description: Anglo-Norman nobleman who led a rebellion against King Henry III of England (1208-1265)

section: Births

text: Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, English nobleman (d. 1265)

title: 1208

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: August 13

text: August 13 – King Henry III orders the sheriffs of Hampshire, Dorsetshire and Wiltshire to give Simon de Montfort the possession of the lands of his father, Simon de Montfort the elder.

title: 1231

section: Events › By place › Britain

date: January 14

text: January 14 – King Henry III marries the 14-year-old Eleanor of Provence, one of the four daughters of Raimond Berenguer, count of Provence. The ceremony takes place at Canterbury Cathedral, with Simon de Montfort, as Lord High Steward, takes care of the banquet and kitchen arrangements. Eleanor is crowned queen at Westminster Abbey shortly afterward.

title: 1236

section: Events › By place › England

date: January

text: January – Simon de Montfort marries the 23-year-old Eleanor, sister of King Henry III. While the marriage takes place with the king's approval, the act itself is performed secretly and without consulting the barons. Eleanor has previously been married to William Marshal and has sworn a vow of perpetual chastity upon his death, which she breaks by marrying Montfort. Archbishop Edmund of Abingdon condemns the marriage for this reason.

title: 1238

section: Culture & Society

date: June 17

text: June 17 or June 18 – Edward I ("Longshanks"), first son of King Henry III of England and Queen Eleanor of Provence, is born at the Palace of Westminster. Henry names him after Edward the Confessor and chooses Simon de Montfort as his godfather.

title: 1239

text: Spring – Henry III bestows the custody of Kenilworth Castle to Simon de Montfort. Simon's wife Eleanor, Henry's sister, already owned Odiham Castle (or King John's Castle) so Simon has two of the strongest fortresses in England under his control.

title: 1243

section: Conflict & Security

date: May

text: May – English governor Simon de Montfort suppresses a revolt in Gascony.

title: 1251

text: August 6 – King Henry III leads an expedition to Gascony, to repel a rumoured invasion from Castile. Meanwhile, Simon de Montfort returns from Gascony where he allies himself with the barons who oppose Henry.

title: 1253

date: May 2

text: May 2 – King Henry III of England accepts the demand of Simon de Montfort and his baronial supporters that the government is reformed with a committee of 22 barons, including the king. As an act of faith, Simon de Montfort hands over his estates at Odiham and Kenilworth as part of the proposals. The Provisions of Oxford establish baronial control of the government, also known as the Oxford Parliament, on June 11.

title: 1258

section: Events › By place › British Isles

date: June 12

text: June 12 – King Henry III of England obtains a papal bull to absolve himself from his oath to maintain the Provisions of Oxford. He hires an army of 300 French knights as a bodyguard and takes up position in the Tower of London. He dismisses the baronial officials (led by Simon de Montfort) who wish the royal power to be modified by the principle of representation. This sets the stage for the Second Barons' War.

title: 1261

date: April

text: April – Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, newly returned from exile, takes control of southern England. In early May he summons a meeting of rebel barons at Oxford.

title: 1263

date: January 23

text: January 23 – King Louis IX of France ("the Saint") issues the Mise of Amiens, a settlement between King Henry III of England and his rebellious barons under Simon de Montfort, heavily favouring the former – which leads to the Second Barons' War. At Amiens, Henry accuses the barons of destroying his castles and laying waste to royal lands. For this he demands a compensation of some £300,000 and 200,000 marks, which is defended by Louis.

title: 1264

text: Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester (b. 1208)

title: 1265

date: May 28

text: May 28 – Future King Edward I of England escapes the captivity of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester.

title: 1265

date: October 31

text: October 31 – Dictum of Kenilworth provides terms of peace in the Second Barons' War between supporters of the slain rebel leader Simon de Montfort and Henry III.

title: 1266

text: Spring – King Edward I of England ("Longshanks") demands a meeting with Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, prince of Wales, at Chester to pay homage, but Llywelyn refuses. In an attempt to stir up internal problems, Llywelyn seeks to marry 23-year-old Eleanor de Montfort, daughter of Simon de Montfort, but she is captured by English pirates (employed by Edward) on the journey from France to meet Llywelyn. She is held prisoner at Windsor Castle and used as a bargaining chip over the coming years in Edward's attempts to subjugate Llywelyn and Wales.

title: 1275


slug: sinai-peninsula

label: Sinai Peninsula

description: peninsula in the Red Sea

text: Valens concludes a peace with the Persian Empire and leaves enough troops to defend the eastern frontier. The Saracens under Queen Mavia revolt and devastate a swath of territory stretching from Phoenicia and Palestine as far as the Sinai (Egypt). Valens successfully brings the uprising under control.

title: 377

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

section: Religion & Belief

text: Saint Catherine's Monastery is established in the Sinai Peninsula.

title: 548

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Arab–Byzantine War: The Rashidun army (4,000 men), under the command of 'Amr ibn al-'As, invades Byzantine Egypt. They capture the strategic town of Pelusium (Nile Delta) after a two-month siege. Arab reinforcements led by Zubayr ibn al-Awwam are sent from Medina to assist Amr's army. The losses incurred by the Muslims are ameliorated by Sinai Bedouins, tribes of Rashida and Lakhm; they join the invaders in conquering Egypt.

title: 639

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

date: February 9

text: February 9 – Sultan Qalawun (the Victorious) marches the Mamluk army out of Cairo, leaving his son Al-Ashraf Khalil commanding Cairo's Citadel, supported by Viceroy Baydara al-Mansuri. The army moves via Salihiya, across Sinai and through Jordan to Damascus. He orders the regional governors of Syria to mobilize in Damascus, where many infantry volunteers have assembled.

title: 1289

section: Events › By place › Levant

date: April 11

text: April 11 – WWI: The Egyptian Expeditionary Force begins the occupation of the Sinai Peninsula.

title: 1916

section: Events › April

date: October 24

text: October 24 – The Protocol of Sèvres, a secret agreement between Israel, France and the United Kingdom, is signed, allowing the former to invade the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and occupy the Suez Canal with the support of the other two governments, giving rise to the Suez Crisis.

title: 1956

section: Events › October

date: October 29

text: October 29 – Suez Crisis: Israel invades the Sinai Peninsula and pushes Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal.

title: 1956

date: January 20

text: January 20 – Israel withdraws from the Sinai Peninsula (captured from Egypt on October 29, 1956).

title: 1957

section: Events › January

date: May 17

text: May 17 – President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt demands withdrawal of the peacekeeping UN Emergency Force in the Sinai. U.N. Secretary-General U Thant complies (May 18).

title: 1967

section: Events › May

date: October 6

text: October 6 – Yom Kippur War begins: The fourth and largest Arab–Israeli conflict begins, as Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights on Yom Kippur.

title: 1973

date: April 25

text: April 25 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula in accordance with the Egypt–Israel peace treaty of 1979.

title: 1982

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: December 12

text: December 12 – Arrow Air Flight 1285R, a Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256 people – 248 of whom were U.S. servicemen returning to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, after overseeing a peacekeeping force in the Sinai Peninsula.

title: 1985

section: Events › December


slug: sindh

label: Sindh

description: province of Pakistan

year_label: 180 BCE

text: Apollodotus I, a general with Demetrius I of Bactria, becomes king of the western and southern parts of the Indo-Greek kingdom, from Taxila in Punjab to the areas of Sindh and possibly Gujarat. He maintains his allegiance to Demetrius I.

title: 180 BC

section: Events › By place › Bactria

year_label: 160 BCE

section: Deaths

text: Apollodotus I, Indo-Greek king who, since 180 BC, has ruled the western and southern parts of the Indo-Greek kingdom, from Taxila in Punjab to the areas of Sindh and possibly Gujarat

title: 160 BC

date: February 23

text: February 23 – Caliph Al-Walid I dies at Damascus after a 10-year reign, and is succeeded by his brother Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik. During his rule the Umayyad Caliphate reaches its greatest height, with successful campaigns undertaken in Transoxiana (Central Asia), Sindh (Pakistan), Hispania and against the Byzantine Empire.

title: 715

text: Mansur ibn Jumhur al-Kalbi, Arab governor of Sindh

title: 751

date: September 14

text: September 14 – Harun al-Rashid becomes the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad, upon the death of his brother Al-Hadi. He appoints Salim Yunisi as governor of Sindh and the Indus Valley.

title: 786

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate

date: December 15

text: December 15 – Mongol forces under Hulagu Khan capture and dismantle Alamut Castle (near the Masoudabad region) after the surrender of the Nizari Ismaili leaders. Hulagu founds the Ilkhanate dynasty of Persia, which becomes one of the four main divisions of the Mongol Empire. The Nizari Ismaili government is disestablished; some of them migrate to Afghanistan, Badakhshan and Sindh (modern Pakistan).

title: 1256

section: Events › By place › Mongol Empire

text: Mongol invasion of India (1297–1298): Mongol forces led by Qutlugh Khwaja invade the Sindh region of the Delhi Sultanate and occupy the castle of Sivistan (modern Pakistan). Sultan Alauddin Khalji sends an army under Zafar Khan, who defeats the Mongols, on February 6. Some 20,000 Mongols are killed in the ensuing battle. The survivors are put into chains and brought to Delhi, where they are trampled to death by elephants.

title: 1298

section: Events › By place › Asia

date: February 25

text: February 25 – Sultan Alauddin Khalji orders the army (some 35,000 men) to prepare for the march to Gujarat. One part of the army under Nusrat Khan starts its march from Delhi. Another part, led by Ulugh Khan, marches from Sindh and attacks Jaisalmer along the way. When the army returns from raiding Gujarat, Mongol soldiers stage a mutiny over payment of khums (one-fifth of the share of loot). The mutiny is crushed, the mutineer families in Delhi are punished and executed.

title: 1299

section: Crime & Justice

date: September 5

text: September 5 – Delhi's Sultan Khusrau Khan, who betrayed and murdered Qutbuddin Shah earlier in the year to become ruler in India, is himself betrayed and murdered by his governor, Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, who founds Delhi's Tughlaq dynasty. Sultan Ghiyath appoints military governors in Punjab and Sindh province, who manage to halt Mongol incursions towards the sultanate.

title: 1320

section: Events › July – September

date: March 23

text: March 23 – Firuz Shah Tughlaq succeeds Mohammad Tughlaq as ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. At this time, the Samma dynasty in Sindh (part of modern-day Pakistan) breaks away from the Sultanate.

title: 1351

section: Events › January–December

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: April 20

text: April 20 – Mian Shahul Mouhammed Kalhoro begins his reign at Karachi as the king of Sindh, in modern-day Pakistan, and rules until 1657.

title: 1620

section: Events › April–June

date: January 7

text: January 7 – In India, Sufi rebel leader Shah Inayat Shaheed from Sindh who had led attacks against the Mughal Empire, is beheaded days after being tricked into meeting with the Mughals to discuss peace.

