modern Iraq) is founded on the Shatt al-Arab, at the head of the Persian Gulf. The port will become a major trading center for commodities from Arabia, India, and Persia.

title: 636

section: Events › By place › Arabia

section: Conflict & Security

date: December 8

text: December 8 – Battle of the Camel: Rebel Arabs under Aisha (widow of Muhammad) begin a revolt against Ali. They are defeated at Basra, and Aisha is exiled to Medina. During the battle 10,000 people lose their lives, with each party bearing equal loss.

title: 656

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

section: Religion & Belief

text: Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan, Muslim general and a member of the Umayyad clan, is appointed governor of Iraq (Basra) and the former Persian provinces (approximate date).

title: 662

section: Events › By place › Arab Empire

section: Deaths

text: Al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra, Arab general and governor of Basra

title: 702

text: Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, former governor of Iraq, revolts and is defeated at Basra, by Umayyad forces under Al-Abbas ibn al-Walid and Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik. He is arrested and later executed.

title: 720

text: Ibn al-Muqaffa', Muslim writer and thinker, is tortured at Basra (modern Iraq), on orders from Caliph al-Mansur. His limbs are severed and he is thrown, still alive, into a burning oven (approximate date).

title: 756

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate

text: A group of four Basra-educated missionaries, including 'Abd al-Rahman Iban Rustam, proclaim the Ibadi imamate. Followers conquer the city of Kairouan (modern Tunisia), and massacre the Kharijites.

title: 758

section: Events › By place › Africa

date: September 25

text: September 25 – The Alid Revolt begins: Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya raises the banner against the Abbasids at Medina, followed by his brother Ibrahim ibn Abdallah at Basra in early 763. Muhammad's rebellion is suppressed, and he is killed by Abbasid troops under Isa ibn Musa.

title: 762

text: The Zanj Rebellion: The Zanj (black slaves from East Africa) capture the Abbasid seaport of Al-Ubullah at the Persian Gulf, and cut off communications with Basra (modern Iraq).

title: 870

date: September

text: September – Battle of Basra: Zanj rebels in Mesopotamia sack and capture Basra (see Zanj Rebellion).

title: 871

date: August 11

text: August 11 – The Qarmatians of Bahrayn capture and pillage the city of Basra.

title: 923

date: March 26

text: March 26 – Safavid occupation of Basra: Safavid government troops take control of Basra.

title: 1697

section: Events › January–March

date: June 9

text: June 9 – Safavid troops retreat from Basra, ending a three-year occupation.

title: 1701

section: Events › January–June

date: November 22

text: November 22 – The Dutch East India Company ship Amsterdam (1691) founders en route from Bombay to Basra during a storm with the loss of all hands.

title: 1702

section: Events › October–December


slug: bastille

label: Bastille

description: former fortress in Paris, France

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: Charles V of France orders Hugues Aubriot to construct the fortress of the Bastille in Paris.

title: 1369

section: Events › Dates unknown

text: Hugues Aubriot begins construction of the fortress of the Bastille in Paris.

title: 1370

section: Events › Date unknown

text: Construction of the Bastille fortress is completed in Paris, France.

title: 1383

date: April 27

text: April 27 – The Cabochien revolt begins in Paris as a group of people, led by Simon Caboche, seize the Bastille prison and take as a hostage the Provost of Paris, Pierre des Essarts. The Cabochiens will control the city for the next four months.

title: 1413

section: Events › April–June

date: May 13

text: May 13 – French theologian Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy is imprisoned in the Bastille after his conviction for heresy in connection with the Jansenist movement. Sacy uses his two and one-half years of incarceration (which lasts until November 14, 1668), to create the Bible du Port-Royal, a first French language rendition of the Bible, finishing a translation of the Old Testament from the Vulgate, written in Latin, that had been started by his brother Antoine, and then beginning work on the New Testament.

title: 1666

date: March 21

text: March 21 – Jeanne Guyon is freed from the Bastille in Paris after more than seven years imprisonment for heresy.