title: 1718

section: Events › January – March

text: The Ranikot Fort is reconstructed in Sindh.

title: 1812

section: Events › Date unknown

date: March 24

text: March 24 – Battle of Hyderabad: The Bombay Army, led by Major General Sir Charles Napier, defeats the Talpur Mirs, securing Sindh as a province of British India.

title: 1843

section: Events › January–March

text: March 23 – General Rahimuddin Khan becomes the first man in Pakistan's history to rule over two of its provinces, after becoming interim Governor of Sindh.

title: 1984

section: Events › March

text: October 29 – Pakistan's General Rahimuddin Khan resigns from his post as the governor of Sindh, following attempts by the President of Pakistan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, to limit the powers Rahimuddin had accumulated.

title: 1988

date: June 7

text: June 7 – 2021 Ghotki rail crash: In Pakistan, 2 trains collided in Daharki, in the Ghotki District of Sindh. Killing 65 people and injuring 150 people.

title: 2021

section: Events › June


slug: singapore

label: Singapore

description: sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia

section: Conflict & Security

text: February 25 – Dutch–Portuguese War: the Portuguese ship Santa Catarina is seized by Dutch East India Company ships off Singapore.

title: 1603

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: September

text: September – Sir Stamford Raffles sets out to visit Lord Hastings, Governor-General of India, to gain his approval to establish a trading station at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula (modern-day Singapore).

title: 1818

section: Events › July–September

date: February 6

text: February 6 – The Treaty of Singapore, is signed between Hussein Shah of Johor and Sir Stamford Raffles of Britain, to create a trading settlement in Singapore.[https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=92bb56f0-e821-40d1-bd8c-cf8fa7e7f172]

title: 1819

section: Science & Discovery

date: January 29

text: January 29 – Sir Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore.

title: 1819

section: Culture & Society

date: June 5

text: June 5 – Raffles Institution is established (as the Singapore Institution) by the founder of Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles.

title: 1823

date: April 1

text: April 1 – The Strait Settlement of Singapore, formerly ruled from Calcutta, becomes a Crown colony, under the jurisdiction of the Colonial Office in London.

title: 1867

section: Events › April

section: Economy & Finance

date: June 15

text: June 15 – Cycle & Carriage, now one of the largest investment companies in Singapore, is founded, initially to sell bicycles and motor vehicles.

title: 1899

date: November 21

text: November 21 – People's Action Party, an eventual dominative political party in Singapore, was established.

title: 1954

section: Events › November

date: April 12

text: April 12 – The United Kingdom announces that Singapore will gain self-rule on January 1, 1958.

title: 1957

date: June 3

text: June 3 – Singapore becomes a self-governing crown colony of Britain with Lee Kuan Yew as Prime Minister.

title: 1959

date: May 27

text: May 27 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaya, holds a press conference in Singapore, announcing his idea to form the Federation of Malaysia, comprising Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, Brunei and North Borneo (Sabah).

title: 1961

section: Events › May

date: September 16

text: September 16 – Malaysia is formed through the merging of the Federation of Malaya and the British crown colony of Singapore, North Borneo (renamed Sabah) and Sarawak.

title: 1963

section: Events › September

date: July 21

text: July 21 – Race riots begin in Singapore between ethnic Chinese and Malays.

title: 1964

section: Events › July

date: August 7

text: August 7 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaysia, recommends the expulsion of Singapore from the Federation of Malaysia following a deterioration of PAP–UMNO relations, negotiating its separation with Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore.

title: 1965

section: Events › July–August

date: August 9

text: August 9 – Proclamation of Singapore: Singapore is expelled from the Federation of Malaysia, which recognises it as a sovereign nation. Lee Kuan Yew announces Singapore's independence and assumes the position of Prime Minister of the new island nation – a position he holds until 1990.

title: 1965

date: September 21

text: September 21 – Gambia, Maldives and Singapore are admitted as members of the United Nations.

title: 1965

section: Events › September–October

date: January 31

text: January 31 – Two members of the Japanese Red Army (JRA) and two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) made a failed attempt to blow up oil tanks at the Shell oil refinery complex on Pulau Bukom at Singapore. The terrorists then hijacked the ferry Laju and took its five crew members hostage.

title: 1974

section: Events › January–February

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: October 20

text: October 20 – The first McDonald's in Singapore opens at Liat Towers in Orchard Road.

title: 1979

section: Events › October

date: January 1

text: January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).

title: 1982

section: Events › January

date: November 7

text: November 7 – Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system in Singapore opens for passenger service.

title: 1987

section: Religion & Belief

date: March 31

text: March 31 – The Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act of Singapore comes into force.

title: 1992

date: May 21

text: May 21 – The International Court of Justice awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute between the two countries.

title: 2008

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: December 28

text: December 28 – Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore crashes into the Java Sea just southwest of Borneo, killing all 162 people on board.

title: 2014

date: June 12

text: June 12 – The 2018 North Korea–United States summit is held in Singapore. It is the first summit between a sitting United States President and a North Korean leader.

title: 2018

date: February 28

text: February 28 – 2022 Russian financial crisis: In an unprecedented move, Switzerland, Monaco, Singapore and South Korea impose unilateral sanctions over Russia including the introduction of export controls and asset freezes.

title: 2022

section: Events › February

date: July 11

text: July 11 – August 3 – The 2025 World Aquatics Championships are held in Singapore.

title: 2025


slug: sioux

label: Sioux

description: Native American and First Nations ethnic group

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: April 9

text: April 9 – The Verendrye brothers make the first contact since 1722 between Europeans and the Sioux Indians, whom they refer to as Les Gens de la Fleche Collee ("the people of the sheathed arrow").

title: 1743

section: Events › April–June

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: George Catlin starts to live among the Sioux in the Dakota Territory.

title: 1832

section: Events › Date unknown

section: Crime & Justice

date: November 5

text: November 5 – American Indian Wars: In Minnesota, more than 300 Santee Sioux are found guilty of rape and murder of white settlers, and are sentenced to hang.

title: 1862

date: August 4

text: August 4 – American Indian Wars: While protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, the Seventh Cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, clashes for the first time with the Sioux, near the Tongue River (only 1 man on each side is killed).

title: 1873

section: Events › August

section: Conflict & Security

date: November 9

text: November 9 – American Indian Wars: In Washington, D.C., Indian Inspector E.C. Watkins issues a report stating that hundreds of Sioux and Cheyenne associated with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse are hostile to the United States (the Battle of the Little Bighorn is fought in Montana the next year).

title: 1875

date: June 17

text: June 17 – American Indian Wars: Battle of the Rosebud – 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne, led by Crazy Horse, beat back General George Crook's forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory.

title: 1876

section: Events › June

date: March

text: Thousands of Plains Indians in the United States travel to an encampment of the Sioux chief Sitting Bull in the region of the Little Bighorn River, creating the last great gathering of native peoples on the Great Plains.

title: 1876

section: Events › March

date: September 5

text: September 5 – American Indian Wars: Oglala Sioux chief Crazy Horse is bayoneted by a United States soldier, after resisting confinement in a guardhouse at Fort Robinson in Nebraska.

title: 1877

date: July 20

text: July 20 – American Indian Wars: Sioux chief Sitting Bull leads the last of his people in surrender to United States troops at Fort Buford in Montana.

title: 1881


slug: sirmium

label: Sirmium

description: Roman and Byzantine city in Serbia

text: Emperor Marcus Aurelius writes in Sirmium (Pannonia) his first of 12 books of the Meditations in Koine Greek.

title: AD 170

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Maximinus campaigns against Dacians and Sarmatians from his supply depot at Sirmium.

title: 236

text: Valerian, under guardianship of Ingenuus, is established at Sirmium (Pannonia) to represent the Roman government in the troubled Illyrian provinces.

title: 257

text: Claudius II travels to Sirmium and prepares a war against the Vandals, who raid Pannonia.

title: 269

text: Emperor Probus travels towards Sirmium (Serbia). He tries to employ his troops in peaceful projects, such as draining the swamps in Pannonia.

title: 282

text: The praetorian prefect Marcus Aurelius Carus usurps power in Raetia. Probus attempts to organise a campaign against Carus but is murdered by his discontented troops in Sirmium.

title: 282

text: Constantine I sends his half-brother Julius Constantius to Licinius at Sirmium (Pannonia), with the proposal to accept Bassianus as Caesar and give him power over Italy. Licinius refuses, and forces a conspiracy against Constantine.

title: 316

date: October 8

text: October 8 – Battle of Cibalae: Constantine the Great defeats his rival Licinius near the town of Colonia Aurelia Cibalae (modern-day Vinkovci, Croatia). Licinius is forced to flee to Sirmium and loses all of the Balkans except for Thrace. Peace negotiations are initiated between the two Augusti, but they are unsuccessful.

title: 316

date: March 1

text: March 1 – Emperor Constantine the Great and co-emperor Licinius elevate their sons Crispus, Constantine II and Licinius II to Caesars. After this arrangement Constantine rules the dioceses Pannonia and Macedonia, and establishes his residence at Sirmium, from where he prepares a campaign against the Goths and Sarmatians.

title: 317

section: Culture & Society

date: March 15

text: March 15 – Emperor Constantius II elevates his 25-year-old cousin Constantius Gallus to Caesar at Sirmium (Pannonia). He arranges a marriage with his sister Constantina, and puts him in charge of the Eastern portion of the Roman Empire.

title: 351

text: Late in the year Pope Liberius travels to Sirmium (Pannonia) and agrees to sign documents that effectively undo the Nicene Creed (which implicitly disavows Arianism) and to sever his relationship with the former Alexandrian patriarch Athanasius, who is replaced as patriarch of Alexandria by his Arian opponent George of Cappadocia.

title: 357

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: The fortified cities of the Danube, with Sirmium (Pannonia) at the forefront, contribute to stop an invasion of the Quadi.

title: 371

text: Gratian sets out from Lauriacum (Austria) with a body of light armed troops. His force is small enough to travel by boat down the Danube. He halts for four days at Sirmium (Serbia) suffering from fever.

title: 378

date: January 19

text: January 19 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium, giving him the title Augustus with power over all the eastern provinces. Theodosius comes to terms with the Visigoths and settles them in the Balkans as military allies (foederati).

title: 379

date: April 22

text: April 22 – Flavius Anthemius Isidorus becomes the new Praetorian prefect of Illyricum, comprising most of Greece and Serbia, taking office at the capital, Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia).

title: 424

text: A Byzantine army, under command of Baduarius, assists the Gepids in their war against the Lombards. The Byzantines win the first battle in the lower Danube (Moesia), but Gepid King Cunimund refuses to hand back the fortress city of Sirmium (modern Serbia), as he had promised.

title: 566

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Siege of Sirmium: The Avars march to the right bank of the River Sava, and besiege the Byzantine stronghold of Sirmium (Pannonia).

title: 580

text: Siege of Sirmium: The Avars, under their ruler (khagan) Bayan I, aided by Slavic auxiliary troops, capture the city of Sirmium after almost a 3-year siege. Bayan establishes a new base of operations within the Byzantine Empire, from which he plunders the Balkan Peninsula, including Athens.

title: 582

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Summer – Omurtag, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire, launches an attack to the West, and penetrates into Pannonia. He expels the local chiefs, and installs Bulgar governors over the Slavic tribes to control them. Omurtag conquers the cities of Beograd, Braničevo, Sirmium, and most of eastern Slavonia.

title: 827

text: The Kingdom of Hungary launches a campaign against the Byzantine Empire. They besiege and capture the border fortress of Belgrade, along with Sirmium and Taurunum.

title: 1071

date: July 8

text: July 8 – Battle of Sirmium: Byzantine forces (15,000 men) under General Andronikos Kontostephanos defeat the Hungarians at Sirmium. Emperor Manuel I (Komnenos) consolidates his control over the western Balkans.

title: 1167


slug: sixteen-kingdoms

label: Sixteen Kingdoms

description: period of Chinese history from 304 to 439

text: Sixteen Kingdoms: The Xiongnu establishes the Han-Zhao state under Liu Yuan, often seen as the start of the Upheaval of the Five Barbarians.

title: 304

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Sixteen Kingdoms: Jingwen (later Yuan of Jin) flees with remnants of the Jin court and noble families to the south. He succeeds Emperor Min of Jin as first ruler of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and decides to make Jiankang (modern Nanjing) his new capital.

title: 317

text: The Han-Zhao dynasty, a Southern Xiongnu state during the Sixteen Kingdoms, ends.

title: 329

section: Events › By place › China

text: Shi Hong succeeds his father Shi Le as Emperor of the Later Zhao Empire, in the Period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, but Shi Hong's third cousin Shi Hu holds the real power. Empress Dowager Liu (widow of Shi Le) fails to get rid of Shi Hu, and Shi Hu has her deposed and killed.

title: 333

date: July 10

text: July 10 – Sixteen Kingdoms: Jin Aidi, age 20, succeeds Jin Mudi, as emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

title: 361

date: March 30

text: March 30 – Sixteen Kingdoms: Jin Feidi, age 23, succeeds his brother Jin Aidi as emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. He has no actual power; governmental matters are largely in the hands of his granduncle Sima Yu.

title: AD 365

text: Sixteen Kingdoms: Jin Feidi is dethroned as emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. He is replaced by his granduncle Sima Yu, who is installed as Jin Jianwendi.

title: 372

text: The Southern Liang, a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty, comes to an end.

title: 414

text: The Northern Wei empire annexes Northern Liang and unifies Northern China, concluding the Sixteen Kingdoms era.

title: 439


slug: skanderbeg

label: Skanderbeg

description: Albanian noble and military commander (1405–1468)

section: Births

date: May 6

text: May 6 – George Kastrioti, better known as Skanderbeg, Albanian national hero (d. 1468) (probable date)

title: 1405

date: November 8

text: November 8 – Battle of Niš: John Hunyadi and the army of the Crusade of Varna defeat three armies of the Ottoman Empire, and capture the city of Niš in modern-day Serbia; Skanderbeg deserts the Ottoman camp and goes to Albania.

title: 1443

section: Events › October–December

date: October 10

text: October 10 – At the Battle of Mokra, Albanian forces under the command of the rebel Skanderbeg, with 3,500 soldiers, defeat the more than 9,000 Ottoman troops led by Firuz Pasha. Firuz is killed in battle along with 1,500 of his men. Pope Eugene IV raises a hymn of praise, that Christendom has been provided with a new defender, after he hears of the battle).

title: 1445

date: September 27

text: September 27 – Battle of Otonetë: Skanderbeg defeats the Ottomans.

title: 1446

section: Events › July–September

date: August 14

text: August 14 – At the Battle of Oranik, Albanian forces led by Skanderbeg defeat the armies of the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire.

title: 1448

date: June 27

text: June 27 – Venice sends Andrea Venier to negotiate with the Ottoman Empire in an attempt to have the Ottomans invade Albania. Afterwards, Venier is sent to meet with Skanderbeg to ask him to cease hostilities.

title: 1448

date: March 4

text: March 4 – The Republic of Venice offers a reward to anyone who is successful in assassinating the Albanian rebel leader Skanderbeg, with a pension of 100 gold ducats per month as a reward.

title: 1448

section: Events › January–March

date: March 26

text: March 26 – The Treaty of Gaeta is signed at the Italian city of Gaeta between the Kingdom of Albania

title: 1451

date: April 5

text: April 5 – Skanderbeg, leader of the Albanians in their fight against the Ottomans, pardons Moisi Galemi, a former officer who had defected to the Ottomans and was then defeated by Skanderbeg at the Battle of Oranik.

title: 1456

date: May 18

text: May 18 – Second Battle of Oronichea (1456): Ottoman Forces of 15,000 are sent to capture Albania, but are met and swiftly defeated by Skanderbeg's smaller forces.

title: 1456

date: September 2

text: September 2 – At the Battle of Albulena, the Albanian general Skanderbeg's defeats Ottoman Empire army, in the open field.

title: 1457

date: April 17

text: April 17 – Skanderbeg, ruler of Albania, reaches a three-year peace agreement with the Ottoman Empire.

title: 1461

date: August 24

text: August 24 – The Angevins, led by Giovanni Antonio Orsini del Balzo, lift their siege of Barletta in the Kingdom of Naples when Ivan Strez Balšić arrives with cavalry and infantry to rescue King Ferrante. Orsini's erroneous belief that Skanderbeg has accompanied the Neapolitan Army is enough to cause him to order a withdrawal.

title: 1461

date: December 28

text: December 28 – General Skanderbeg of Albania recaptures the fortress of Trani for the Kingdom of Naples after finding the rebel leader Fuscia de Foxa and 16 other rebels outside the walls of the city.

title: 1461

date: May 28

text: May 28 – In Italy, King Ferdinand of Naples is forced to abandon the city of Venosa, the Albanian general Skanderbeg leads his cavalry in an attack on Venosa after an attack by the former king, Rene of Anjou and by General Jacopo Piccinino. Fleeing to Apulia, Ferdinand learns that the Albanian General Skanderbeg will soon arrive to fight the House of Anjou.

title: 1461

date: July 7

text: July 7 – In his campaign against the Ottomans in western Macedonia, at the Second Battle of Mokra, Skanderbeg surprises Ottoman troops near Mokra, orders his men to scare the enemy with drums and battlehorns, and then leads a successful attack, killing many of the Ottoman soldiers.

title: 1462

date: November 27

text: November 27 – Skanderbeg declares war on the Ottoman Empire and attacks its troops near Ohrid.

title: 1463

section: Religion & Belief

date: June 18

text: June 18 – Pope Pius II himself shoulders the cross of the Crusades, and departs for Ancona to participate in person. He names Skanderbeg general captain of the Holy See, under the title Athleta Christi. This plan forces Skanderbeg to break his ten-year peace treaty with the Ottomans signed in 1463, by attacking their forces near Ohrid.

title: 1464

date: September 15

text: September 15 – At the Battle of Ohrid in what is now North Macedonia, ends with the Albanian leader Skanderbeg and a supplementary force from the Venetian Republic, luring an estimated 10,000 Ottoman Empire soldiers out of the walled city of Ohrid, then captures the group as prisoners and seizes the city.

title: 1464

date: December 12

text: December 12 – The Albanian General Skanderbeg arrives in Rome to offer his aid to the Christian League in the defense of Italy against the Ottoman Empire.

title: 1466

date: January 7

text: January 7 – At Rome, Pope Paul II holds a secret papal consistory, with the Albanian general Skanderbeg, to ask the cardinals assembled to provide Skanderbeg with 5,000 ducats (equivalent to 17.5 kg lb of gold based on the worth of a ducat of 3.5g of gold). While the cardinals respond that 5,000 ducats is insufficient, the Pope explains that the additional money will have to wait until the war in Italy is concluded.

title: 1467


slug: slavery

label: Slavery

description: system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work

year_label: 104 BCE

text: Second Servile War: Athenion starts a slave rebellion in Segesta (Sicily).

title: 104 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 34 CE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: The original inhabitants of Dacia revolt against the Sarmatian tribe of Iazyges, who had enslaved them.

title: 30s

section: Events › 34 AD › Europe

section: Crime & Justice

text: Piracy is committed by slave-traders from Galatia (Anatolia), along the coasts of Africa.

title: 401

date: September 13

text: September 13 – Battle of Ad Decimum: Gelimer attempts to ambush the Byzantines in a defile at the "10th milestone" from Carthage; due to inadequate coordination and the alertness of Belisarius, the attack is repulsed and the Vandals are scattered into the desert. Belisarius enters the capital and orders his soldiers not to kill or enslave the population. The fleet is stationed in the Lake of Tunis.

title: 533

section: Deaths

text: Autumn – Totila is elected king by the Ostrogothic nobles after the death of his uncle Ildibad. He wins the support of the lower classes by liberating slaves and distributing land to the peasants.

title: 541

text: Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, companion (sahabah) of Muhammad, frees 30,000 slaves at his death (approximate date).

title: 652

section: Events › By place › Arab Empire

text: The Muslim-Arabs raid Crete, killing and enslaving many soldiers (approximate date).

title: 674

date: January 9

text: January 9 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council, in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews. Laws against violence to slaves are suppressed.

title: 681

text: The Great Berber Revolt: The Berbers break out in revolt against the Umayyad rulers at Maghreb, in response to the oppressive, (and, by Islamic law, illegal) tax-collection and slave-tribute. The rebellion is led by the chieftain (alleged water-carrier) Maysara al-Matghari. He successfully seizes Tangier, and rapidly captures much of western Morocco. The Berber rebellion which erupts not only undermines caliphal rule and fragments the wilayat or province of Ifriqiya (North Africa), but paves the way for the emergence of autonomous local Arab dynasties.

title: 739

section: Events › By place › Africa

text: Siege of Patras: Local Slavic tribes of the Peloponnese lay siege to the city of Patras (modern Greece), with aid from an Arab fleet. A Byzantine relief army under Skleros, military governor (strategos) from Corinth, is sent and retakes the city. The captured Slavs in Patras are made slaves, and a church is dedicated to St. Andrew.

title: 805

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The town of Dyflin (meaning "Black Pool") or Dublin (modern Ireland) is founded by Norwegian Vikings, on the south bank of the River Liffey. The settlement is fortified with a ditch and an earth rampart, with a wooden palisade on top. The Norsemen establish a wool weaving industry, and there is also a slave trade. An artificial hill is erected, where the nobility meets to make laws and discuss policy.