title: 1703

date: November 19

text: November 19 – The so-called Man in the Iron Mask dies in the Bastille. He is buried under the name of "Marchioly".

title: 1703

text: François-Marie Arouet is sentenced to imprisonment in the Bastille for eleven months, because of a satirical verse against the Régent of France and his infamous daughter Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, who is hiding an illegitimate pregnancy and soon to give birth; Arouet will emerge with the pseudonym Voltaire and the completed text of his first play, Œdipe.

title: 1717

date: July 14

text: July 14 – French Revolution: Storming of the Bastille – Citizens of Paris storm the fortress of the Bastille, and free the only seven prisoners held. In rural areas, peasants attack the manors of the nobility.

title: 1789

section: Events › July–September


slug: batavian-republic

label: Batavian Republic

description: republic of the Netherlands in Western Europe between 1795–1806

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: January 19

text: January 19 – The Batavian Republic is proclaimed in Amsterdam, ending the Dutch Republic (Republic of the Seven United Netherlands).

title: 1795

date: February 15

text: February 15 – French Revolutionary Wars: The Invasion of Ceylon (1795) ends when Johan van Angelbeek, the Batavian governor of Ceylon, surrenders Colombo peacefully to British forces.

title: 1796

date: September 2

text: September 2 – Jewish emancipation in the Batavian Republic (Netherlands).

title: 1796

date: October 11

text: October 11 – Battle of Camperdown: the British Royal Navy defeats the fleet of the Batavian Republic off the coast of Holland.

title: 1797

date: January 22

text: January 22 – A coup d'état is staged in the Netherlands (Batavian Republic). Unitarian Democrat Pieter Vreede ends the power of the parliament (with a conservative-moderate majority).

title: 1798

date: July 31

text: July 31 – A second round of elections are held in the Netherlands (Batavian Republic); no general elections this time.

title: 1798

section: Events › July–December

date: August 27

text: August 27 – War of the Second Coalition: Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland – Britain and Russia send an expedition to the Batavian Republic.

title: 1799

section: Economy & Finance

date: December 31

text: December 31 – The Dutch East India Company's charter is allowed to expire by the Batavian Republic.

title: 1799

date: October 17

text: October 17 – A coup d'état is staged in the Batavian Republic.

title: 1801

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: November 23

text: November 23 – East Indiaman Vryheid, in the service of the Batavian Republic, is shipwrecked in a gale off Hythe, Kent, in the south of England; only 18 of 472 on board survive.

title: 1802

section: Health & Medicine

date: April 29

text: April 29 – Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck is appointed as Grand Pensionary of the Batavian Republic by Napoleon.

title: 1805

date: January 8

text: January 8 – Battle of Blaauwberg: British infantry force troops of the Batavian Republic in the Dutch Cape Colony to withdraw.

title: 1806

date: June 5

text: June 5 – Louis Bonaparte is appointed as King of Holland by his brother, Emperor Napoleon, replacing the Batavian Republic.

title: 1806


slug: batu-khan

label: Batu Khan

description: Khan of the Golden Horde

section: Births

text: Batu Khan, Mongol ruler of the Golden Horde (d. 1255)

title: 1205

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The Mongols under Batu Khan, eldest of Jochi, sweep across Central Asia. They settle in the Russian steppe, curtailing the power of the Kievan Rus', extracting tribute from their neighbors, and disrupting their relationship with the Byzantine Empire.

title: 1236

section: Events › By place › Mongol Empire

section: Conflict & Security

text: Autumn – Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus': The Mongol army commanded by Batu Khan and Subutai, invades the Principality of Ryazan (with representatives of all four khanates leading some 100,000 Mongol, Turks and Persian forces into Europe). In December, Batu Khan sends envoys to the Rus' court of Grand Prince Yuri Igorevich and demands the submission of the capital Ryazan.

title: 1237

date: January 15

text: January 15–20 – Siege of Moscow: The Mongols under Batu Khan and Subutai campaign across the northern heartland of the Kievan Rus', committing numerous atrocities across multiple settlements, including the sacking of an insignificant town known as Moscow. According to the Chronicle of Novgorod, Moscow is a fortified village, a trading post "on a crossroads of four rivers". The village is taken by the Mongols after 5 days of siege.

title: 1238

text: The Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus': The Mongols under Batu Khan continue their campaign across the Pontic Steppe. After devastating the Crimea and campaigning against the Circassians in the Caucasus, they turn towards the Kievan Rus'. In March, Pereyaslavl, capital of the Principality of Pereyaslavl, is sacked by the Mongols.

title: 1239

date: April 11

text: April 11 – Battle of Mohi: Batu Khan and Subutai defeat Béla IV of Hungary. The battle is the last major event in the Mongol Invasion of Europe.

title: 1241

section: Events

text: Summer – Alexander Nevsky sends envoys to Batu Khan, preemptively capitulating before the Mongols even though they have not reached Novgorod, and accepts his rule as Mongol overlord.

title: 1242

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: A kurultai is called by Batu Khan in Siberia as part of maneuverings which will elect Möngke Khan as khan of the Mongol Empire in 1251.

title: 1250

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Batu Khan, Mongol ruler and founder of the Golden Horde

title: 1255


slug: bavaria

label: Bavaria

description: federated state in the south of Germany

section: Climate & Environment

text: In Bavaria the Limes Germanicus (Upper Raetian Limes) along the river Iller is abandoned by the Romans.

title: 257

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: The Byzantines abandon present-day Lombardy and Tuscany, to establish a frontier march in the hills south of Ravenna (still known as Le Marche). Bavarians, Sarmatians, Saxons and Taifali, join the invasion en route. As they advance, the vacuum left behind them on the Balkan Peninsula is filled by Avars, Bulgars and Slavs.

title: 568

section: Culture & Society

date: May 15

text: May 15 – King Authari marries Theodelinda, daughter of the Bavarian duke Garibald I. A Catholic, she has great influence at court and among the Lombard nobility.

title: 589

section: Religion & Belief

text: Weltenburg Abbey in Bavaria (Germany) is founded by Benedictine monks.

title: 620

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Hiltrud, duchess regent of Bavaria (approximate date; d. 754)

title: 716

text: King Liutprand of the Lombards builds a close alliance with Charles Martel, and attacks the Bavarian castles on the River Adige, maintaining strategic control of the Alpine passes in the Italian Alps (approximate date).

title: 718

section: Events › By place › Western Europe

text: Pope Gregory III confers on Boniface, Anglo-Saxon missionary, the pallium as archbishop, with jurisdiction over Bavaria (modern Germany). He orders him to forbid the consumption of horseflesh by his Christian converts.

title: 732

text: Boniface visits Rome, and is made papal legate of the Frankish Kingdom. He establishes many bishoprics in Bavaria.

title: 738

text: Boniface, Anglo-Saxon missionary who has been Christianizing Bavaria, founds the bishoprics of Salzburg, Regensburg, Freising, and Passau.

title: 739

text: Duke Odilo of Bavaria comes to the aid of Boruth, prince (knyaz) of the Carantanians, against repeated Avar incursions in present-day Austria, and is able to vassalize the Slavic principality. In exchange for Bavarian assistance, Boruth accepts his overlordship and is converted to Christianity.

title: 743

section: Deaths

date: January 18

text: January 18 – Odilo, duke of Bavaria

title: 748

text: January 18 – Duke Odilo of Bavaria dies after a 12-year reign. Grifo, youngest son of Charles Martel, seeks to establish his own rule by seizing the duchy for himself, and abducts Odilo's infant son Tassilo III.

title: 748

text: Hiltrud, duchess regent of Bavaria (b. 716)

title: 754

text: Schäftlarn Abbey (Bavaria) is founded by Waltrich, a Benedictine monk of noble family, south of modern-day Munich, Germany.