title: 841

section: Events › By place › Ireland

text: The Zanj Rebellion: The Zanj (black slaves from East Africa), provoked by mercilessly harsh labor conditions in salt flats, and on the sugar and cotton plantations of southwestern Persia, revolt.

title: 869

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

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

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate

text: The Zanj Rebellion: The Zanj (black slaves from East Africa) defeat the Abbasid forces, led by caliphal regent Al-Muwaffaq (brother of caliph Al-Mu'tamid). Hostilities in Mesopotamia (Southern Iraq) will preoccupy Al-Muwaffaq, and the Zanj will remain on the offensive over the next several years.

title: 872

text: Zanj Rebellion: The Zanj (black slaves from East Africa) in Mesopotamia seize Wasit (modern Iraq), and establish a presence in the Persian province of Khuzestan.

title: 878

text: Slavery is abolished in Sweden.

title: 1335

section: Events › Date unknown

text: The first black slaves arrive in Colombia.

title: 1511

date: January 29

text: January 29 – The French Saint-Domingue expedition (40,000 troops) led by General Charles Leclerc (Bonaparte's brother-in-law) lands in Saint-Domingue (modern Haiti) in an attempt to restore colonial rule following the Haitian Revolution in which Toussaint Louverture (a black former slave) has proclaimed himself Governor-General for Life and established control over Hispaniola.

title: 1802

date: August 1

text: August 1 – Slavery is abolished in the British Empire, by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.

title: 1834

date: February 1

text: February 1 – Slavery is finally abolished in British-administered Mauritius, with compensation to slaveowners.

title: 1835

date: December 20

text: December 20 – Slavery is abolished in Réunion (this day is celebrated every year from 1981).

title: 1848


slug: slavic-peoples

label: Slavic peoples

text: Anastasius I constructs a wall from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, to protect Constantinople from raiding Bulgars and Slavs.

title: 512

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

section: Conflict & Security

date: April 9

text: April 9 – Belisarius receives his promised reinforcements: 1,600 cavalry, mostly of Hunnic or Slavic origin and expert bowmen. Despite shortages, he starts raids against the Gothic camps and Vitiges is forced into a stalemate.

title: 537

text: Emperor Justinian I becomes alarmed by renewed barbarian incursions across the Danube frontier from the Slavs, the Bulgars, the Gepids, and the Avars.

title: 539

section: Health & Medicine

text: The Avars and the Slavs occupy the Hungarian Plain on the Balkans. The threat of Avar domination prompts the Lombards to migrate to Italy.

title: 558

section: Events › By place › Europe

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

text: The Slavs begin to migrate into the Balkan Peninsula. The Avars, under King (khagan) Bayan I, invade the Lower Danube (modern Bulgaria).

title: 580

text: Samo, reputedly a Frankish merchant, is elected king of the Slavs in Moravia, Slovakia and Lower Austria. A string of victories over the Avars proves his utilitas (usefulness) to his subjects, and he secures the throne to establish his own kingdom, which stretches from the upper Elbe to the Danube.

title: 623

text: The confederation of Slavic tribes falls apart after the death of King Samo. A Slav principality is formed from the kingdom's remnants in Carinthia (modern Austria), and the Avars capture most of its territory in Hungary (approximate date).

title: 658

text: Albert I of Brandenburg begins his ruthless program to pacify the Slavic region.

title: 1157

section: Events


slug: slavs

label: Slavs

description: Indo-European group living in Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Northern Asia, and Central Asia

text: The city of Monemvasia (Peloponnese) is founded by people seeking refuge from the Slavs and Avars.

title: 583

text: The Slavs push south on the Balkan Peninsula – partly in conjunction with the Avars under their ruler (khagan) Bayan I – ravaging the cities Athens and Corinth, and threatening the Long Walls of Constantinople.

title: 584

text: Slavs advance to the gates of Thessaloniki and the Peloponnese.

title: 586

text: Emperor Maurice builds more fortifications along the Danube frontier, separating the Byzantine Empire from the realm of the Avars and Slavs (approximate date).

title: 587

section: Events › By place › Eastern Roman Empire

text: Summer – Maurice begins a series of military expeditions, to defend the Balkan provinces from the Avars and Slavs. He establishes the Danube frontier (Limes Moesiae) from the Delta to the fortress city of Singidunum (Belgrade), and permits the Byzantines to reassert their authority in the interior.

title: 591

text: Emperor Maurice uses the city of Marcianopolis (modern Bulgaria) as a military base of operations on the lower Danube River, against the Slavs on the Balkans.

title: 596

text: Priscus pursues the fleeing Avar tribes and invades their homeland in Pannonia. He devastates the land east of the Tisza River, deciding the war for the Byzantines and ending the Avar and Slavic incursions across the Danube.

title: 599

text: Germanic and Slavic peoples have tremendous population growth, with the Slavs colonizing the Balkan Peninsula.

title: 600

section: Climate & Environment

text: Food production increases in northern and Western Europe as a result of agricultural technology introduced by the Slavs, who employ a lightweight plow with a knife blade (coulter), that cuts deep into the soil at grassroots level, together with a shaped board, or "moldboard", that moves the cut soil to one side.

title: 601

section: Events › By topic › Agriculture

text: Emperor Maurice succeeds in winning over the Avars to Byzantine rule, but his campaigns against the Avars, Lombards, Persians and Slavs drain the imperial treasury, requiring an increase in taxes. He orders the troops to stay for winter beyond the Danube, but a mutiny breaks out under Phocas. He brings the Byzantine forces back over the Danube and marches on to Constantinople.

title: 602

text: King Agilulf besieges Cremona, and with the assistance of the Slavs the city is destroyed. He captures Padua and Mantua (Northern Italy); its territory is divided between the Lombard duchies of Brescia and Bergamo.

title: 603

text: The Avars regroup after they are almost destroyed; together with the Slavs they start pillaging through the Byzantine provinces, west and south of the Danube. Due to the new Persian war, Emperor Phocas has few imperial troops available to defend the Balkan Peninsula.

title: 604

text: The Avars invade the Duchy of Friuli, an important buffer between the Kingdom of the Lombards in Italy and the Slavs. During the fighting Gisulf II dies and his duchy is overrun (approximate date).

title: 610

text: The Balkans are freely overrun by the Slavs, who settle in large numbers in what is now Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia and parts of Greece. The western territories of modern-day Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Croatia and Dalmatia) suffer raids from the Avars, who settle in this region.

title: 615

text: Chatzon, chieftain of the Slavs

title: 615

text: The Avars attack the outskirts of Constantinople. Numerous Slavic tribes rebel against Avar overlordship; they carve out their own sovereign territory in Moravia and Lower Austria (approximate date).

title: 619

text: The Slavs invade the area around Thessaloniki, which is unsuccessfully besieged. The city becomes a Byzantine enclave surrounded by Slavic territory. Urban life disappears and many towns in the Balkan Peninsula become villages.

title: 620

text: Battle of Wogastisburg: The Slavs under King Samo defeat the Austrasian Franks, in a three-day battle. King Dagobert I is forced to retreat; the Franks with their allies are slaughtered. Samo invades Thuringia and undertakes looting raids.

title: 631

text: Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Heraclius assembles a large army consisting of contingents of Byzantines, Slavs, Franks, Georgians, Armenians, and Christian Arabs. He establishes a base at Yaqusah (near Gadara), close to the edge of the Golan Heights, protecting the vital main road from Egypt to Damascus. The base is protected by deep valleys and precipitous cliffs, well supplied with water and grazing.

title: 636

text: Samo, king of the Slavs (Carinthia)

title: 658

text: Duke Lupus of Friuli revolts against King Grimoald I, with allied Avars. Grimoald takes and devastates Friuli, tracks down Lupus's son Arnefrit (allied with the Slavs), and beats him and kills him in battle at the castle of Nimis. Grimoald appoints Wechtar as the new duke of Friuli.

title: AD 666

text: Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Emperor Justinian II carries out a Balkan campaign and marches through Thrace, where he restores Byzantine rule. He establishes a theme administration, and migrates many Bulgars and Slavs to the Opsician Theme (Asia Minor).

title: 688

text: Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Emperor Justinian II defeats the Bulgars of Macedonia and recaptures Thessalonica, the second most important Byzantine city in Europe. He resettles the subdued Slavs in Anatolia (modern Turkey), where they are required to provide 30,000 men to the Byzantine army.

title: 689

text: Avar and Slavic tribes conquer Byzantine territories in the Balkans, occupying lands as far south as the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece (approximate date).

title: 700

text: Spring – An army of 15,000 Bulgar and Slav horsemen under Justinian II appear before the walls of Constantinople. After three days, his troops discover an unused water conduit under the walls of the city, and enter through the Valens Aqueduct. Hearing that Justinian has taken control of the Blachernae Palace, Emperor Tiberios III flees to Bithynia (modern Turkey), where he evades capture for several months.

title: 705

text: Duke Corvulus of Friuli is arrested by King Aripert II of the Lombards, and has his eyes gouged out. He is replaced by Pemmo, who begins a war against the Slavs of Carinthia (modern Austria).

title: 706

section: Culture & Society

text: Summer – Emperor Leo III secures the Byzantine frontier, by inviting Slavic settlers into the depopulated districts of the Thracesian Theme (western Asia Minor). He undertakes a set of civil reforms, and reorganizes the theme structure in the Aegean region. Leo's 2-year-old son Constantine V is associated on the throne, and married to Tzitzak, daughter of the Khazar ruler (khagan) Bihar.

title: 720

text: Saxon Wars: Widukind and his close followers return to Saxony from Denmark. He probably makes alliances with the Danes and the northwestern Slav tribes. Saxon rebels destroy the fortress of Karlsburg and sack Deutz (near Cologne), but are unable to cross the Rhine. They are driven back by the garrison of Koblenz, but then ambush and defeat the Frankish pursuers. Counter-attacking Frankish forces pursue the Saxons up the Lahn Valley, and defeat them near Leisa.

title: 778

text: Saxon War: The Slav Obodrites, under their ruler Witzan, attack the northern Saxons in Liuni. He is killed in an ambush and succeeded by his son Drożko (Thrasco), who becomes a Carolingian dux. King Charlemagne leads a Frankish expeditionary force north from Mainz, and marches to the Elbe, where eastern Saxon rebels again surrender.

title: 795

date: May

text: May – Krum, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire, begins his territorial expansion and raids the Byzantine northern frontier. He leads his warriors — mostly Bulgars, Slavs, Thracians and Macedonians — across the Carpathian Mountains, over the Danube River, and throughout Transylvania, Thrace, and Macedonia.