title: 762

text: Metten Abbey, near the town of Deggendorf (Bavaria), is founded by Gamelbert of Michaelsbuch.

title: 766

text: A Frankish army (supported by Burgundians, Bavarians, Bretons, Lombards, and Visigoths) under King Charlemagne invades Al-Andalus (modern Spain), and conquers the cities of Pamplona and Barcelona. However, the Franks are halted at Zaragoza, in the thughur or frontier zone of the Emirate of Córdoba.

title: 778

text: Autumn – Charlemagne returns from his campaign in Italy, and musters a Frankish army of available troops in Bavaria. He then marches to Saxony, probably to Eresburg. Charlemagne marches north, down the Weser to the Aller River, making camp near Verden.

title: 782

text: King Charlemagne conquers Bavaria, and incorporates it into the Frankish Kingdom. Duke Tassilo III is deposed, and banished to a monastery.

title: 788

text: The Avars, a pagan Asian nomadic horde that has settled down in what is today Hungary, invade Friuli and Bavaria. King Charlemagne assembles a Frankish army, and marches down the Danube River to ravage Avar territory. A Frankish-Lombard expeditionary force, under his son Pepin, (king of the Lombards) invades the Drava Valley and devastates Pannonia.

title: 791

text: King Charlemagne orders a 3 kilometre long channel dug from Treuchtlingen to Weißenburg (the Rhine and Danube river basins), to improve the transportation of goods between the Rhineland and Bavaria. Charlemagne's son, Pepin of Italy, campaigns against the Lombards in Benevento (Southern Italy).

title: 793

text: Tassilo III, duke of Bavaria (approximate date)

title: 796

text: Emperor Charlemagne divides the Frankish Empire under his three sons, called Divisio Regnorum. For Charles the Younger he designates the imperial title, Austrasia and Neustria, Saxony, Burgundy, and Thuringia. To Pepin he gives Italy, Bavaria, and Swabia. His youngest son Louis the Pious receives Aquitaine, the Spanish March, and Provence.

title: 806

text: King Louis the German suppresses the revolt of his son Carloman (for the second time), who wants a partition (mainly of Bavaria) of the East Frankish Kingdom.

title: 863

text: Svatopluk I, ruler (knyaz) of Great Moravia, concludes a peace treaty at Forchheim (Northern Bavaria). He is able to expand his territories outside the Frankish sphere, and subjugates the Vistulans.

title: 874

text: Arnulf of Carinthia has his illegitimate son Zwentibold recognized, as heir of the East Frankish Kingdom. He supports the claim of Louis the Blind as king of Provence, after receiving a personal appeal from Louis's mother, Ermengard, who comes to see Arnulf at Forchheim (Northern Bavaria). Arnulf grants the town of Osnabrück trade and coinage privileges.

title: 889

text: An East Frankish expeditionary force under Zwentibold, the eldest son of King Arnulf of Carinthia, crosses the Alps into Friuli. He makes junction at Verona, with the army of the deposed king Berengar I, and proceeds to lay siege to Pavia. After a three-month campaign, Zwentibold receives orders to head back to Bavaria, in case of a Magyar intervention.

title: 893

date: February

text: February – King Arnulf of Carinthia invades Italy at the head of an East Frankish expeditionary army. He storms Rome (the Leonine City), and has himself crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Formosus at St. Peter's. Arnulf sets out to establish his authority in Spoleto, but suffers a stroke; he is forced to call off the campaign, and returns to Bavaria.

title: 896

text: February – King Louis III (the Blind) is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Benedict IV at Rome. His rival Berengar I seeks refuge in Bavaria at the court of King Louis IV (the Child).

title: 901

date: February 27

text: February 27 – Battle of Fritzlar: The Conradines defeat the Babenberg counts, to establish themselves as dukes of Franconia (modern-day Bavaria). Count Conrad the Elder is killed in the battle; his son Conrad the Younger becomes duke of Franconia.

title: 906

text: The Hungarians besiege Augsburg in Bavaria, then conquer the monastery of St. Gallen (modern Switzerland). After an unsuccessful battle with the locals, they burn the suburbs of Konstanz, then they cross westwards and defeat a Frankish army led by Duke Liutfred of Alsace.

title: 926

date: March 27

text: March 27 – Gebhard von Hohenwart becomes the new Bishop of Regensburg in Bavaria, upon the death of Gebhard of Swabia.

title: 1023

section: Events › January–March

date: January 13

text: January 13 – Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, is stripped of his duchies and all his imperial fiefs at an Imperial Diet in Würzburg for violating the king's peace. On April 13, Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa issues the Gelnhausen Charter, formally dissolving Henry's former domains. A portion of Saxony is reorganized as the Duchy of Westphalia, while other territories are granted to his ally, Otto I the Redhead, Duke of Bavaria.

title: 1180

text: The district of Cham becomes subject to Bavaria.

title: 1204

text: Landshut, Bavaria, is Founded.

title: 1204

section: Crime & Justice

date: July 3

text: July 3 – In the Bavarian town of Lindau, 15 Jewish residents are burned at the stake after being accused of murdering a Christian child.

title: 1430

date: July 10

text: July 10 – The Schmalkaldic War begins with an attack by the Protestant German states against the town of Füssen, a village of the Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg in Bavaria.

title: 1546

date: May 30

text: May 30 – Thirty Years' War: Bavaria and France sign the Treaty of Fontainebleau, forming a secret alliance; however, this does not last long.

title: 1631

date: March

text: March – Thirty Years' War: Gustavus Adolphus invades Bavaria with his army.

title: 1632

date: May 17

text: May 17 – Thirty Years' War: Munich, capital of Bavaria, is captured by the Swedish army.

title: 1632

date: July 9

text: July 9 – The Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg) is founded, in response to claims made by Louis XIV of France on the Electorate of the Palatinate in western Germany. It comprises the Holy Roman Empire, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, the electors of Bavaria, Saxony and the Electorate of the Palatinate.

title: 1686

date: August 13

text: August 13 (August 2 OS) – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Blenheim: Allied troops under John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy defeat the Franco-Bavarian army.

title: 1704

text: December 25 – In Munich, capital of Bavaria, 1,100 militiamen from the Oberland are killed during the Sendlinger Mordweihnacht after a failed attempt to break through several gates and capture a depot to seize better weaponry; many men are slaughtered by German federal infantry and Hungarian Hussars, despite their capitulation to Austrian officers.

title: 1705

text: August 4 – Maria Madlener becomes the last person to be executed after the Galgeninsel witch trials in Bavaria, and is beheaded by sword.

title: 1730

text: June 27 (June 16 O.S.) – War of the Austrian Succession – Battle of Dettingen in Bavaria: British forces, in alliance with those of Hanover and Hesse, defeat a French army under the duc de Noailles; King George II of Great Britain (and Elector of Brunswick) leads his own troops, the last British king to do so.

title: 1743

text: April 15 – War of the Austrian Succession: Battle of Pfaffenhofen – The Austrian Army drives the French Army out of Bavaria, forcing the Electorate of Bavaria to withdraw from the war.

title: 1745

text: May 1 – Adam Weishaupt founds the Illuminati in Ingolstadt, Bavaria.

title: 1776

text: April 10 – Napoleonic Wars – The War of the Fifth Coalition begins when forces of the Austrian Empire invade Bavaria.

title: 1809

text: April 20 – Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria: Napoleon defeats Austria.

title: 1809

text: April 9 – Tiroleans rise, under the command of Andreas Hofer, against French and Bavarian occupation.

title: 1809

text: October 12 – First Oktoberfest: Bavarian royalty invites the citizens of Munich to join the celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

title: 1810

text: August 15 – First description of Archaeopteryx, based on a feather found in Bavaria; in September the first complete identified skeleton is found near Langenaltheim in Germany.

title: 1861

text: September 5 – The foundation stone is laid for Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria (southern Germany).