title: 803

date: July 26

text: July 26 – Battle of Vărbitsa Pass: Nikephoros I is trapped (probably in the Vărbitsa Pass) and defeated by the Bulgars, who use the tactics of ambush and surprise night attacks to immobilize the Byzantine forces. Nikephoros himself is killed; Krum has the emperor's head carried back in triumph on a pole, where it is cleaned out, lined with silver and made into a jeweled skull cup, which he allows his Slavic princes (archons) to drink from with him.

title: 811

date: April 13

text: April 13 – Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars: Over the winter Krum, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire, had assembled a huge army (including Slavs and Avars), for a campaign against the Byzantine Empire. But before he sets out for a major attack on Constantinople, he dies of a stroke. Krum is succeeded by his son Omurtag.

title: 814

text: Summer – Omurtag, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire, launches an attack to the West, and penetrates into Pannonia. He expels the local chiefs, and installs Bulgar governors over the Slavic tribes to control them. Omurtag conquers the cities of Beograd, Braničevo, Sirmium, and most of eastern Slavonia.

title: 827

text: King Pepin I of Aquitaine, and his brother Louis the German, revolt against their father, Emperor Louis the Pious. They gather an army of Slav allies and conquer Swabia.

title: 832

text: Mojmir I, Moravian duke, expels Prince Pribina from his homeland (western part of modern Slovakia). He unifies Great Moravia and becomes the first known ruler of the Moravian Slavs, who founds the House of Mojmir (approximate date).

title: 833

text: The Slavs in the vicinity of Thessaloniki revolt against the Byzantine Empire. Theophilos undertakes an evacuation of some Byzantine captives, who are settled in trans-Danubian Bulgaria.

title: 837

date: March 4

text: March 4 – Trpimir I, duke (knez) of Croatia, and founder of the Trpimirović dynasty, issues a first state document in Bijaći of all Slavonic peoples. In this Latin document Trpimir refers to himself as the "duke of the Croats" (dux Chroatorum), and to his country as the "state of the Croats" (regnum Chroatorum).

title: 852

text: Svatopluk I, ruler (knyaz) of Great Moravia, dies after a 34-year reign, in which he has united the Slavic tribes in his kingdom. He is succeeded by his eldest son Mojmir II. The Principality of Nitra (modern-day Slovakia) is given as an appanage to his brother Svatopluk II.

title: 894

text: Emperor Leo VI (the Wise) is forced to sign a peace treaty with Simeon I, ruler (knyaz) of the Bulgarian Empire. All Slavic-inhabited lands of Macedonia and southern Albania are ceded to the Bulgarians.

title: 904

text: Clement of Ohrid, Bulgarian scholar, writer and enlightener of the Slavs, dies. He is regarded as the first bishop of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the founder of the first Slavic Literary School. Clement is buried in his monastery, Saint Panteleimon, in Ohrid (modern North Macedonia).

title: 916

section: Events › By topic › Religion

date: August 15

text: August 15 – Led by the Slavic Sabir, the Fatimids from Sicily, capture and destroy Taranto. They enslave much of the population.

title: 927

text: Summer – The Slavic-Arab leader Sabir defeats a small Byzantine fleet and seizes Termoli (in Molise, on the Adriatic coast). He returns to Africa laden with booty and slaves.

title: 929

text: Gero I, margrave of Merseburg, campaigns against the Slavs. He forces Prince Mieszko I of the Polans in Poland to pay tribute to Emperor Otto I ( the Great). He expands his territory, the Marca Geronis (March of Gero), to the mouth of the Oder River.

title: 963

text: The Khazar fortress city of Sarkel, located on the Lower Don River, is captured by Kievan Rus' under Grand Prince Sviatoslav I. The city is renamed Belaya Vezha (White Fortress) and settled by Slavs.

title: 965

section: Religion & Belief

text: Otto I completes and dedicates a new cathedral at Magdeburg in Saxony. Like other imperial churches of the period, it includes a westwork – a structure attached to the entrance wall and outfitted with galleries. Otto makes Magdeburg a base for missionary efforts to convert the Slavs to the east. The patron saint of the city is Mauritius, who, as a military leader fighting for Christianity against pagan armies, shares affinities with Otto himself.

title: 967

text: Spring – Emperor John I Tzimiskes divides the Bulgarian territories, recently held by the Kievan Rus', into six new themes. He turns his attention to the East against the Abbasid Caliphate and its vassals, beginning with an invasion of Upper Mesopotamia. John transfers Byzantine troops to Macedonia, and the region of Philippopolis in Thrace, to dilute the Slavs.

title: 972

text: Spring – Pope Benedict VII dissolves the Slavic bishopric of Merseburg, after conferring with Otto II. He issues an encyclical, forbidding the exaction of money for the conferral of any Holy Order (known as simony).

title: 981

text: Empress Theophanu, accompanied by the 6-year-old King Otto III and Henry II of Bavaria, leads a campaign against Bohemia and the Slavs on the Elbe frontier.

title: 986

text: Adolf II, count of Schauenburg and Holstein, founds Lübeck – which later becomes one of the leading Hanseatic cities. He divides the conquered Slavic lands, as part of the eastward expansion in Germany.

title: 1143


slug: slovakia

label: Slovakia

description: country in Central Europe

year_label: 21 CE

text: The Romans create a buffer state in the territory of the Quadi, in southern Slovakia.

title: 20s

section: Events › 21 AD › Roman Empire

year_label: 40 CE

text: The Germanic Quadi tribe begins settling in present-day Moravia and Slovakia.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 40

text: Roman legionaries of Legio II Adiutrix engrave on the rock of the Trenčín Castle (Slovakia) the name of the town Laugaritio, marking the northernmost point of Roman presence in that part of Europe.

title: AD 179

section: Events › By place › Roman empire

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Samo, reputedly a Frankish merchant, is elected king of the Slavs in Moravia, Slovakia and Lower Austria. A string of victories over the Avars proves his utilitas (usefulness) to his subjects, and he secures the throne to establish his own kingdom, which stretches from the upper Elbe to the Danube.

title: 623

title: 833

text: King Louis the German invades Moravia, crossing the Danube River to besiege the civitas Dowina (identified, although not unanimously, with Devín Castle in Slovakia).

title: 864

text: The first known Christian bishopric in Slovakia is established in the city of Nitra, with Wiching as bishop.

title: 880

section: Deaths

title: 894

date: July 4

text: July 4–6 – Battle of Pressburg: At "Brezalauspurc" (probably modern-day Bratislava in Slovakia), the advancing East Frankish army (60,000 men) is annihilated by the Hungarians led by Grand Prince Árpád. Duke Luitpold and Archbishop Dietmar I are killed, together with 19 dukes, 2 bishops and 3 abbots. The East Frankish Kingdom loses control of the March of Pannonia.

title: 907

text: Bolesław I the Brave begins ruling parts of Slovakia.

title: 1001

text: German–Polish War: Bolesław I annexes Bohemia and parts of Moravia (modern Slovakia). German nobles under Henry of Schweinfurt revolt against Henry II (who has been promised the Duchy of Bavaria).

title: 1003

text: The town of Banská Bystrica (located in central Slovakia) is granted municipal privileges by King Béla IV of Hungary.

title: 1255

section: Events › By topic › City and Towns

text: The town of Guta is founded (currently Kolárovo, Slovakia).

title: 1268

section: Events › By topic › Culture

text: Winter – The Mongol Golden Horde led by Nogai Khan and Talabuga attacks Hungary for the second time. They successfully subdue Slovakia and sack territory north of the Carpathian Mountains.

title: 1285

text: King Andrew III of Hungary ("the Venetian") gives royal town privileges to Bratislava, modern-day capital of Slovakia.

title: 1291

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: The village of Lukáčovce in Slovakia first appears in the historical records.

title: 1309

section: Events › By place › Cities and Towns

date: May 7

text: May 7 – Košice, in Slovakia, becomes the first town in Europe to be granted its own coat of arms as King Louis of Hungary grants the right in a charter in recognition of the city's assistance in the Battle of Rozhanovice.

title: 1369

section: Events › April–June

date: April 28

text: April 28 – The Hussites defeat Hungarian and Serbian troops in the Battle of Nagyszombat in an invasion of the Kingdom of Hungary near Nagyszombat (now Trnava in Slovakia).

title: 1430

text: King Matthias Corvinus founds the first university in Slovakia, the Universitas Istropolitana in Bratislava.

title: 1467

date: December 17

text: December 17 – At Pozsony in western Hungary (now Bratislava in Slovakia), the Diet elects the Archduke Ferdinand as the King of Hungary.

title: 1526

section: Events › October–December

date: February 24

text: February 24 – Ferdinand of the House of Habsburg is formally crowned as King of Bohemia at Pressburg (now Bratislava in Slovakia).

title: 1527

section: Events › January–March

date: November 23

text: November 23 – The Érdy Codex, the largest collection of Hungarian legends and Hungarian language literature, is completed on Saint Clement's Day by an unidentified Carthusian monk at the seminary of Nagyszombat in Hungary

title: 1527

section: Crime & Justice

date: March 25

text: March 25 – A blood libel is carried out against the Jewish community of Bosen in Hungary (now Pezinok in Slovakia), on the first day of Passover, after a boy in the town disappears. Three Jews are accused and killed. The boy is later discovered alive, having been kidnapped for the benefit of the scheme.

title: 1529

text: In Slovakia, Guta (modern-day Kolárovo) receives town status.

title: 1551

date: April 24

text: April 24 – Pál Márkházy surrenders the Hungarian fortress at Ajnácskő (now Hajnáčka in Slovakia) to the Ottoman Empire. Márkházy, accused of treachery, is stripped of his estates and title by the King of Hungary, and forced to flee to the Principality of Transylvania.

title: 1556

text: Rock blasting is invented: Black gunpowder is first used in mining, in a mineshaft under Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia.

title: 1627

text: September 13 – After a siege of more than a month, the Hungarian fortress at Érsekújvár (now Nové Zámky in Slovakia) surrenders to the Ottoman Empire. In accordance with the treaty of surrender negotiated by the Hungarian commander, Count Ádám Forgách, the European residents are allowed free passage to Austria, and the Ottoman Grand Vizier, Fazil Ahmed Pasha provides a document certifying that the fort's defenders fought bravely.

title: 1663

section: Events › July–September

date: November 15

text: November 15 – Rákóczi's War of Independence: Battle of Zvolen (in modern-day Slovakia) – The Kurucs defeat the Austrians and their allies (Denmark, Hungary and the Serbs).

title: 1703

date: June 28

text: June 28 – A magnitude 6.2 earthquake shakes Hungary and Slovakia, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Damage is limited, but 83 are killed.

title: 1763

date: October 27

text: October 27 – Černová massacre: Fifteen people are shot during the consecration of a Catholic church in Hungary (modern-day Slovakia).