title: 1869

text: November 9 – Provisional National Council Minister-President Kurt Eisner declares Bavaria to be a republic.

title: 1918

text: September 26 – In Bavaria, Gustav Ritter von Kahr takes dictatorial powers.

title: 1923

text: June 1 – Puma, a global sports goods brand, is founded in Bavaria, West Germany, by Rudolf Dassler, having split from his brother "Adi".

title: 1948

text: June 7 – Nazi war criminal Otto Ohlendorf is hanged at Landsberg Prison, Bavaria.

title: 1951

text: September 1 – Ilse Koch, known as the "Witch of Buchenwald", commits suicide in the Bavarian prison of Aichach.

title: 1967


slug: bay-of-bengal

label: Bay of Bengal

description: part of the Indian Ocean between South and South East Asia

date: September 8

text: September 8 – (11th waning of Tawthalin 939 ME) Min Phalaung, King of Arakan in what is now northern Myanmar and southern Bangladesh on the Bay of Bengal, enters his new palace in dedication ceremonies at the capital at Mrauk U.

title: 1577

section: Events › July–September

date: October 7

text: October 7 – At least 300,000 people are killed when a tropical cyclone strikes the Bay of Bengal in India and modern-day Bangladesh. The storm sends 12 m high waves over the Sundarbans delta, and overflows the Hooghly River.

title: 1737

section: Events › October–December

date: April 2

text: April 2 – A powerful earthquake along the border between modern-day Bangladesh and Myanmar causes a tsunami in the Bay of Bengal that kills at least 200 people.

title: 1762

section: Events › April–June

date: February 28

text: February 28 – French Revolutionary Wars: Action of 28 February 1799 – British Royal Navy frigate HMS Sybille defeats the French frigate Forte off the mouth of the Hooghly River in the Bay of Bengal, but both captains are killed.

title: 1799

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: October 14

text: October 14 – Orissa, an area of India along the Bay of Bengal that comprises the modern-day Indian state of Odisha, is occupied by the British under the British East India Company, after the Second Anglo-Maratha War. The Maratha Empire formally cedes the area in the Treaty of Deogaon, signed on December 17.

title: 1803

date: May 31

text: May 31 – Mauritius campaign of 1809–11 – Action of 31 May 1809 in the Bay of Bengal: The French frigate Caroline, operating from Isle de France (Mauritius), captures most of a British East India Company fleet

title: 1809

date: November 18

text: November 18 – Napoleonic Wars: Action of 18 November 1809 – In the Bay of Bengal, a French frigate squadron captures three British East Indiamen mainly carrying recruits for the presidency armies in India.

title: 1809

date: October 16

text: October 16 – A cyclone and consequential floods in the Bay of Bengal kill 40,000 people, with particularly heavy damage around Contai.

title: 1942

section: Events › October

date: September 29

text: September 29 – A cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, in the Indian state of Orissa, kills 10,000.

title: 1971

section: Events › September


slug: bayezid-i

label: Bayezid I

description: fourth Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1389–1402)

section: Births

text: Bayezid I, sultan of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1403)

title: 1360

text: Olivera, daughter of Lazar of Serbia and wife of Bayezid I

title: 1372

section: Conflict & Security

date: June 16

text: June 16 – The day after the Battle of Kosovo, Bayezid I succeeds his father Murad I as Ottoman Sultan, and Stefan Lazarević succeeds his father Lazar as ruler of Serbia.

title: 1389

date: September 17

text: September 17 – John VII Palaiologos seeks refuge with the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I, after John V Palaiologos is restored by his son, Manuel, and the Republic of Venice.

title: 1390

date: June 3

text: June 3 – Sultan Bayezid I of the Ottoman Empire has the former Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Shishman beheaded after Shishman is accused of collaborating with the Principality of Wallachia during the 1394 Battle of Karanovasa.

title: 1395

text: Sultan Bayezid I of the Ottoman Empire invades Mamluk-occupied Syria. A rift forms between Sultan Bayezid and Timur of the Timurid Empire, who also wanted to conquer Syria.

title: 1399

section: Events › Date unknown

text: Timur conquers the Empire of The Black Sheep Turkomans, in present-day Azerbaijan, and the Jalayirid dynasty in present-day Iraq. Black Sheep ruler Qara Yusuf and Jalayirid Sultan Ahmad flee, and take refuge with the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I.

title: 1400

date: July 20

text: July 20 – Battle of Ankara: An invading Timurid Empire force defeats the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I, who is captured. A period of interregnum begins in the Ottoman Empire, with the future Mehmed I as one of the leading claimants to the throne. After Serbia is freed from Ottoman rule, Stefan Lazarević is crowned Despot of Serbia.

title: 1402


slug: bayezid-ii

label: Bayezid II

description: the eighth Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1481–1512)

date: December 3

text: December 3 – Bayezid II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1512)

title: 1447

text: Şehzade Ahmet, oldest son of Sultan Bayezid II (d. 1513)

title: 1465

date: May 3

text: May 3 – Mehmed II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his son, Bayezid II.

title: 1481

date: May 27

text: May 27 – Cem Sultan, who briefly reigned as the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for several weeks in 1481 before being deposed by his half-brother, Bayezid II, invades the Turkish mainland and besieges the city of Konya, but is defeated and forced to withdraw to Ankara. Upon trying to retreat to Cairo in Egypt, he finds that all the roads are under Bayezid's control.

title: 1482

date: August 2

text: August 2 – The Jews are expelled from Spain on the Tisha B'Av fast day, pursuant to the Alhambra Decree. More than 40,000 and perhaps as many as 200,000 leave. Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire, learning of this, dispatches the Ottoman Navy to bring the Jews safely to Ottoman lands, mainly to the cities of Thessaloniki (in modern-day Greece) and İzmir (in modern-day Turkey); others settle in Sarajevo.

title: 1492

section: Events › July—September

text: May 31 – Pope Innocent VIII and members of the College of Cardinals meet at the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome with diplomatic envoys sent by the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II. The envoys present the Pope a gift, said to be the Holy Lance, from the Sultan, along with the Sultan's proposal, payment of 120,000 crowns of gold and an annual subsidy of 45,000 ducats in return for the continued imprisonment of Cem Sultan, a half-brother of Bayezid and a rival claimant to the throne.

title: 1492

section: Events › April—June

date: January 28

text: January 28 – Prince Cem Sultan, brother of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II, imprisoned since 1482 after being captured by the Knights Hospitaller, and held captive in Rome since 1489, is released from to French custody by Pope Alexander VI at the request of King Charles of France.

title: 1495

date: August 20

text: August 20 – A previous treaty between Vladislaus II of Hungary and Bayezid II, which was finalized on June 11, goes into effect. The treaty suppresses warfare along the Hungarian-Ottoman border. Stephen III of Moldavia is also included in this treaty, but it preserves his nation's independence on the condition Moldavia pays an annual tribute to the Ottoman Empire.

title: 1503

date: July 2

text: July 2 – The Şahkulu rebellion, which had started in Anatolia by Sakhulu Baba, against the Ottoman Empire on April 9, is suppressed in southeastern Turkey by the Ottoman Grand Vizier, Hadım Ali Pasha and Prince Şehzade Ahmed, son of the Sultan Bayezid II. Sakhulu is subsequently beheaded.

title: 1511

date: May 26

text: May 26 – Selim I succeeds Bayezid II, as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

title: 1512

date: April 24

text: April 24 – Şehzade Ahmet, oldest son of Sultan Bayezid II (executed) (b. 1465)

title: 1513


slug: bayinnaung

label: Bayinnaung

description: King of Burma

date: April 30

text: April 30 – King Tabinshwehti of Burma is assassinated by two of his bodyguards while he is on a hunting trip. The two swordsmen, sent by Smim Sawhtut, Governor of Sittaung, behead the King, and a civil war begins as major governors rebel against the new Burmese King Bayinnaung.