title: 1907

section: Events › October

date: October 30

text: October 30 – The Martin Declaration is published, including Slovakia in the formation of the Czecho-Slovak state.

title: 1918

date: November 2

text: November 2 – Arising from The Munich Agreement, Hungary is "awarded" the Felvidek region of South Slovakia and Ruthenia.

title: 1938

section: Events › November

text: March 25 – The Candle demonstration in Bratislava, Slovakia, is the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the socialist government in Czechoslovakia.

title: 1988

section: Events › March

date: January 1

text: January 1 – Czechoslovakia ceases to exist, as the Czech Republic and Slovakia separate in the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia.

title: 1993

section: Events › January

date: October 1

text: October 1 – In Slovakia, populist leader Vladimír Mečiar wins the general election.

title: 1994

date: March 29

text: March 29 – Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia are admitted to NATO, the largest expansion of the organization.

title: 2004

date: December 21

text: December 21 – The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the Schengen border-free zone.

title: 2007

section: Events › December

section: Economy & Finance

text: January 1 – Slovakia adopts the euro as its national currency, replacing the Slovak koruna.

title: 2009

text: March 24 – 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine: NATO announces that four new battlegroups totaling 40,000 troops will be deployed in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, along with enhanced readiness for potential chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.

title: 2022


slug: slovenia

label: Slovenia

description: country in Central Europe

section: Conflict & Security

text: Battle of the Save: Emperor Theodosius I defeats Magnus Maximus near Emona (modern Slovenia). Theodosius is in command of an army including Goths, Huns and Alans. Valentinian II, now 17, is restored as Roman Emperor.

title: 388

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Emperor Conrad II ("the Elder") grants the city of Koper (modern Slovenia) town rights, and some degree of self-government, within the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1035

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: The city of Ljubljana (modern Slovenia) is first mentioned in historical records.

title: 1144

text: Carinthia and Carniola come under Habsburg rule. After the death of Duke Henry, the duchies are bestowed by Louis the Bavarian on the Dukes of Austria. From that time onwards, what is today Slovenia is ruled jointly with Austria until 1918.

title: 1335

section: Events › Date unknown

date: July 9

text: July 9 – The Republic of Venice, led by the Doge Michele Steno, gains control of both sides of the Adriatic Sea by purchasing the Dalmatian coast (bordered in modern times by Slovenia and Croatia) from King Ladislaus the Magnanimous, ruler of the Kingdom of Naples for 100,000 ducats, or 350 kilograms of gold.

title: 1409

text: The city walls and defensive moat are built in Celje, Slovenia.

title: 1473

section: Climate & Environment

date: March 26

text: March 26 – A 6.9 magnitude earthquake strikes Slovenia and Italy and kills more than 10,000 people, striking with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). The epicenter is around the town of Idrija in present-day Slovenia, although some place it some 15-20 kilometers to the west, between Gemona and Pulfero in Friulian Slovenia. The earthquake affects a large territory between Carinthia, Friuli, present-day Slovenia and Croatia.

title: 1511

section: Culture & Society

text: The Academia Operosorum Labacensium is established in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

title: 1693

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: August 26

text: August 26 – Triglav, at 2,864 m ft above sea level the highest peak of Slovenia, is ascended for the first time by four men: Luka Korošec, Matevž Kos, Štefan Rožič, and Lovrenc Willomitzer, on Sigmund Zois' initiative.

title: 1778

date: April 7

text: April 7 – The United States recognizes the independence of Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The European Communities also recognizes Bosnia and Herzegovina.

title: 1992

section: Events › April

date: April 16

text: April 16 – The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens between the European Union and ten countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia), concerning these countries' accession into the EU, leading to the 2004 enlargement of the European Union.

title: 2003

date: March 23

text: March 23 – Slovenia approves joining the European Union and NATO in a referendum.

title: 2003

title: 2004

title: 2007

text: January 1 – Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eurozone.

title: 2007

date: July 21

text: July 21 – Slovenia becomes the 32nd member of the OECD.

title: 2010

section: Events › July

date: June 3

text: June 3 – Snap parliamentary elections are held in Slovenia, following the resignation of prime minister Miro Cerar, to elect all 90 members of the National Assembly of Slovenia, the lower house of the Slovenian Parliament.

title: 2018

section: Events › June


slug: smyrna

label: Smyrna

description: ancient Greek city, located in present day İzmir, Turkey

year_label: 600 BCE

text: Smyrna is sacked and destroyed by Alyattes I. (approximate date)

title: 600 BC

section: Events › By place › Middle East

section: Religion & Belief

text: Ignatius writes a letter to Christians in Smyrna, using the term Catholic Church (approximate date). This is the earliest surviving witness to the use of the term "Catholic Church".

title: AD 106

section: Science & Discovery

text: Anicetus meets with Polycarp of Smyrna to discuss the Computus, the date of Easter in the Christian liturgical calendar.

title: AD 154

section: Events › By topic › Religion

section: Deaths

text: Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna (b. AD 65)

title: AD 155

date: May

text: May – June – Aelius Aristides, Greek orator, delivers a public speech in Smyrna, lamenting the damage recently inflicted to the sacred site of Eleusis.

title: AD 171

text: Seljuk emir Tzachas (or Chaka Bey) conquers Smyrna (modern-day İzmir) and founds a short-lived independent state, which emerges as the first sea power in Turkish history.

title: 1081

section: Events › By place › Seljuk Empire

text: Spring – Tzachas, a Seljuk Turkish military commander, establishes an independent maritime state centred in the Ionian coastal city of Smyrna (modern-day İzmir). He proclaims himself emperor (basileus), and concludes an alliance with the Pechenegs in Thrace. Tzachas uses his fleet to blockade Constantinople by sea, while the Pechenegs besiege the capital by land.

title: 1091

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

date: November

text: November – The combined forces of Louis VII and Conrad III meet at Lopardium and march along the coastal road via Pergamon and Smyrna to Ephesus, where they celebrate Christmas. Conrad, still suffering from his wounds, sails back to Constantinople to be placed under the care of Manuel's own physicians. Meanwhile, the Crusader camp is attacked by Turkish raiders near Ephesus.

title: 1147

section: Events › By place › Second Crusade

date: October 24

text: October 24 – Smyrniote Crusade: A Christian fleet succeeds in taking the port city of Smyrna from the Aydinid Turks.

title: 1344

section: Events › January–December

date: January 17

text: January 17 – The Turks attack Smyrna.

title: 1345

section: Events

date: December 2

text: December 2 – (6 Jumada al-Awwal 805 A.H.) With 4,000 troops, Tamerlane, Amir of the Timurid Empire covering much of what is now Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan begins the Siege of Smyrna (now Izmir in Turkey). Smyrna is captured after two days of attacks on its outer walls. After the Christian Knights of Saint John, who are ruling Smyrna, refuse to convert to Islam or pay tribute, Timur has the entire Christian population massacred. The Knights subsequently begin building Bodrum Castle in Bodrum, to defend against future attacks.

title: 1402

section: Events › October–December

text: Sabbatai Zevi declares himself the Messiah at Smyrna.

title: 1648

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: June 20

text: June 20 – İzmir, formerly the ancient Greek city of Smyrna, is destroyed by fire.

title: 1742

section: Events › April –June

date: August

text: August – Fire in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire, destroys 2,600 houses.

title: 1763

section: Events › July–September

section: Crime & Justice

text: The 5th century BC bronze Chatsworth Head is acquired by the 6th Duke of Devonshire at Smyrna, from H. P. Borrell.

title: 1838


description: Central and Southeast European socialist state (1945–1992)

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: January 31

text: January 31 – Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeled on the Soviet Union, establishes 6 constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).

title: 1946

section: Events › January

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: June 28

text: June 28 – The Cominform Resolution marks the beginning of the Informbiro period in Yugoslavia and the Soviet/Yugoslav split.

title: 1948

date: February 28

text: February 28 – Greece, Turkey, and Yugoslavia sign the Balkan Pact.

title: 1953

section: Events › February

date: January 14

text: January 14 – Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugoslavia.

title: 1953

text: January 17 – In Yugoslavia, Milovan Đilas, one of the leading members of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, is relieved of his duties.

title: 1954

date: November 15

text: November 15 – Yugoslavia announces the end of an economic boycott of Francoist Spain (although it does not reinstitute diplomatic relations).

title: 1957

section: Events › November

date: February 6

text: February 6 – Seven Manchester United footballers are among the 21 people killed in the Munich air disaster in West Germany, on the return flight from a European Cup game in Yugoslavia. 23 people survive; manager Matt Busby and players Johnny Berry and Duncan Edwards are in a serious condition. Berry will never play again and Edwards dies a fortnight later, as does the co-pilot.

title: 1958

date: February 9

text: February 9 – Yugoslavia and Spain set trade relations (not diplomatic ones).

title: 1959

text: April 7 – Milovan Đilas, author and former vice-president of Yugoslavia is re-arrested.

title: 1962

section: Events › April

text: April 7 – Yugoslavia is proclaimed to be a socialist republic, and Josip Broz Tito is named President for Life.

title: 1963

section: Climate & Environment

date: July 26

text: July 26 – An earthquake in Skopje, Yugoslavia (present-day North Macedonia) leaves 1,800 dead.

title: 1963

section: Events › July

date: September 1

text: September 1 – 98 British tourists die when Britannia Airways Flight 105 crashes in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia.

title: 1966

section: Events › September

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: September 27

text: September 27 – Richard Nixon begins a tour of Europe, visiting Italy, Yugoslavia, Spain, the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

title: 1970

section: Economy & Finance

date: July 13

text: July 13 – The Yugoslavian government begins allowing foreign companies to take their profits from the country.

title: 1971

date: May 23

text: May 23 – Aviogenex Flight 130 crashes at Rijeka Airport, Yugoslavia, killing 78 people, mostly British tourists.

title: 1971

section: Events › May

date: January 26

text: January 26 – Yugoslavian air stewardess Vesna Vulović is the only survivor when her plane crashes in Czechoslovakia. She survives after falling 10160 m ft in the tail section of the aircraft.

title: 1972

date: August 30

text: August 30 – An express train bound for Germany from Belgrade derails in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia), killing more than 150 passengers.

title: 1974

section: Events › July–August

section: Health & Medicine

date: March 28

text: March 28 – A fire in the maternity wing at Kučić Hospital in Rijeka, Yugoslavia (Croatia), kills 25 people.

title: 1975

section: Events › March

date: September 10

text: September 10 – Zagreb mid-air collision: A British Airways Trident and a Yugoslav DC-9 collide near Zagreb, Yugoslavia (modern-day Zagreb, Croatia), killing all 176 aboard.