title: 1550

date: September 2

text: September 2 (5th waning of Tawthalin 912 ME) – King Bayinnaung of Burma begins a four-month siege of the former Burmese capital, Toungoo, occupied by the king's rebellious brother Minkhaung.

title: 1550

date: January 11

text: January 11 (5th waxing of Tabodwe 912 ME) – King Bayinnaung of Burma is successful in capturing his ancestral city of Toungoo from his rebellious half-brother Minkhaung II, and sets about to make Toungoo the capital for the first time since 1539. Minkhaung is forgiven by King Bayinnaung rather than being executed, and assists in the King's campaign to capture the neighboring Kingdom of Prome.

title: 1551

date: June 6

text: June 6 (14th waxing of Waso 914 ME) – Minye Sithu is appointed as the Burmese Viceroy of Martaban by his older brother, Bayinnaung, King of Burma.

title: 1552

section: Religion & Belief

date: November 17

text: November 17 (13th waxing of Natdaw 915 ME) – Bayinnaung, King of Burma, commissions the building of the Kanbawzathadi Palace in his capital, Pegu (modern-day Bago in Myanmar). The palace is completed in 1556 but is burned down in 1599.

title: 1553

section: Culture & Society

date: January 12

text: January 12 (10th waxing of Tabodwe 915 ME) – Bayinnaung is crowned king of the Burmese Taungoo Dynasty at his new capital at Pegu, after a previous coronation on January 11, 1551, and takes the regnal name of Thiri Thudhamma Yaza.

title: 1554

text: January 28 – Bayinnaung, King of Burma and head of the Toungoo dynasty, conquers two the Shan States, Möng Mit and Hsipaw in what is now northern Myanmar. The event is later commemorated with an inscription on the Shwezigon Pagoda Bell.

title: 1557

date: June 17

text: June 17 Full moon of Waso 924 ME– King King Bayinnaung of Burma establishes an army garrison at Dawei in preparation for an attack against the Siamese Kingdom of Ayutthaya.

title: 1562

date: February 18

text: February 18 (8th waxing of Tabaung 925 ME) – The Burmese–Siamese War ends with the surrender of King Maha Chakkraphat of Ayutthaya (now Thailand) to King Bayinnaung of Burma). Chhakkraphat is allowed to go into exile and his son Mahinthrathirat is installed by Bayinnaung as the vassal king of Ayutthaya.

title: 1564

date: October 23

text: October 23 – King Bayinnaung of Burma leads 64,000 men, 3,600 horses and 330 elephants on an invasion of the Lan Na kingdom

title: 1564

date: November 25

text: November 25 – The army of Burma, under the command of King Bayinnaung conquers Chiang Mai, capital of the Siamese Kingdom of Lan Na, and departs on November 30.

title: 1565

date: November 27

text: November 27 – Burmese–Siamese War: Dispatched by King Bayinnaung, 55,000 Burmese troops arrive at Phitsanulok (in modern-day Thailand) and drive back the attack by armies from the Ayutthaya Kingdom (Thailand) and Lan Xang (Laos), then prepare to invade Ayutthaya to put down the rebellion by Ayutthayan King Maha Chakkraphat

title: 1568

date: May 8

text: May 8 – King Bayinnaung of Burma puts down the revolt by Setthathirath of Lan Xang (modern Laos), and ending Lan Xang's attempt to rescue Thailand's Ayutthaya Kingdom from conquest.

title: 1569

date: April 18

text: April 18 – Bayinnaung, King of Burma, returns to his capital at Pegu from Vientiane after installing Voravongsa I as the Burmese-appointed monarch of the Kingdom of Lan Xang (now Laos).

title: 1575

date: February 8

text: February 8 – (7th waxing of Tabaung 942 ME) Prince Shin Thissa, later to become King of Burma in 1599 as Nyaungyan Min, receives his first executive job when he is appointed to be Governor of Nyaungyan by his father, King Bayinnaung.

title: 1581