title: 1976

date: April 15

text: April 15 – 1979 Montenegro earthquake: A 6.9 shock affects Montenegro (then part of Yugoslavia) and parts of Albania, causing extensive damage to coastal areas and taking 136 lives; the old town of Budva is devastated.

title: 1979

date: May 4

text: May 4 – Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito dies. The largest state funeral in history is organized, with state delegations from 128 different countries out of 154 UN members at the time.

title: 1980

section: Culture & Society

date: February 8

text: February 8–19 – The 1984 Winter Olympics are held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.

title: 1984

date: April 5

text: April 5 – The Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (without the presence of Serb political delegates) proclaims independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

title: 1992

section: Conflict & Security

text: April 5 – Bosnian War: Serb troops, following a mass rebellion of Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina against the Bosnian declaration of independence from Yugoslavia, besiege the city of Sarajevo.

title: 1992

date: February 21

text: February 21 – The United Nations Security Council approves Resolution 743 to send a UNPROFOR peacekeeping force to Yugoslavia.

title: 1992


slug: society-of-jesus

label: Society of Jesus

section: Religion & Belief

date: August 15

text: August 15 – Ignatius of Loyola and six others take the vows that lead to the establishment of the Jesuits (the Society of Jesus), in Montmartre, near Paris.

title: 1534

section: Events › July–September

text: September 27 – The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is approved by Pope Paul III, in his bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae.

title: 1540

date: July 21

text: July 21 – The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is approved by Pope Julius III.

title: 1550

section: Births

date: September 12

text: September 12 – Andreas Schott, Flemish academic, linguist, translator, editor and a Jesuit priest (d. 1629)

title: 1552

text: September 10 – A party of ten Spanish Jesuit missionaries land on the Virginia Peninsula of North America to establish the Ajacán Mission, which will be massacred in February 1571.

title: 1570

date: February 4

text: February 4 – The Spanish Jesuit missionaries of the Ajacán Mission, established on the Virginia Peninsula of North America in 1570, are massacred by local Native Americans.

title: 1571

section: Events › January–March

date: August

text: August – Portuguese Jesuit priest António de Andrade becomes the first European to enter Tibet, arriving at Tsaparang.

title: 1624

text: The first members of the Society of Jesus move to Quebec, Canada.

title: 1625

section: Events › Date unknown

date: March 27

text: March 27 – In North America (Canada), explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle is released from the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).

title: 1667

date: September 23

text: September 23 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor grants the status and privileges of a university to the Jesuit Academy in Zagreb, the precursor to the modern University of Zagreb.

title: 1669

date: May 17

text: May 17 – In America, trader Louis Joliet and Jesuit missionary-explorer Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes.

title: 1673

section: Events › April–June

date: September 29

text: September 29 – The Spanish Empire's Governorate of the Río de la Plata and Governorate of Paraguay begin the process of expulsion of the 456 members of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) from southern South America, placing them on five ships bound for Spain.

title: 1767

section: Deaths

date: February 2

text: February 2 – Pope Clement XIII dies, the night before preparing an order to dissolve the Jesuits.

title: 1769

text: July 21 – Under pressure from the Bourbon courts, Pope Clement XIV suppresses the Society of Jesus (brief Dominus ac Redemptor). Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, expels the order from his territories.

title: 1773

date: August 7

text: August 7 – Pope Pius VII decrees the bull Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum, reestablishing the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) all over the world, after having approved their survival and existence in Russia.

title: 1814

date: January 6

text: January 6 – (December 25, 1815 on the Russian Julian calendar): Tsar Alexander I of Russia signs an order, expelling the Jesuits from St. Petersburg and Moscow.

title: 1816

date: July 4

text: July 4 – The Society of Jesus is pronounced illegal in the German Empire.

title: 1872


slug: socrates

label: Socrates

description: 5th-century BCE Greek philosopher

year_label: 470 BCE

text: Socrates, Greek philosopher (d. c. 399 BC)

title: 470 BC

year_label: 469 BCE

text: Socrates, Athenian philosopher (approximate date) (d. 399 BC)

title: 469 BC

year_label: 424 BCE

text: Demosthenes and Hippocrates attempt to capture Megara, but they are defeated by the Spartans under their general Brasidas. Demosthenes then marches to Naupactus to assist in a democratic revolution, and to gather troops for an invasion of Boeotia. However, Demosthenes and Hippocrates are unable to coordinate their attacks and Hippocrates is defeated at the Battle of Delium by Pagondas of Thebes. During the battle, Socrates is said to have saved the life of Alcibiades. Demosthenes attacks Sicyon and is defeated as well.

title: 424 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 416 BCE

text: Agathon along with Alcibiades and Socrates and Aristophanes and others attend a symposium described by Plato.

title: 416 BC

section: Events › By topic › Drama

year_label: 399 BCE

text: Socrates, Greek philosopher (b. c. 470 BC)

title: 399 BC

date: February 15

text: February 15 – The Greek philosopher Socrates is sentenced to death by Athenian authorities, condemned for impiety and the corruption of youth. He refuses to flee into exile and dies by drinking hemlock.

title: 399 BC

year_label: 396 BCE

text: Plato publishes his Apologia, which is a defence of his mentor Socrates. (Approximate date.)

title: 396 BC

section: Events › By topic › Literature

year_label: 388 BCE

text: Plato, having left Athens on Socrates' death to visit Megara and possibly Egypt, travels to Syracuse at the invitation of Dionysius I's brother-in-law Dion.

title: 388 BC

section: Events › By topic › Art

year_label: 354 BCE

text: Xenophon, Greek historian, soldier, mercenary and an admirer of Socrates (b. c. 431 BC)

title: 354 BC

year_label: 250 BCE

text: Timaeus, Greek historian who has studied rhetoric under a pupil of Socrates (b. c. 345 BC)

title: 250 BC


slug: sofia

label: Sofia

description: capital city of Bulgaria

year_label: 29 BCE

text: Sofia, modern day capital of Bulgaria, is conquered by the Romans and becomes known as Ulpia Serdica.

title: 29 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

text: The Huns, led by Attila, cross the Danube, and invade the Balkans as far as Thermopylae (Greece). During the invasion, Serdica (modern Sofia) is destroyed. For disobeying the terms of the treaty made in 442, Attila triples his demand for tribute to 2,100 pounds (ca. 700 kg) of gold per year; and the ransom for each Roman prisoner to 12 solidi.

title: 447

section: Events › By place › Byzantium

text: Spring – Siege of Serdica: Krum, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire, captures the fortress of Serdica (modern Sofia), after a long siege. According to Byzantine sources, he massacres the garrison (supposedly 6,000 men), sacks the city, and razes the city walls, before returning with much loot to Bulgaria. In the following years (and centuries), Serdica will serve as a base for the expansion of the Bulgars to the south of the Balkans.

title: 809

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

date: July 23

text: July 23 – Nikephoros I reaches Pliska, and destroys a Bulgarian army of 12,000 elite soldiers who guard the stronghold. Another hastily assembled relief force of 50,000 soldiers suffers a similar fate. The Byzantines capture the defenseless capital. Nikephoros plunders the city and captures Krum's treasury. He burns the countryside, slaughters sheep and pigs, as he pursues the retreating Bulgars southwest towards Serdica (modern-day Sofia).

title: 811

text: Spring – Pecheneg Revolt: Emperor Constantine IX decides to transfer 15,000 Pecheneg warriors from their positions in the Balkans to the eastern front. Upon approaching the Bosporus, the Pechenegs decide to turn back, and march through Bulgaria, until they reach the Byzantine city of Serdia. Later, joined by followers, the Pecheneg tribes raise the banner of revolt in Thrace.

title: 1049

date: July 12

text: July 12 – The People's Crusade led by Peter the Hermit reaches Sofia, where they meet envoys from Constantinople with orders to keep them supplied along the road. At Philippopolis the Greeks are so deeply moved by the suffering of Peter and his followers that the locals give them money, food and horses.

title: 1096

section: Events › By place › First Crusade

date: May

text: May – July – A German expeditionary force (some 20,000 men) under King Conrad III leaves Regensburg and passes into Hungary. The German nobility is headed by Conrad's nephew and heir, Frederick I, duke of Swabia. On July 20, Conrad crosses into the Byzantine Empire, and reaches Sofia – where Michael Palaiologos (a nephew of Emperor Manuel I) gives Conrad an official welcome and provides the Crusaders with food.

title: 1147

section: Events › By place › Second Crusade

text: The Ottomans take Sofia from the Bulgarians.

title: 1382

date: December 24

text: December 24 – Ottoman General Kasım Pasha is defeated in the Battle of Melštica near Sofia by Christian troops who had survived the Battle of Varna.

title: 1444

section: Events › October–December

date: March 11

text: March 11 – The Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Dimitar Petkov, is assassinated by an anarchist in Sofia.

title: 1907

date: August 26

text: August 26 – In Sofia, protesters set fire to the headquarters of the governing Bulgarian Socialist Party.

title: 1990

section: Events › August


slug: soissons

label: Soissons

description: commune in Aisne, France

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Clovis I establishes his new residence at Soissons. He appoints Ragnachar, Frankish petty king (regulus), as his deputy ruler.

title: 486

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Religion & Belief

text: King Chlothar I of the Franks founds the Abbey of St. Medard at Soissons (Northern France).

title: 557

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Chilperic I, king of Neustria (or Soissons)

title: 584

section: Conflict & Security

text: Battle of Soissons: King Chilperic II of Neustria and his mayor of the palace Ragenfrid, allied with Eudes, independent duke of Aquitaine, march on Soissons in Picardy (northern France) but an army of Frankish veterans under Charles Martel defeat the Neustrian allies, who sue for peace. Chilperic flees to the land south of the River Loire and Ragenfrid escapes to Angers. Charles diplomatically chooses not to execute the enemy leaders, and becomes undisputed dux Francorum, ending the Frankish civil war.

title: 718

section: Events › By place › Western Europe

date: November

text: November – Pepin the Short, youngest son of Charles Martel, forces the last Merovingian king Childeric III to retire to the monastery of Saint-Bertin. He proclaims himself as king of the Franks with the support of Pope Zachary, and is crowned at Soissons by Boniface, bishop of Mainz, becoming, as Pepin III, the first Carolingian monarch of the Frankish Kingdom.

title: 751

date: September

text: September – King Pepin II of Aquitaine is captured by the forces of Count Sans II Sancion, and handed over to Charles the Bald. He is detained in the monastery of Saint Medard in Soissons.

title: 851

date: June 15

text: June 15 – Battle of Soissons: King Robert I is killed; the Frankish army, led by Charles the Simple, is defeated and routed near Soissons. Charles is captured and imprisoned at Péronne. The nobles elect Robert's son-in-law Rudolph, duke of Burgundy, as king of the West Frankish Kingdom (until 936).

title: 923

date: June 19

text: June 19 – At Laon, Louis IV, the 14-year old son of the late King Charles the Simple, is crowned King of West Francia after being recalled from Wessex by Hugh the Great, count of Paris. Hugh, whose father, King Robert I, was killed in battle near Soissons in 923, is given the title Duke of the Franks and becomes the second most powerful man in the West Frankish Kingdom. The crowning of Louis IV follows the death of King Rudolph I at Auxerre earlier in the year.

title: 936

text: Fall – Otto II invades the West Frankish Kingdom accompanied by Charles and ravages the cities of Reims, Soissons (where he halts at the Abbey of Saint Médard for devotions) and Laon. Lothair III escapes and flees to Paris, where he is besieged by imperial forces. Charles is proclaimed 'King of the Franks' by Dietrich I, bishop of Metz, at Laon.

title: 977

text: Spring – Peter Abelard, a French theologian and philosopher, is condemned and charged with the heresy of Sabellius in a synod at Soissons. Abelard writes Sic et Non.

title: 1121

date: May 24

text: May 24 – Count Theobald III of Champagne suddenly dies and is replaced by Boniface I, marquis of Montferrat, as leader of the Fourth Crusade. He travels to France, where he meets his chief colleagues at Soissons.

title: 1201

date: June 14

text: June 14 – The Congress of Soissons opens at the French town of Soissons to negotiate a treaty between Great Britain and Spain. The treaty, which is concluded on November 9, 1729, recognizes the Spanish royal family's rule of parts of Italy, and Britain's possession of Gibraltar and Menorca.

title: 1728

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: June 16

text: June 16 – 108 die as two passenger trains hit the debris of a collapsed railway tunnel near Soissons, France.

title: 1972

section: Events › June


slug: solar-system

label: Solar System

description: the Sun, its planets and their moons

year_label: 280 BCE

section: Science & Discovery

text: Aristarchus of Samos uses the size of the Earth's shadow on the Moon to estimate that the Moon's radius is one-third that of the Earth. He proposes, for the first time, a heliocentric view of the Solar System, but is ignored due to the lack of evidence of the Earth's motion.

title: 280 BC

section: Events › By topic › Astronomy

text: Aryabhata, Indian astronomer and mathematician, comes up with concepts of mathematical equations, one of which explains the rotation of the Earth on its axis. This concept is far ahead of its time and he is fairly accurate in his description of it. He also comes up with a lot of other ideas about the Solar System, but many of them are flawed because he considers the Earth to be the center of the universe. Aryabhata is often given credit for coming up with the number zero and using it as a placeholder.

title: 511

section: Events › By topic › Inventions

text: Astronomer Johannes Kepler soon begins to employ logarithms, in his description of the Solar System.

title: 1614

section: Events › Date unknown

date: June 22

text: June 22 – the Roman Catholic Church forces Galileo Galilei to recant his heliocentric view of the Solar System. According to legend, he claims Eppur si muove.

title: 1633

section: Events › April–June

date: December 2

text: December 2 – During the new moon, a near-grand conjunction of the classical planets and several binocular Solar System bodies occur. The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars and Saturn are all within 15° of each other, with Venus 5° ahead of this conjunction and Jupiter 15° behind.

title: 1899

section: Events › December

date: March 2

text: March 2 – The Pioneer 10 spacecraft is launched from Cape Kennedy, to be the first man-made spacecraft to leave the Solar System.

title: 1972

section: Events › March

date: April 5

text: April 5 – Pioneer 11 is launched on a mission to study the Solar System.

title: 1973

section: Events › April

date: November 1

text: November 1 – 2060 Chiron, first of the outer Solar System asteroids known as Centaurs, is discovered by Charlie Kowal.

title: 1977

section: Events › November

date: June 13

text: June 13 – Pioneer 10 passes the orbit of Neptune, becoming the first human-made object to leave the vicinity of the major planets of the Solar System.

title: 1983

date: February 9

text: February 9 – Halley's Comet reaches its perihelion, the closest point to the Sun, during its second visit to the Solar System in the 20th century (the first was in 1910).

title: 1986

section: Events › February

date: November 17

text: November 17 – Voyager 1 overtakes Pioneer 10 as the most distant man-made object from the Solar System, at a distance of 69.419 AU km.

title: 1998

date: January 5

text: January 5 – Eris, the most massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System, is discovered by a team led by Michael E. Brown using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.

title: 2005

section: Events › January

date: August 25

text: August 25 – The Voyager 1 space probe becomes the first human-made object to successfully exit the Solar System and enter Interstellar space, and to an extent, becoming the first Interstellar probe, pioneering Interstellar exploration.

title: 2012

date: November 20

text: November 20 – Nature publishes an article recognising the high-velocity asteroid ʻOumuamua as originating from outside the Solar System, i.e. the first known interstellar object.

title: 2017


slug: somalia

label: Somalia

description: sovereign state in Africa

date: October 21

text: October 21 – General Siad Barre comes to power in Somalia in a coup, 6 days after the assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke.

title: 1969

section: Events › October

date: July 13

text: July 13 – Somalia declares war on Ethiopia, starting the Ethio-Somali War.

title: 1977

section: Events › July

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: October 13

text: October 13 – German Autumn: Four Palestinians hijack Lufthansa Flight 181 to Somalia and demand the release of 11 Red Army Faction members.

title: 1977

section: Crime & Justice

date: October 17

text: October 17–18 – German Autumn: GSG 9 troopers storm the hijacked Lufthansa passenger plane in Mogadishu, Somalia; three of the four hijackers die.

title: 1977

section: Health & Medicine

date: October 26

text: October 26 – The last natural smallpox case is discovered in Merca district, Somalia. The WHO and the CDC consider this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, a great success of vaccination and, by extension, of modern science.

title: 1977

date: April 9

text: April 9 – Somali military officers stage an unsuccessful coup against the government of Siad Barre; security forces thwart the attempt within hours, and several conspirators are arrested.

title: 1978

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: December 1

text: December 1 – A peace agreement between Kenya and Somalia is signed in the Egyptian capital Cairo. With this agreement, in which Somalia officially renounces its historical territorial claims, relations between the two countries begin to improve.

title: 1984

date: March 29

text: March 29 – A hybrid solar eclipse is the second hybrid solar eclipse in less than one year, the first being on October 3, 1986. It is annular visible in southern Argentina, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Sudan (part of the path of annularity crossed today's South Sudan), Ethiopia, Djibouti and northern Somalia and totally visible in Atlantic Ocean, lasting just 7.57 seconds.

title: 1987

date: May 27

text: May 27–29 – Somaliland War of Independence: Somali National Movement launches a major offensive against Somali government forces in Hargeisa and Burao, then second and third largest cities of Somalia.

title: 1988

section: Events › May

date: May 18

text: May 18 – Somaliland secedes from Somalia; its independence is not recognised by the international community.

title: 1991

date: December 3

text: December 3 – UN Security Council Resolution 794 is unanimously passed, approving a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States to form UNITAF, tasked with ensuring that humanitarian aid gets distributed and establishing peace in Somalia.

title: 1992

date: June 5

text: June 5 – Attack on Pakistani military in Somalia: twenty-four Pakistani troops in the United Nations forces are killed in Mogadishu, Somalia.

title: 1993

date: May 4

text: May 4 – UNOSOM II assumes the Somalian duties of the dissolved UNITAF.

title: 1993

date: March 20

text: March 20 – Italian journalist Ilaria Alpi and TV cameraman Miran Hrovatin are assassinated in Somalia.

title: 1994

section: Climate & Environment

date: December 26

text: December 26 – The 9.1–9.3 Indian Ocean earthquake shakes northern Sumatra with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). One of the largest observed tsunamis follows, affecting coastal areas of Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Somalia, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, killing 227,000 people.

title: 2004

date: July 20

text: July 20 – The United Nations declares a famine in southern Somalia, the first in over 30 years.

title: 2011

date: December 18

text: December 18 – At least 55 people drown after an overcrowded boat capsizes off the coast of Somalia.

title: 2012

date: March 10

text: March 10 – The UN warns that the world is facing the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II, with up to 20 million people at risk of starvation and famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria.

title: 2017

date: December 19

text: December 19 – A locust plague devastates 173,000 acres (70,000 hectares) of crop and grazing land in Ethiopia and Somalia.

title: 2019

section: Deaths

text: May 18 – The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announces that nearly 1 million people are affected and at least 24 people have died in flash floods that have hit Beledweyne and Jowhar, Somalia.

title: 2020

date: October 29

text: October 29 – A double car bombing by al-Shabaab in Mogadishu, Somalia kills at least 121 people and injures around 300.

title: 2022

date: November 24

text: November 24 – Somalia is admitted as the eighth member of the East African Community, having applied for membership in 2012.

title: 2023


slug: somerset

label: Somerset

description: ceremonial county of England (use Q21694741 for administrative non-metropolitan county)

section: Conflict & Security

text: Battle of Peonnum: King Cenwalh and the Wessex Saxons make a push against Dumnonia (South West England). They are victorious at Penselwood in Somerset, and the Dumnonia-Wessex border is set at the River Parrett (approximate date).

title: 658

section: Events › By place › Britain

section: Religion & Belief

text: King Ine of Wessex builds a stone church at Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset (approximate date).

title: 720

text: King Æthelbald of Mercia overruns a large portion of Somerset, and wrests the county from Wessex control (approximate date).

title: 731

text: Battle of Carhampton: Danish Vikings arrive in the Wessex areas of Somerset and North Devon. Ecgberht, King of Wessex fights them but is forced to withdraw.

title: 836

date: May

text: May – Battle of Edington: Supported by all the levies of Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire, Alfred the Great decisively defeats the main body of Danish Vikings, led by King Guthrum, at modern-day Edington, Wiltshire (near Bratton Castle).

title: 878

date: November 23

text: November 23 – King Eadred (or Edred) dies childless after a 9-year reign at Frome (Somerset). He is succeeded by his 15-year-old nephew, Eadwig, as King of England.

title: 955

section: Events › By place › England

date: May 15

text: May 15 – Byrhthelm, bishop of Wells (Somerset)

title: 973

date: June 28

text: June 28 – Cyneweard, bishop of Wells (Somerset)

title: 975

text: Henry II grants the city of Bristol ('Brycgstow') a Royal charter, and is divided between Gloucestershire and Somerset (until 1373).

title: 1155

text: This is the earliest date for the making of cheddar cheese in Somerset (this is according to a pipe roll of Henry II, who purchases 10,240 lb of cheddar at a farthing per pound).

title: 1170

section: Culture & Society

date: February 10

text: February 10 – John Beaufort becomes Earl of Somerset in England.

title: 1397

section: Events › January–March

date: July 10

text: July 10 – English Civil War: Battle of Langport – Cromwell wins in Somerset.

title: 1645

section: Events › July–September